Is it true that high levels of the hormone prolactin associated with breast milk can stop you from ovulating?

Question

My husband and I have been trying for a couple of months nad nothing has happened. I have been having my periods regularing and thought I was ovulating regularly just as well. I have a three year old son and have never had trouble getting pregnant before, but I still have milk in my breast from when I breast fed my son. The doctor keeps telling that it is normal (even though it's almost been four years ago) as long as it only comes out when stimulated. Now I am starting to wonder if this is the hold up or is it safe to assume that since I am menustrating normally that I am ovulating as well and it just hasn't happened yet.. Have you ever heard of anything like this before? Thanks for any advice.

Answer 1

Elevated prolactin levels can inhibit ovulation and you can still have a regular menstrual cycle and not ovulate. That being said, a couple of months is not very long when trying to get pregnant :)
There is a simple blood test which your doctor can order which will tell you how much prolactin you are producing. As well you can buy ovulation strips to see if you are ovulating.

You should not still be lactating years after breastfeeding has ceased, there are several reason why this may be happening and they need to be explored and eliminated or treated. I would encourage you to seek another opinion from another doctor, or further educate yourself and be assertive with your current doctor and insist on having prolactin levels taken.

Elevated prolaction levels is not an uncommon reason for fertility problems. I am sure if you goggled "prolactin fertility" you would find a good selection of information.

Good luck with this.

Answer 2

High levels of the hormone prolactin associated with breastfeeding can temporarily delay the entire menstrual cycle and ovulation.

This is a true statement. However, please note the temporarily. Even when a woman continues breastfeeding into the toddler and preschool years, it is rare that ovulation will be delayed that long. If you are not actively breastfeeding, and haven't been for several years, it is not likely that your minor infertility problem stems from the continued expression of breastmilk.

Please remember that many couples try for a year or more before concieving their first, second, or subsequent children, and most infertility specialists will not even see you for an appointment until you have been actively trying to concieve for a year or more.

Also, you may be having problems other than milk production. The use of ovulation prediction processes, such as strips you can buy to urinate on, or taking your own temperature everyday to determine your specific ovulation date, can be helpful.

If the continued production of breastmilk bothers you, your husband, or if you still believe it is the cause of your problems, try not stimulating the breasts at all for a few weeks, perhaps a month or more. The milk should eventually dry up. If it doesn't, however, you might want to consider getting a second opinion from another doctor. I'm not quite sure that continued milk production several years past weaning is as normal as yours' is making it sound.

Keep trying and good luck!

Answer 3

I believe you'd need to be expressing and producing milk on a daily basis in order for your hormones to be high enough to interfere with ovulation. Although its not impossible that your body for one reason or another is not ovulating regularly. It could be too that you're ovulating at different times during your cycles.

I went on ebay to a medical whole saler and bought 55 ovulation strips for 20 bucks, i peed on one every day for almost two cycles to figure out if i was even ovulating. Turns out i was, just on a very very late day.

Its a nice way of doing some sleuthing on your own.

Answer 4

it quite is available for some men to lactate, it is only not very probable. In lay mans words, men have nipples reason in the womb all of us start up out as women human beings, it is not till the activation of particular genes that reason a flush of the two testosterone or estrogen that make the final determination of male or woman and via the time that occurs, the cells that make up the nipples have already began to sort.

Answer 5

yup, i think so, but tink that there is a medicine which can lower it.....and subsequently, the lady can get pregnant..
my fren took the medicine, then went for ivf and got pregnant..good luck