If you go too long without nursing and your breasts get too full, your let down reflex may trigger to relieve the pressure. Strong emotions may also trigger a let down of milk.
Galactorrhea is a condition where your breasts leak milk. The main sign of galactorrhea is when it happens in people who aren't pregnant or breastfeeding. It's caused by stimulation, medication or a pituitary gland disorder.
Oxytocin. The oxytocin reflex is also sometimes called the “letdown reflex” or the “milk ejection reflex”. Oxytocin is produced more quickly than prolactin. It makes the milk that is already in the breast flow for the current feed, and helps the baby to get the milk easily.
The let-down reflex (or milk ejection reflex) is an automatic natural reaction that happens in your body when your baby starts to breastfeed. There are nerves in your nipples that are triggered by your baby's sucking. These nerves cause two hormones to be released into your bloodstream.
Your reflex can be impacted by stress, tiredness or discomfort. You can encourage your let-down reflex by relaxing and distracting yourself. Your reflex might happen outside of breastfeeding, such as if you hear a baby cry.
Stress Impacts Your Let-Down
If you feel stressed, your body will inhibit the release of oxytocin. As a result, milk will still flow to your milk ducts, but these ducts won't fully widen. The effect is similar to a kinked straw, where there is plenty of liquid but it can't flow freely.
What is D-MER? D-MER – or Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex, is a relatively common disorder where a lactating person can feel sadness, depressed or anxious while experiencing a milk letdown during breastfeeding/chest-feeding and/or pumping. It's usually transient, lasting 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
If you've just started pumping, it's not always clear why sometimes you spray milk and sometimes you're not getting anything. Here's how letdown works: When you start pumping, most pumps will begin in the “letdown phase” – which is lighter and quieter – for about two minutes.
You're not getting let down. If your breasts feel like they're full but you're not able to get the milk flowing out when you pump, it could be that you're not achieving let down.
High expectations are one of the key killers of healthy and connected relationships. They leave us in an endless loop of feeling let down. When we expect things of others, we fail to be open to who they really are.
Signs and Symptoms of Overactive Letdown
You may notice milk spraying from your nipple once your baby unlatches. If your newborn chokes on the breast milk because of an overactive letdown, they may not want to latch back onto your nipple and can become frustrated and hungry.
This is often associated with too much milk (oversupply). Some mothers notice that the problems with fast letdown or oversupply don't start until 3-6 weeks of age. Forceful let-down runs the gamut from a minor inconvenience to a major problem, depending upon how severe it is and how it affects the nursing relationship.
The cause is thought to be due to a sudden drop in dopamine during let down which can affect susceptible women. There are a number of treatments available that can help. Other negative states experienced by some nursing mothers include breastfeeding aversion and agitation or nausea.
Post-Stress Illness
Everybody knows someone who falls sick when they are finally on vacation. They finally land on the beach, everything is good. Then over the next few days it happens, like clockwork: flu, low-back pain, headache, stomach pains, skin outbreaks, fatigue.
D-MER, or dysphoric milk ejection reflex, is a condition that affects people who are lactating. It causes you to have intense negative feelings when your milk lets down during a feeding. Research is still ongoing, but there are coping methods available to help.
When you are scared, stressed, or anxious, the adrenaline released by your system can inhibit oxytocin. And since oxytocin is what causes your milk to “let down”, or flow freely from your breasts, that adrenaline messes with your milk delivery system.
Your body is always making milk. That means there's no need to wait for the supply to “replenish” between feedings. In fact, waiting a long time between feeding your baby can actually reduce your milk supply. That's because your body does an amazing job of producing the right amount of milk to keep your baby happy.
Breast milk IgA levels were negatively correlated with negative psychological states. The women who reported higher levels of negative affect and/or anxiety (as measured with the POMS scales of tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility, fatigue, and confusion) had lower levels of breast milk IgA.
Your breasts will feel lighter
When your breasts are empty, they will probably feel lighter and no longer uncomfortably full, as they might have at the start of the pumping session.
Tips to Stimulate Let-Down
Take a warm shower or apply a moist, warm towel to your breasts before you breastfeed. Massage your breasts gently for a few minutes before you begin feeding and continue as you nurse. Sit or lie down and get comfortable in a quiet area away from distractions.
Over time, your body will stop making milk if you don't breastfeed or pump. This can take up to several weeks. You can take steps at home to decrease your discomfort and help your breasts stop making milk. Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety.
Let downs often happen more than once while you feed or pump, but most of the time you only notice the first one.