Metamucil?

[@llli*heatherbushead]

Hi ladies. I gave birth to my second daughter on 4/6/13 and have been BF'ing her ever since. I BF'd her 2 year old sister for 13.5 months. So as a result of labor/delivery, I have some awful hemhhroids this time around. Yesterday, I cried for about an hour after a BM. To put this in perspective, I had both girls without epidurals (and without crying!). The pain agter the BM ladyed for many hours. This pain is intolerable. So last night I drank some Metamucil and that really helped with the BM this morning (less pain at time of BM and afterwards). Ok, now that I've totally embarrassed myself. Here is my question-
Will Metamucil decrease my milk supply? I read somewhere while TTC that Metamucil can affect your cervical mucus as it works by drawing in available fluid to the colon, which helps BMs to be softer. So my concern is that it may affect my milk supply like an antihistamine can. Does anyone have any idea if this is true? I did drink a cup of Mother's Milk tea after drinking the Metamucil to possibly counteract any of those ill effects.

Thanks so much in advance!
Heather

[@llli*krystine]

I haven't heard that it decreased milk supply but maybe next time you could try a glycerin suppository and just really keep up your fruit and veggie intake? I wouldn't worry about a single does of it in any case. Drink plenty and I bet you'll be fine. I'm glad you got some relief.

[@llli*blue2000]

In my (limited) opinion, as long as you drink a lot of water, it should be fine. Metamucil does work by drawing more water into the stool, so the solution to this is just drink more water.

Congrats on your new addition!

[@llli*lllsmum]

Hi,
Went thru the same had a fissure with pain for 3 months after delivery was considering surgery for the unbearable pain but it did decrease with fibre and plenty of water what I noticed was that during lactation we tend to underestimate our fluid requirement. I find myself getting constipated even at 1 year postpartum due to insufficient fluid intake. I had taken lactulose that time but did not experience major supply problems as long as baby is sucking and u are taken in adequat fluids

[@llli*lllkaren]

Interesting question! I checked Metamucil in the Medications and Mothers' Milk database, and it's listed as L2 (probably safe), but it doesn't mention the aspect of drawing in fluids. It works completely differently than an antihistamine or pseudoephedrine though. It sounds like it absorbs the water that is around it in your digestive system.

My guess is that the only way it could contribute to low milk supply would be if you didn't drink enough water with it and got really really dehydrated. That seems unlikely though.

I hope you feel better soon!

[@llli*heatherbushead]

Thanks so much for your input ladies! And thank you Karen for checking on that for me! I meant to but couldn't find the website that I used to look medications up on and haven't had time to do a search. I'm very glad to hear that Metamucil doesn't work like an antihistamine! That makes me less concerned. I was taking Colace when I got home from the hospital but that was making my baby have runny stools. I did read somewhere that Metamucil doesn't get into your blood stream and therefore doesn't get to baby to affect her stool, do I thought it would be a better alternative for us. I think I'll have to continue on the Metamucil regimen for a while until my uncomfortable issue clears up. Thanks again for your help!

[@llli*maddieb]

They gave me (in fact insisted I take) metamucil in the hopital after all three of my c-sections, and they certainly knew I was breastfeeding. Personally it did not do the trick (nor did Colace-useless!) and after my first go around with post partum constipation (a tale that will live in infamy) I insisted on milk of magnesia. (Hale rates this one as L1) So if the metamucil ever stops doing the trick, I suggest, try milk of magnesia.

[@llli*carm3]

Ugh, I agree that Colace was useless, and so was MOM for me after my section. I, too, had a nasty case of constipation! For me, upping my intake of fresh berries and water really made a big difference.