Alyssa Walker was starting to figure new motherhood out?her daughter was healthy and her milk had finally come in. But the act of breastfeeding was awful, and not because of the typical cracked nipples and cluster feeding. Whenever Walker nursed her daughter she felt an intense wave of emotions. ?Suddenly I felt completely helpless and very stressed out and anxious about my future as a parent,? says Walker. And then, just as quickly, the feeling of hopelessness went away as if it had never happened.
At first, the 29-year-old Toronto mother had no idea what was happening?she was aware of postpartum depression, but didn?t think that?s what she was experiencing, because of how quickly the emotions came and went. Of course, she turned to google, and an internet search revealed she was suffering from a little-known condition called Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex, or D-MER. What is Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex"
During breastfeeding, your baby?s tongue pushes up on your nipple, which signals the release of oxytocin. This oxytocin causes your breast tissue to contract and let milk down into the ducts and out the nipple. It?s during this letdown that some women experience a severe dip in their mood. ?Some people feel so depressed all of a sudden,? says Verity Livingstone, a medical doctor and a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine who runs the Vancouver Breastfeeding Clinic. ?Other mothers experience a much less profound sense of doom and gloom, but just a strong ...