[Tommypops]

Has anyone else suffered from this?

I had my baby a week ago and breast feeding is going well, aside from the 30 second periods of despair I feel several times during each session. It's not enough to make me stop breastfeeding and I feel a lot better knowing that I am not totally abnormal for having these feelings but I am just wondering how others cope, how long yours lasted for etc.

[Delillah1]

I have experienced it and still experience it as well. It lasts about 30 seconds. It doesn't happen every feed. I never knew it was an actual documented problem, I just thought I was a bit strange. I have never talked about it with anyone because I tried to pretend it didn't exist. Since feelings are fleeting, I just try to ignore it.

[Goldenblack]

Mine was never given a title, but that is an accurate description of what I felt. It could last from a minute or so to twenty or thirty minutes, or the entire feed if it was a long one (a couple of hours at worst).

How I coped was eventually feeling bad enough from that and all the rest of it (recovery from a terrible birth, other bad things, blah) that I ended up at the doctor's and put on anti-depressants, and stopping breast feeding entirely.

I have been told that one mother's method of coping was to start slowly counting until you reach the point where you no longer feel it. The pattern is apparently helpful.

[Tommypops]

Thanks Goldenblack, I tried the counting and seems to work to a certain extent. Sorry to hear about your struggle

[PatG]

This is what I love about forums - new knowledge and people finding they are not alone...

I had never heard of D-MER before this thread. I now know it exists, have googled it and should it happen to me I'll probably deal with it better/acknowledge it more readily than if I didn't know it existed.

I hope those of you dealing with this find the best way for each of you to cope.

[Angelina Balleri...]

I've experienced this with DD who is almost 7 months. I don't think it happened when I was BFing DS.
I'm still BFing and it has improved over time. Probably helps that I BF fewer times per day now and have fewer spontaneous let downs.

In the early days I would feel extremely anxious and like I was losing my mind for about a minute or so.

[FarmBaby]

I definitely had DMER. I found it helped just knowing that it would be over in a couple of minutes and that I wasn't the only one who has the same issue. I am still breast feeding after 14 months and now rarely experience it. Only when I am stressed or tired.

[redmum77]

Hi all,
I'm actually really surprised that this is all that turned up on my search for d-mer. I found out recently that this I what I suffered with for my two experiences breast feeding. DD is nearly 8, and DS is 4. I was put on anti depressents also, and just told that feeding should make me feel orgasmic and amazing. So I figured I was pretty faulty. I fed both for a year, but had to use supp. bottles because I also have hypoplasia, and can't have a full supply. also not diagnosed for years.
So I basically didn't fit anything I was being told for feeding, and felt very alone and like I must be going mad.

Now, years later, I've realized that it is entirely possible I didn't have post natal depression at all, and that it was d-mer all along. I fed nearly constantly with DD because she had reflex, and I didn't have enough milk (people said I had to feed more to increase supply...). So I lived in the crashing dump that the let down caused. I'm so pleased we even have a name for it now, but to be honest, the reaction from doctors has been underwhelming. I'm planning a third baby, and would so love to have a chance to feed without feeling like I have in the past.

If anyone hears of any research going on the Australia, please let me know.

This post has been edited by redmum77: 01/06/2012, 07:26 AM

[lucky 2]

I don't think anyone has linked this site in the thread yet.
http://d-mer.org/
I hope it helps.
All the best.