Hardstartmama Domperidone is the devil

[Hardstartmama]

Hi there, 

 

I took a trip home to Canada when my daughter was 6 weeks old and told a friend I was stressed out about my breastmilk supply, and she suggested I get on Domperidone. She is a doctor and prescribed it at 80 mg a day. I was nervous to start it at first I would only take one pill a day. eventually I took the full dose. I never noticed an increase with my breastmilk and started missing my overnight doses and thought it was contributing to my anxiety so I decided that I wanted to get off of it in April. I started weaning 10 mg a week for three weeks which resulted in SEVERE anxiety, fear, nausea, vomiting every day, manic episodes and suicide ideation. It took 2 months to stabilize. I saw many doctors and psychiatrists that wanted to put me on more drugs… mostly sertraline and lorazepam. Luckily I was too scared to take them. I felt much better after my stabilization and began tapering 5 mgs every two weeks without issue. I am now on 25 mgs a day and experiencing a lot of physical symptoms which are scaring me. My biggest fear is not being here for my daughter. I feel like I’m dying. I have numbness, weakness and tingling in my arms and legs, muscle twitches all over, a buzzing twitch inside my trunk on the left side of my abdomen, throat spasms, blurry eyes and a tight calf muscle. 
 

I also have an infected tooth that is coming out Tuesday but I’m so terrified of taking antibiotics for fear that they may interact with the dom. Also terrified of the sedation interacting with my dopamine levels. Anyone have any insight? 
 

This has been a living nightmare and has stolen so much from my journey of becoming a mother. 
 

Any help or support is much appreciated! 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Hardstartmama

 

Though domperidone is not strictly a psychiatric drug, it is a failed antipsychotic and we have a few people tapering domperidone here. You can find them by searching for "domperidone" in the Introductions forum.

 

On 8/19/2023 at 7:57 AM, Hardstartmama said:

I started weaning 10 mg a week for three weeks which resulted in SEVERE anxiety, fear, nausea, vomiting every day, manic episodes and suicide ideation.

 

Like psychiatric drugs, tapering domperidone too fast can result in withdrawal symptoms such as the ones you experienced.

 

On 8/19/2023 at 7:57 AM, Hardstartmama said:

I felt much better after my stabilization and began tapering 5 mgs every two weeks without issue. I am now on 25 mgs a day and experiencing a lot of physical symptoms which are scaring me.

 

If I were you, I'd stop tapering for now, let your system settle down. You have another batch of withdrawal symptoms. We advise people not to continue to taper while they have withdrawal symptoms.

 

How long have you been taking 25mg domperidone?

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please summarize your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[Hardstartmama]

Thanks @Altostrata I have been at 25 mgs for about a week and a half. The neurological symptoms began about 4 weeks ago with eye issues. I had been at 30 mgs for three weeks before making the 5 mg drop. I plan to pause for now and see if things get better. 
 

I had an infected tooth removed today under anesthesia and am hoping it doesn’t affect me. So far so good. I stressed I wanted minimal drugs and didn’t allow the use of benzos. 

[Altostrata]

Suggest you stay at 25mg until withdrawal symptoms go away.