Stopping your breast milk supply once it’s been established can be an uncomfortable process. Your breasts will still become engorged as production tapers off, requiring you to express milk to reduce your risk of developing mastitis. According to Mayo Clinic obstetrician Dr. Roger Harms, it’s best not to stop milk production by taking lactation-suppressing medications, such as bromocriptine and estrogen injections. Instead, Dr. Harm recommends allowing breast milk to dry up naturally. Taking a vitamin B-6 supplement, also known as pyridoxine, may help relieve engorgement, but studies on whether vitamin B-6 actually reduces milk production haven’t yielded consistent results.
Lactation Suppression
Women suppress lactation for various reasons, including infant loss or the desire to formula feed. Many nursing mothers wean older babies over a period of time, which allows milk production to taper off slowly. When weaning isn’t involved, you must express your milk with a breast pump or by hand to avoid health complications. If breast milk doesn’t flow, it becomes thicker and can clog the ducts, which sets the stage for mastitis, or breast inflammation. Mastitis can lead to infection, which sometimes requires surgical draining. If your milk supply is low, you might not experience engorgement. Fuller supplies, however, can require milk expression for two to three weeks before production tapers off.
Vitamin B-6
Vitamin B-6 is a water-soluble vitamin essential for body function and health. It’s necessary for nervous system and immune system function, digestion, neurotransmitter production and the synthesis of hormones and red blood cells. Food sources of vitamin B-6 include fortified cereal, potatoes, bananas, garbanzo beans and chicken. The recommended daily allowance, or RDA, of vitamin B-6 for women aged 19 to 50 is 1.3 mg. According to MayoClinic.com, some experts believe the RDA should be increased to 1.5 to 1.7 mg for women of childbearing age, and that the RDA for pregnant and lactating women should be 1.9 mg and 2 mg, respectively.
Considerations
High doses of vitamin B-6 supplements have been reported to reduce breast milk production, according to “The Nursing Mother’s Companion.” However, MayoClinic.com notes that studies involving the use of pyridoxine for lactation suppression haven't yielded consistent results. In an article on the website Pregnancy.org, international board certified lactation consultant Anne Smith suggests several courses of action to relieve engorgement, including taking 200 mg of vitamin B-6 a day for five days. According to Smith, reducing sodium intake can also help, because excess sodium promotes fluid retention. Taking warm showers, wearing a supportive bra, using cabbage leaf compresses and drinking sage tea, which contains production-reducing estrogen, can also help.
Precautions
The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine set the upper tolerable intake level, or UL, of vitamin B-6 supplements for all adults, including pregnant and lactating women, at 100 mg, and the UL for pregnant or lactating females under the age of 19 at 80 mg. Long-term intake of vitamin B-6 supplements above the maximum dosing recommendation increases the risk of adverse effects, including nerve damage and loss of sensation in the feet and hands. Consult your health care provider and pharmacist before taking more than the maximum recommended dose of vitamin B-6, even if only intended for a short time.
References
- “The Nursing Mother’s Companion”; Kathleen Huggins, R.N., M.S.; 2005
- Pregnancy.org: Lactation Suppression; Anne Smith
- MayoClinic.com: Vitamin B6
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin B6
- MayoClinic.com: Lactation Suppression: Can Medication Help?; Roger W. Harms, M.D.
- AskDrSears.com: Mastitis
