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I've never posted here before, but thought this news article I read today regarding the risks of domperidone was important. I was prescribed domperidone to increase my milk supply with both babies and now have questions for my doctor.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/...ate-drug-.html
I don't think domperidone is sold/prescribed in the US. Anyway, I thought this was too important to not pass along.
The page cannot be found. Could you maybe repost the link? I have taken Domperidone for 3 years so I'm wondering if I am at risk.
Thank you for posting this!
I was able to find the article by typing "domperidone" in the search bar!!
It basically states that they are linking domperidone to heart issues.
I was on the highest recommended dose for a year solid... very thankful I am OK!
I think this link works.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/...ate-drug-.html
Definitely not something I wanted to read! I take the highest dose possible. Without it, my pumping output is crap!
Need to think about this and pray about it.
Thank you for sharing this!
A good follow up article here:
http://kindercarepediatrics.ca/2012/...93-next-steps/
I actually didn't take too much stock in this once I did further research. This was based on an old study done in Europe where Domperidone is an over the counter drug. A few people died who were taking Domperidone. They were all old (over 75 I think) Domperidone is used for reflux, and the symptoms of reflux and heart diseases are similar. Many of the people in the "study" were self medicating for what they thought was reflux and it was likely heart disease, they died of heart problems. Anyways, you can read Jack Newman's response to this on Facebook if you want to know more. I think the sad thing that will come out of this is many Canadian doctors will stop prescribing Domperidone for breastfeeding women for it's off label use because of this. The actual release from Health Canada doesn't talk about the off label uses anyways, that's purely the CBC's angle on it.
Quote from Dr Newman (From article above)
Quote:
2012/03/10 – Comments from Dr. Jack Newman, Newman Breastfeeding Clinic and Institute
Based on a study that was published in Belgium which looked at over 1000 cases of sudden death and found that some of the people who died suddenly were taking domperidone, Health Canada has put out a warning about possible concerns about treating with domperidone. This is a bit of an overreaction on the part of Health Canada. Well, a big overreaction given the data.
Note that in the study, the youngest person who died was 55 and the average age of those who died was 75 years. What has this to do with breastfeeding mothers who are rarely older than 45 years and are usually in reasonably
good health? Furthermore, this information came from a data base with no clinical information. It simply has information that so and so died suddenly and was taking such and such a drug. The thing is that domperidone in these patients was used for reflux and we know that heart disease is frequently misdiagnosed as reflux; severe pain at the top of the abdomen or lower part of the chest is typical of both reflux and cardiac pain.
Misdiagnosis is particularly possible in Europe where domperidone is available in countries like the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands without a prescription and it is likely that many people are self-diagnosing
and self-medicating.
So that’s it and it does not mean that domperidone kills. I will continue to prescribe domperidone at our doses which are based on many years of clinical experience. I have treated many thousands of women with it with only minor side effects. I believe this article from Belgium proves nothing and does not require us to stop prescribing it.
It would be a pity that mothers and babies not benefit from domperidone when used in conjunction with our Protocol to manage breastmilk intake.
TFS...
I took the max dosage for over 2 years! I didn't have any side effects while taking the drug.