Anxiety while breastfeeding
Show your support
It’s called dysphoric milk ejection reflex (d-mer)! It’s a real thing, happens to some women
@Una I'm pretty sure I had that as well but wasn't formally diagnosed so I felt bad mentioning it. 😅 they would only diagnose me with PPA but then again this was 5 years ago and DMER was still relatively new
Yes I have it this time around and had it with my second born as well. With my second born it was much more intense and eventually lead to full panic attack feelings but it did regulate by about 9 months pp for me. This time around (possibly because I am aware of it being a normal thing and what it really is) it seems much more mild. With my first born and third born I didn’t experience it at all.
It’s a reaction to the oxytocin your body releases when your milk lets down
Normal but REALLY sucks. Pumping and bottle feeding at night may help some. If you don't want to do that, try putting baby to sleep with mittens on so he's at least not scratching you.
Yes. Me. Intensely with my second son. So much so that I would hardly touch him. I ended up needing therapy to cope but also ended my breastfeeding (exclusive pumping) journey at 6 months. It got qay better after that but I was diagnosed with PPA shortly after