Anxiety or Depression While Breastfeeding: Prolactin and Dopamine
Though many women experience feelings of ecstasy while breastfeeding, it isn't that uncommon for women to experience huge bursts of anxiety or feelings of impending doom either.Note that the feeling of anxiety or depression while breastfeeding (and during milk letdown) is often related to the release of trauma. Trauma, according to the definition I'm using here, is any situation in which a person is afraid that he or she will die or be seriously injured or where he or she believes a loved one will die or be seriously injured. According to this definition, giving birth is trauma. Women almost always experience the feeling that they might die when the baby drops and let's face it, even when birthing goes smoothly and quickly, giving birth is usually traumatic for both mother and child. If the idea of having been through something traumatic resonates with you as a woman who's recently given birth, you should note that trauma can play a role in D-MER. It is my belief that D-MER might even be the body's effort at releasing trauma in short bursts following birth. Unfortunately, the release of trauma often feels like bursts of anxiety, depression, or "odd thoughts" that can make women feel like they're going crazy.
One of the easiest ways to treat uncomplicated trauma is to use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) at home. This treatment is quick, easy to do at home, and it works remarkably well. Women can feel the effects immediately.
Click here to do a free trial of EMDR online.
Also note that at home psilocybin therapy can also be used to overcome trauma using macrodosing, including complex trauma (albeit with psilocybin integrative psychotherapy). If you are breastfeeding and you wish to work with psilocybin, be sure to wait 4-5 hours from when you take psilocybin before you breastfeed your baby again. Pump your breasts once before you breastfeed your baby 2-3 hours after taking the psilocybin. This permits the psilocybin to be metabolized to a point where it is only minutely present in the breastmilk. Psilocybin has a fairly short half-life and it is metabolized quickly by the body.
Another approach is to use psilocybin microdosing, where you take psilocybin at a very low dose once daily. Take the psilocybin dose right after you breastfeed and then pump once, if desired (though this isn't entirely necessary) before breastfeeding again.
Click here to buy psilocybin online.
How Prolactin and Dopamine Work Together
The tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic pathway is involved in inhibiting prolactin secretion via dopamine neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. This occurs when dopamine is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland and the dopamine then acts on the D2 dopamine receptors on lactotroph cells.Prolactin acts to control its own release through a negative feedback loop. Prolactin increases the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase which, in turn, causes more dopamine to be produced in the tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons. When more dopamine is produced, the dopamine is secreted by the pituitary gland to act on the D2 receptors of the lactotroph cells to decrease prolactin production. As such, prolactin levels and dopamine levels influence each other. Essentially, when prolactin is released in higher quantities, dopamine is produced and released in higher quantities too. As more dopamine is produced and then released, prolactin levels are diminished.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that sits along a very important pathway of amino acids and other neurotransmitters. Many foods contain phenylalanine or tyrosine, amino acids that are converted in the body into levodopa (also known as L-dopa). This natural levodopa is an amino acid that our bodies produce from tyrosine or phenylalanine. Note that the pharmaceutical known as Levodopa or L-dopa is chemically very different from the natural levodopa / L-dopa that our bodies produce naturally.
L-dopa is converted into dopamine. And dopamine then functions as the neurotransmitter that makes it possible for human beings to have “parental feelings”. It is also the neurotransmitter that helps us make decisions for ourselves on the basis of experience. A deficiency of dopamine leads to poor decision making and repetitive, non-exploratory behaviors. It is a deficiency of dopamine that causes normal people to do things like perpetual “doom-scrolling” behaviors, for example on their smart phones. If your dopamine neurons are in short supply of L-dopa (the nutrient, not the drug), you’ll be prone to things like doom-scrolling and the repetition of behaviors that are mostly bad for you. When L-dopa gets low, dopamine gets low. When dopamine gets low, our parental behaviors also tend to disappear. We get petty and irritable. We seek out anything we can find to get a dopamine “hit”.
But if your neurons can’t make dopamine, they can’t release dopamine either. So instead of getting a “hit” from scrolling through social media, people just—keep scrolling…and scrolling…and scrolling. We call this “being in the hole”.
If you’re pregnant and breastfeeding, you can take L-tyrosine supplements to increase the amount of dopamine in your body. Take 6000-8000 mg per day in divided doses along with 100 milligrams of all of the B-complex vitamins, a zinc / copper supplement (15 mg / 2 mg), magnesium glycinate (600 mg per day), selenium (200 mcg per day), and Lugol’s iodine (20 drops per day for a total of 50 mg). When you take L-tyrosine, it takes 12-24 hours to feel the effects. If you’re not pregnant or breastfeeding, you can take the herb known as Mucuna pruriens at a dose of 1500 mg 4 times per day (6000 mg total) and you’ll feel a noticeable lift in your mood within 4-5 hours. If you take this dose for 5 months, the Mucuna will heal your dopamine receptors to make your neurons less needy for dopamine in a general way.
But while breastfeeding, Mucuna pruriens can decrease milk supply via the impact of dopamine on prolactin. During pregnancy, Mucuna should be avoided because it acts to increase intestinal peristalsis, which in theory, could stimulate uterine contractions. In actual practice though, this herb is extremely safe and it is a powerful mood booster that works by making it easier for people to think and sort out their feelings. But be aware that if you take Mucuna pruriens after a long period of dopamine deficiency, and if you’ve recently been through something traumatic like giving birth, that having normal levels of dopamine in the brain can start the process of releasing trauma from the body. This sounds great if you know anything about trauma, but you should note that when trauma is released, people sometimes feel panicky, crazy, and they experience all kinds of odd feelings. Indeed, trauma release can cause people to look depressed, anxious, or even temporarily psychotic. So it’s good to work with Mucuna pruriens in tandem with trauma treatments like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) along with craniosacral therapy. Mucuna is a miracle herb and believe me, you should not be afraid of it, but rather, use it with intention to heal your mind and your body after pregnancy, knowing that it will play a powerful role in promoting your mental health and your ability to function optimally as a parent.
Click here to do a free trial of EMDR at home.
The release of dopamine from neurons causes prolactin release to be inhibited. So, when prolactin is released, it causes a burst of anxiety in some women, but then, this burst is attenuated to some extent by the subsequent release of dopamine. In women who have been through a lot of trauma, this release of dopamine can, however, cause issues like flashbacks or weird feelings like the sense of anxiety or even impending doom. I know this sounds like a bad thing. In reality, each of these “bursts” is the release of trauma, albeit in tiny doses. Women who don’t realize that this release is happening might believe that they’re going crazy. They might believe that they’re losing their minds rather than clearing their minds. In fact, it’s possible that the release of dopamine following the release of prolactin during breastfeeding is a natural way that a woman’s body works through the trauma of having just given birth. Prolactin initiates milk let down followed by a release of dopamine which, in turn, spurs the release of a traumatic memory. Dopamine then causes prolactin levels to fall, which stops the release of traumatic memories.
Click here to buy Mucuna pruriens.
Resources:
• Faron-Gorecka, A. et al. (2023). The Involvement of Prolactin in Stress-Related Disorders. Retrieved January 14, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9959798/
• Molitch, M. E. (2005). Medication-Induced Hyperprolactinemia. Retrieved January 15, 2024 from https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)61587-5/fulltext
• Augustine, R. A. et al. (2017). Prolactin regulation of oxytocin neurone activity in pregnancy and lactation. Retrieved January 15, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451702/
• Retrieved January 15, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6874414/
• Bramness, . G. et al. (2012). Amphetamine-induced psychosis-a separate diagnostic entity or primary psychosis triggered in the vulnerable? Retrieved January 22, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3554477/
• Lake, C. R. et al. (1987). Cyclothymic disorder and bromocriptine: predisposing factors for postpartum mania? Retrieved January 22, 2024 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3690486/
• Torner, L. (2016). Actions of Prolactin in the Brain: From Physiological Adaptations to Stress and Neurogenesis to Psychopathology. Retrieved January 22, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4811943/
• McNeilly, A. S. et al. (1983). Release of oxytocin and prolactin in response to suckling. Retrieved January 22, 2024 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6402061/
• Zinaman, M. J. et al. (1992). Acute prolactin and oxytocin responses and milk yield to infant suckling and artificial methods of expression in lactating women. Retrieved January 22, 2024 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1741218/
• Al-Chalabi, M. et al. (2023). Physiology, Prolactin. Retrieved January 22, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507829/
• Brody, S. and Kruger, T. H. C. (2006). The post-orgasmic prolactin increase following intercourse is greater than following masturbation and suggests greater satiety. Retrieved January 23, 2024 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16095799/
• Minakami, H. et al. (1985). Effects of progesterone on prolactin secretion in hypogonadal women. Retrieved January 24, 2024 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4092671/
• Allen, M. J. & Sandeep, S. (2023). Physiology, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH). Retrieved January 24, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK500031/
• WHO (2009). Infant and Young Child Feeding: Model Chapter for Textbooks for Medical Students and Allied Health Professionals. Retrieved February 11, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK148970/
• Sripada, C. S. et al. (2013). Oxytocin enhances resting-state connectivity between amygdala and medial frontal cortex. Retrieved February 11, 2024 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22647521/
