Domperidone

 

Introduction

Domperidone (Motilium™) is a drug that has, as a side effect, stimulating or increasing milk production, probably by increasing prolactin production by the pituitary gland. Prolactin is the hormone that stimulates the cells in the mother's breast to produce milk. Domperidone increases prolactin secretion indirectly, by interfering with the action of dopamine whose action is to decrease the secretion of prolactin by the pituitary gland. Domperidone is generally used for disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (gut) and has not been released in Canada for use as a stimulant for milk production. This does not mean that it cannot be prescribed for this reason, but rather that the manufacturer does not back its use for increasing milk production. However, there are several studies that show that it works to increase milk production and that it is safe. It has been used, for several years, in small infants who spit up and lose weight, but was replaced until a few years ago by cisapride (Prepulsid™) (cisapride has since been taken off the market because it can cause serious cardiac problems). Domperidone is not in the same family of medication as cisapride and has never had the cardiac side effects that cisapride does. Another, related, but older medication, metoclopramide (Maxeran™), is also known to increase milk production, but it has frequent side effects which have made its use for many nursing mothers unacceptable (fatigue, irritability, depression). Domperidone has many fewer side effects because it does not enter the brain tissue in significant amounts (does not pass the blood-brain barrier).

When is it Appropriate to Use Domperidone?

Domperidone must never be used as the first approach to correcting breastfeeding difficulties. Domperidone is not a cure for all things. It must not be used unless all other factors which may result in insufficient milk supply have been dealt with first. (See Handout: Protocol to Increase Intake of Breastmilk by the Baby). These other factors include:

Using Domperidone for Increasing Milk Production

Domperidone works particularly well to increase milk production under the following circumstances:

Domperidone still works, but often less dramatically when:

Side Effects of Domperidone

As with all medications, side effects are possible, and many have been reported with domperidone (textbooks often list any side effect ever reported, but symptoms reported are not necessarily due to the drug a person is taking). There is no such thing as a 100% safe drug. However, our clinical experience has been that side effects in the mother are extremely uncommon, except for increasing milk supply. Some side effects which mothers we have treated have reported (very uncommonly, incidentally):

The amount that gets into the milk is so tiny that side effects in the baby should not be expected. Mothers have not reported any to us, in many years of use. Certainly the amount the baby gets through the milk is a tiny percentage of what babies would get if being treated for spitting up.

Are there long term concerns about the use of domperidone?

The manufacturer states in its literature that chronic treatment with domperidone in rodents has resulted in increased numbers of breast tumours in the rodents. The literature goes on to state that this has never been documented in humans. Note that toxicity studies of medication usually require treatment with huge doses over periods of time involving most or all of the animal's lifetime. Note also that not breastfeeding increases the risk of breast cancer, and breast cancer risk decreases the longer you breastfeed.

Using Domperidone

Generally, we start domperidone at 20 milligrammes (two 10 mg tablets) four times a day. If taking domperidone 4 times a day is inconvenient, 30 milligrammes (three 10 mg tablets) three times a day is fine. Printouts from the pharmacy often suggest taking domperidone 30 minutes before eating, but that is because of its use for digestive intolerance. You can take the domperidone about every 6 hours, when it is convenient (there is no need to wake up to keep to a 6 hour schedule-it does not make any difference). Most mothers take the domperidone for 3 to 8 weeks. Mothers who are nursing adopted babies may have to take the drug much longer.

After starting domperidone, it may take three or four days before you notice any effect, though sometimes mothers notice an effect within 24 hours. It appears to take two to three weeks to get a maximum effect, but some mothers have noted effects only after 4 or more weeks. It is reasonable to give domperidone a trial of at least 4 weeks before saying it doesn't work.

How Long Can I Use Domperidone?

When domperidone was being used for babies (and now that cisapride is off the market, it is being used again), it was common for the babies to be on the medication for several months. Since the amount of domperidone that gets into the milk is very small indeed, from the baby's point of view, there should be no issue in the mother taking it to increase milk supply for several months. Our experience with this drug is that short-term side effects are very few and almost always very mild. Worldwide experience with domperidone over at least 2 decades suggests that long-term side effects also are rare. Some of the mothers in our clinic, breastfeeding adopted babies, have been on the medication for 18 months without any apparent side effects.

How Long Does it Take for Domperidone to Work?

It depends on the situation. In a situation where the mother had had a good milk supply, but it decreased for some reason (e.g. going on the birth control pill), domperidone often works very rapidly to increase the milk supply. Often, within a day or two, the mother is seeing a difference (and so does her baby). But this is not always so, and in any situation, it may take a week or more for the mother to get an effect. On occasion, we have had mothers only starting to get an increase in their milk supplies a month or more after starting to take it. Therefore, we generally recommended that the mother take the domperidone for at least 6 weeks in order to be sure whether it has worked or not.

It is our impression that domperidone works best after the first few weeks after the mother has given birth. This has not been proved, but there are theoretical reasons why it may be so. For this reason, we have often waited to prescribe it until the baby is at least 3 weeks, mainly because we did not want the mother to become discouraged if she did not see any rapid increase in her milk supply.

How Do I Know How Long to Take Domperidone?

Usually, we ask the mother take it for two weeks and re-evaluate. There are several possibilities.

In these two situations, we would ask the mother to start weaning herself from the domperidone in this way.

It is possible, however, that after two weeks, you are not where you want to be. In that case, you should continue using the domperidone. If you are still not where you want to be after 6 weeks of domperidone, it is time to think some more about the domperidone. If you are supplementing, and have managed to reduce the amount of supplement from 14 ounces to 10 ounces, is it really worth taking a drug in order to do this? If you feel it is, then continue with the domperidone, but try weaning the number of pills down to minimum number that maintain your milk supply, as above. If you do not feel it is worth it, try weaning down as above, and if you don't see any change once you get to no pills a day, fine. However, if you do notice a real change in the milk supply as you lower the dose, maybe the domperidone is more effective than you had thought (remember, after 6 weeks, your baby is significantly heavier, and it may be that instead of needing 14 ounces without domperidone, the baby might actually need 20 ounces to maintain good weight gain, in which case the domperidone is actually doing something).

Remember: Before using domperidone, the breastfeeding should be fixed, and as quickly as possible. This means:

Handouts #19a and #19b. Domperidone. January 2003
Written by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC. © 2003

This handout may be copied and distributed without further permission, on the condition that it is not used in any context in which the WHO code on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes is violated.