Breastfeeding Woes? Avoid Use of Reglan for Boosting Milk Supply

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If you currently, or have ever, experienced difficulty with breastfeeding…namely a concern over milk production (which, by the way, is rarely a true problem from an anatomical standpoint) you may have come across the advice to encourage your doctor to prescribe a medication for you called Reglan (Metochlopramide) .  As cited in this article from breastfeeding.org, Reglan has been known to increase a nursing mom’s milk supply.

But, before pursuing this option, be advise of the following:

The FDA is requiring the drug manufacturer, Schwartz Pharma, to put a black box warning on the medication labels about an increased risk of tardive dys-kinesia associated with the chronic use of metoclopramide.

Not sure what tardive dyskinesia (TD) is?  It is a complex set of involuntary oral-facial-neck movements, often times irreversible once they begin (and in fact, commonly worsening over time) that is frequently a side effect of long-time (over three months) medication usage  (certain medications).  Reglan is the latest medication to be added to the list of drugs that can cause this socially devastating , syndrome.

TD used to be associated largely with the use of antipsychotic medications but if you look at the drug list above, you will see that it branches out into many other categories of medications as well.

If you’ve never seen a person with tardive dyskinesia, check out these videos:

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Filed under From One Mother to Another, breastfeeding

Tags: antipsychotic medication side effects, low breast milk production, Reglan, reglan side effects, tardive dyskinesia, tardive dyskinesia videos