Can hypnosis/ self hypnosis help w/ lactation?

[hortstu]

I've been studying self hypnosis on an amateur level for a few weeks now. I've recorded a script or two for myself and I'm enjoying the benefits...

My wife and I have a 3 month old. She hasn't produced enough milk to supply all the babies needs since she was a few days old. She hasn't given up though. She continues to breast feed frequently and pump. She's taking medication to try to increase her supply and of course this is only a supplement for the baby. She's producing less than 10% of the babies needs. I know this is hard on her mentally. She's coping with it well now but it has taken a little time to get to this point.

Can hypnosis help? Can anyone direct me to a subject script that would be appropriate for this special situation...

I guess I should add that she suffers there are physical reasons that she isn't lactating enough. She has PCOS. This stopped her from getting pregnant for years but we over came that with some minor diet changes... that hasn't helped with the lactation though.

Any help will be greatly appreciated by both of us.

[Don]

Hypnosis is NOT a magic wand where you can wave it while you say a few words and "poof!" a miracle happens.

PCOS is a SERIOUS problem and can lead to other physical problems including diabetes. It MUST be treated by a trained professional.

Have an MD treat her for PCOS and get a referral to see a hypnotherapist. A trained and experienced hypnotherapist can assist your physician in achieving the desired changes.

Hortsu, if you broke your arm, would you go to someone who had practiced medicine on an amateur level for a few weeks to have it set and put in a cast? Of course not! Why in heaven's name would you let your wife, suffering from a serious ailment, do what you would never do????

The answer to your question is that it's quite likely that a professional hypnotist can help. It's also quite unlikely that a well-meaning amateur who has practiced for a few weeks with no professional training would be of any help at all. In fact, it's far more likely that going to such a well-meaning person could be harmful as she wouldn't get the professional care she deserves.

[skip]

I agree with Don,

I would also add that hypnosis or NLP can help even if there is no additional milk flow.

It would also be a wonderful insturment in helping her cope with what I am assuming she feels as a failure on her part.

So as Don said a really good hypnotherapast is indicated and she gets a win win, either increased flow, or coping strategies that will help her feel better about it.

cheers,

skip

[hortstu]

Hypnosis is NOT a magic wand where you can wave it while you say a few words and "poof!" a miracle happens.

Thanks Don Im well aware of that. That's why I wanted to ask if professionals thought it might help increase lactation before pursuing it further.

PCOS is a SERIOUS problem and can lead to other physical problems including diabetes. It MUST be treated by a trained professional.

I know. We've been dealing with it the last 15 years. We understand that it is a pre-diabetic syndrome and that's why we've treated it with diet. The medications that the specialists prescribed to her didn't achieve the results that the diet did. She took various doses of metformin, including the max recommended, for years. Her period was still irregular, sometimes going a year w/o one and she was infertile.

After talking to fertility specialists, they said getting pregnant would basically be a miracle w/o their assistance, and doing our own research we came to the conclusion that fertility treatments were not for us. If it wasn't meant to be then we wouldn't have kids.

My wife stopped taking the metformin and we both quit eating all grains, rice, potatoes, corn, and refined sugars (we only used agave as a sweetner we even eliminated honey.) Shortly after starting the diet my wife 'miraculously' started menstruating so regular that it was like she was following the phases of the moon, then she became pregnant w/o outside, human, assistance almost exactly one year after starting the diet.

Have an MD treat her for PCOS and get a referral to see a hypnotherapist.

We're confident that we've achieved more than any doctor thought we ever could with diet alone. All doctors want to do is prescribe drugs that didn't come close to achieving the desired results, we did see quite a few.

A trained and experienced hypnotherapist can assist your physician in achieving the desired changes.

We haven't tried yet but considering all but one of the doctors we spoke to scoffed at the diet solution we don't have much faith that they'll be able to refer a good hypnotherapist or even be willing to refer one at all.

Hortsu, if you broke your arm, would you go to someone who had practiced medicine on an amateur level for a few weeks to have it set and put in a cast? Of course not! Why in heaven's name would you let your wife, suffering from a serious ailment, do what you would never do????

I'm sorry I didn't ramble on about our years of study, treatments and doctor visits in my first post. I figured it would bore most of the potential responders.

The answer to your question is that it's quite likely that a professional hypnotist can help. It's also quite unlikely that a well-meaning amateur who has practiced for a few weeks with no professional training would be of any help at all. In fact, it's far more likely that going to such a well-meaning person could be harmful as she wouldn't get the professional care she deserves.

Thanks for caring. I will continue to research the possibility of using hypnosis to help with this problem. I'd still be open to trying a subject script related to this if anyone has any suggestions. I think she'd be more open to self hypnosis than professional hypnosis at least initially.

I would also add that hypnosis or NLP can help even if there is no additional milk flow.

Thanks skip, I don't think my wife would be interested in taking up NLP or hypnosis right now w/o some potential concrete reward like additional milk flow. Her schedule is kind of full with an infant.

It would also be a wonderful insturment in helping her cope with what I am assuming she feels as a failure on her part.

Yes I would hope that would be part of the hypnosis, since I think the pressure she puts on her self could be part of the reason the flow is so low. However my wife is a fairly confident and secure person. We're doing everything we can to make sure that our baby is getting the best nutrition she can get that doesn't come from her breast and I know that eases her mind.


Some additional information about PCOS and lactation in case it makes a difference to someone that might be able to help with a script. About 1/3 of PCOS patients have trouble lactating, 1/3 have no trouble, and 1/3 over produce to the point of it being a problem... my wife would love to be in the latter 1/3.

Lactation is intimately linked to the level of a hormone called prolactin. That seems to be available in limited quantities for my wife.

Thanks again for the concern and the help.
Mike

[Don]

I will continue to research the possibility of using hypnosis to help with this problem. I'd still be open to trying a subject script related to this if anyone has any suggestions. I think she'd be more open to self hypnosis than professional hypnosis at least initially.

Mike. My best wishes to both you and your wife.

In another thread, I commented on the concept that the meaning of communication is the response you get.

I apologize for being a lousy communicator.

I'll try just one more time and then let it go, wishing you both the best. I feel I must do this as much for me as for your wife.

Trying self-hypnosis or hypnosis by someone with no professional training who then reads a script has almost zero chance of working.

In fact, the chances of it working are more likely in spite of the amateurish attempts to help.

Don't go to a person who has only three weeks of practice to set your broken arm. Don't go to an untrained person to work with your mind.

There. Now, if you go out on the web and find some script and you try it on your wife with the result that it harms her and/or your relationship, please don't blame me.

It's said in Law that a person who defends himself has a fool for a client. The same is not true with hypnosis. But a person who is untrained and who attempts to deal with major medical issues via hypnosis is, IMO, acting foolishly.

[hortstu]

Hypnosis is NOT a magic wand where you can wave it while you say a few words and "poof!" a miracle happens.

Hi Don,

Yes I understand hypnosis isn't magic. That's why I'm here asking about this.

PCOS is a SERIOUS problem and can lead to other physical problems including diabetes. It MUST be treated by a trained professional.

Yes Don were we'll aware of this but I was trying to keep my post short so as not to bore anyone. My wife has seen numerous doctors and specialists over the last 15+ years about PCOS and they were little help.

The general consensus has been take the diabetes meds metformin. My wife took various doses for years and at first they regulated her cycles but eventually she went right back to her old pattern of not menstruating.

When we decided to find out what it would take to get pregnant they said we would need to skip the fertility drugs and go with the implantation of fertilized embryos... while we are pro choice we weren't too keen on the idea of discarding the unneeded leftovers so we decided it wasn't meant to be.

We did some research on our own and my wife started a diet which I joined her on. We eliminated all carbs, meaning all grain products and sweeteners as well as some fruit like watermelon and grapes, from our diet. Considering we were already vegetarian that was no small step. Within a month she was menstruating so regularly you could set your watch to it. She stopped the metformin and continued to menstruate perfectly for the first time in her life.

About 9-10 months into the experiment we started adding agave nectar into our diets for a little sweetness. About 1 year into the experiment my wife missed her period. We never thought for a second that she was pregnant. We thought that maybe the agave nectar had messed everything up. At the behest of her cousin she took a pregnancy test and here we are today. We didn't start this diet thinking it would allow us to concieve. We thought it was the healthy thing to do for her sake and apparently it made her more regular than she'd ever been in her life.

Have an MD treat her for PCOS and get a referral to see a hypnotherapist. A trained and experienced hypnotherapist can assist your physician in achieving the desired changes.

We've seen many physicians and honestly we're not happy with any of them. We doubt they would know any good hypnotherapists and we would doubt their quality if they came recommended from any of the doctors we've seen.

We have seen and still are seeing a lactation specialist. While she doesn't dissuade us from trying alternative therapies we can tell she believes they are all just placebos from her body language/ reaction to our discussion of them. She believes we're doing all we can and that my wife is maxxing out her production.

I'm impressed with your faith in the medical system Don... it leads me to believe that you don't live in the United States, like we do, or maybe you are a doctor.

Hortsu, if you broke your arm, would you go to someone who had practiced medicine on an amateur level for a few weeks to have it set and put in a cast? Of course not! Why in heaven's name would you let your wife, suffering from a serious ailment, do what you would never do????

The answer to your question is that it's quite likely that a professional hypnotist can help. It's also quite unlikely that a well-meaning amateur who has practiced for a few weeks with no professional training would be of any help at all. In fact, it's far more likely that going to such a well-meaning person could be harmful as she wouldn't get the professional care she deserves.

Well Don part of the reason I'm here is because I'm looking for a subject script written and/or approved by a professional. While searching locally for hypnotherapists I've found that there is no central body that certifies these people so I have very little to go on when looking for someone that is good at what they do. It would be trial and error and I imagine that could be just as dangerous, if not more so than self hypnosis assisted by a professional.


I would also add that hypnosis or NLP can help even if there is no additional milk flow.

It would also be a wonderful insturment in helping her cope with what I am assuming she feels as a failure on her part.

Thanks skip, she's been going to a support group and it has been 3 months now... so she is doing pretty good. The only time I notice a problem is when she starts thinking about potential disasters that would keep us from feeding the baby, like when we watched "the day the earth stood still" the other night.

Thanks for any help.
Mike

[skip]

Mike,

I'll not go into the lactation issue, as you are undoubtedly more of an expert than I, and perhaps 99% of the rest of the planet, on that.

I was suggesting that NLP or hypnosis might be in order even if it doesnt help with the lactation issue.

First of all, often times some belief changes, and reduction of anxiety issues, can have as miraculous effects, such as you two achieved with your diet changes.

And lets face it Mike, if she understood, hypnotically, that she has already done the impossible ...

Seond everything has results.

There can be a whole raft of issues that come up when someone isnt able to do that they believe they should be able to do.

Most arent positive.

And they can manifest in any number of ways.

Im not trying to scare you, just realize that situations like this can result in some serious identity and self worth decisions being made based on skewed data.

If she or the two of you feel that this has affected her negatively in this way, go for it.

Now to address your original question.

This isnt a one size fits all problem as your experience indicates, and a one size fits all solution is unlikely to be effective. She has a very unique situation, and requires someone who can respond to her specific needs.

I wouldnt advise a script, because it is unlikely to work in her situation, and would only represent another failure, which she might interpret as her failure. It would be bad enough if she came to believe hypnosis in competent hands wouldnt help her, it would be worse if she believed it was her.


cheers,

skip