When I nursed my kids, right as the milk dropped I would get this wave of overwhelming DOOM, like absolutely nauseating fear, and then it would pass. I really thought I was crazy, had some hangup or fear around breastfeeding, some trauma I couldn’t remember, something.
I found out years later that it’s a recognized disorder called DMER, some brain chemicals don’t fire off fast enough to cushion you from whatever the fear-inducing chemical is that helps the milk let down. I had never even considered asking a doctor about it because I assumed it was something to do with my individual mind, or experience.
Apparently dopamine has to drop very sharply to allow whatever hormone causes the milk to let down and for some of us it drops too sharply and that is what causes the fear and anxiety. It always passed quickly, and there isn’t any treatment but even knowing I wasn’t broken would have helped a lot.
When I nursed my kids, right as the milk dropped I would get this wave of overwhelming DOOM, like absolutely nauseating fear, and then it would pass. I really thought I was crazy, had some hangup or fear around breastfeeding, some trauma I couldn’t remember, something.
I found out years later that it’s a recognized disorder called DMER, some brain chemicals don’t fire off fast enough to cushion you from whatever the fear-inducing chemical is that helps the milk let down. I had never even considered asking a doctor about it because I assumed it was something to do with my individual mind, or experience.
TIL, that DMER is a thing. Interesting. There’s a chemical that induces the lactation but also creates that fear feel?
Apparently dopamine has to drop very sharply to allow whatever hormone causes the milk to let down and for some of us it drops too sharply and that is what causes the fear and anxiety. It always passed quickly, and there isn’t any treatment but even knowing I wasn’t broken would have helped a lot.