Lactating? (sort of embarrassing)

So...I am not pregnant, nor nursing (my son is 8, its been nearly 7 years since I nursed) and now I am all of the sudden lactating. The only "new" thing is that I started taking Invega for mania. Any ideas? Its kinda freaking me out.

Atypical antipsychotics can cause lactation, they raise the level of prolactin hormone in the blood.

Could be a side effect.

Arg, this is the first anti-psych that has worked without horrible side effects. So now this one has a pretty bad side effect.

Taken from the Invega.com website http://www.invega.com/invega/invega....about%20invega:

"INVEGA and similar medications can raise the blood levels of a hormone known as prolactin, causing a condition known as hyperprolactinemia. Blood levels of prolactin remain elevated with continued use. Some side effects seen with these medications include the absence of a menstrual period; breasts producing milk; the development of breasts by males; and the inability to achieve an erection. The connection between prolactin levels and side effects is unknown."

Damn.

I made a deal with my pdoc when he gave me the invega to NOT read about it until after I had tried it for at least a month. I tend to get extremely freaked out if I read about a medicine before I take it and oftentimes it will keep me from being able to even try it out. Now I wish I would have read about it. What really sucks is that Invega has been really effective for me. It has helped a great deal with my mixedness of my mania (which I am still in the middle of and have been for about 2 months now), it made it where I am not beat down depressed and am far more focused than I usually am when I am manic. For the first month I was a ball of frantic energy, crying one second, pissed the next, unable to finish anything I started, exhausted but couldn't sleep, but I would spend hours doing stuff like scrubbing the side of the refrigerator. Since I started taking the Invega I have felt less overwhelmed and pissed/sad/depressed. I was actually starting to think I may have found something that worked for me.

Buy some breast pads and keep taking the Invega if it is working for you. The lactating issues isn't really harmful, just a nuisance. It may ease up after a bit too.

You're right, farmergirl. I will try it. Thanks

Risperadal did the sae thing for me. I had another friend at the time who ws also taking it for mania. We used to call ourselves the Risperadol artillery squad. In the end I went off it because it was starting to do other wierd things with me reproductively. Otherwise, it's a good med.

That was exactly what happened to me on Invega. I ended up in so much pain, and it wasn't really helping, that I discontinued it. Yeah, just another one of those annoying side effects. (Wonder if it happens to men too?)
Take care.

Hey there I had it happen to me when I was taking Lamictal.

I wonder if it happens to men too!?

For right now I am going to try to stay on it. This morning I wrote a pros and cons list for Invega and I only have 2 things in the pros category and about 6 in the cons.

Pros:
More energy/less tired
better focus

Cons:
sleep walking--doing strange things while I am asleep and unable to wake myself
high blood pressure (or at least seems like my blood pressure is high, can feel blood pounding in my head)
water retention (like 7 lbs!)
more severe headaches
lactating (my breasts are very achy!)
increased word loss (cannot come up with words or phrases even though I KNOW what I need to say, can't get them out of my mouth)

Sadly, even though there are so many cons, the 2 pros are big ones for me. Being able to not sleep all day or at least not be so worn out feeling is huge and being able to sort of stay focused long enough to nearly finish something is also huge. Usually I jump from one thing to the next every few minutes. Now I have focus for about an hour before I must change tasks.

Is this too many cons?

Increase in prolactin levels can also occur in men. Every so often my doc checks my levels. Thankfully they've been good.

Too many cons is really up to you and what you are willing to put up with. But I think I understand what you mean about word loss. There are times when I'm in a middle of a sentence and the word I'm looking for is just not there. I'm aware that I know the word, it's just not coming out, then I have to search for another word as equally conveying. Words have more meaning when emotions are attached to them and being that my antipsychotic tends to make me feel somewhat flat, I feel I am less able to express myself properly.

Cybermember, that's EXACTLY what happens to me. The flatness...the lack of any feeling, coupled with the inability to find words is horrible and frustrating. Luckily, my husband understands me so well that when he sees me getting stuck he often knows what word I'm looking for and will say it for me. Its almost like a tick or something, I get so frustrated until I get that particular word out that I feel like crying.

And I know you love words! Big perpetuallysad!
I've been fortunate to have this experience not too badly, though it definitely happens-- like 10 full minutes to remember the word "punctuation". (now remembering people's names? Awful. Even their faces throw me sometimes, which is embarrasing when I say, "oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else" and in fact it *is* the person... yes, this actually happened. Let's chalk it up to side effects, eh? Because it is. Only problem being I can't explain it that way at work because they don't know I'm *on* anything...)
I'm glad your husband is able to help you out in coming up with the word... because you're right, it's so frustrating. You *know* you know it, but it won't come!

Ok, so this is really starting to hurt. Its like when you have a baby and your milk starts to "come in"...but obviously there is no way to express it, so its just full and sort of burning, its hard to explain but it sucks royally. Hm...maybe I could become a wet nurse, do they still have those these days?

I think you should call your pdoc as you may need to switch meds.

Risperdal didn't make me lactate, but I'm sure if I stayed on it longer, what with the prolactin/hormone stuff, I would have lactated too. I was only on it for 3 weeks and it gave me the worst acne of my remembered life. I didn't even want to go outside and used a half a bottle of concealer just so I didn't shock people with my sudden transformation. Now, 3 weeks later, my face has mostly cleared up. I'm on Zyprexa and so far no probs or weight gain. Lamictal messes with your hormones too, but it hasn't caused me any probs since I came off of birth control.

That happened to me a year ago when I took ripserdal.

Try warm showers and warm compresses. I know that when I was nursing my son, I could express a little into the sink and that would help with the pressure, but I am not sure you want to do that with a side effect because your body might make more milk, thinking there is a demand for it.

If you have a large tube sock, fill it with rice, tie a tight knot and stick the whole thing in the microwave for 30 seconds. Apply it to your chest and it should help with the pain.

Definitely call your p-doc. Maybe there is some sort of med that would inhibit the prolactin levels...

I have an appointment with my pdoc next Friday...I am trying to wait it out. arg. Stupid side effects! Thanks for all of the responses guys, I really appreciate them.

When I talked to my pdoc yesterday one of the things we talked about was adding risperdal again. I had it last year but had the lactation from it. I said I wouldn't mind that but she said they aren't sure about it so better to go on seroquel. I didn't think it was embrassing. Just made my brain remember nursing.

It totally makes me remember nursing too. I keep having dreams about nursing babies.

Oh, how I remember the feeling! Hope it gets better.

This sounds really dumb, but a lot of patients say cabbage leaves on their breasts works to stop lactation. I used it myself when Lamictal made my breasts leak.