You are not alone, I experienced what felt like my heart was dancing in my chest almost up to my throat and when I felt my pulse, it felt like a skipped beat at the same time as the palpitation. It jus wouldn’t stop and I knew something was wrong and seemed to be worsening by the hour until I finally listened and did some research. First I read the comparisons side effects on my pharmacy sheet and there was an entire section about heart palpitations and what to do if it happens. It seemed as if this was a “normal” side effect.

My heart began having an irregular heart beat after a few weeks of dimperidone. I went to ER to get checked out and got cleared but had to get a heart monitor soon after the ER. The triage doctors had never heard of domperidone and on a quick Google search they found that it was likely that it could be causing my symptoms and told me to stop using it. A few weeks later, after my first holter monitor, a cardiologist told me that my heart slows down or stops too often but it’s not a huge concern that it would need any medication/surgery etc. He mentioned that I did, however, have some kind of abnormalities. I wasn’t sure how to take that information because he delivered it so passively but over the next two years they have come and gone many times.

I have had another intense month of palpitations that led me to use another holster monitor, however, the appointment I booked was almost another month after my symptoms and it mostly just goes away after a few weeks so nothing too serious got recorded this time but I was really concerned about the intensity and how long it persisted. The palpitations come and go, sometimes much worse than others and lasting on average for a couple weeks (several times throughout the day and ranging from a few seconds to about 10 minutes, at it’s worst, it feels like I am getting constant palpitations with few breaks in between).

Bottom line, I have an ongoing issue with palpitations or an irregular heart rhythm that I know was caused by domperidone. I have experienced what I would even call bullying from the lactation cconsulting community and it’s quite sad that they all choose to turn a blind eye to the facts (yes it has happened to many people and yes it is banned in the US for a good reason). My opinion is that new moms can be in a very fragile state (despite what others may say, we could be very depleted) and the medication could harm us even though it commonly harms seniors. Lactation consultants use this medication as their last attempt so it is no surprise that their success sometimes depends on this medication. Therefore, it’s common sense that they won’t listen and most often try to argue and put down the horrible experiences. Side note: I got more milk by using it but I had to keep up with taking the pills (if I stopped, I lost my milk). After the heart issues, I couldn’t take the pills and within a few weeks I completely lost my milk because of all the stress/worry and deteriorated health.

Is it not entirely possible these are mostly a correlation and not causation? Ie, that a mother’s health problems hinder her ability to breastfeed and not the other way around?

For example, emerging research seems to indicate insulin resistance could be a major contributor of primary low supply. That would go a long way to explaining the purported link between diabetes and obesity in mothers who don’t breastfeed.

Other links might be more indirect. For example, many mothers with persistent hyperemesis gravidarum take high doses of B6 until birth to treat nausea and vomiting. High doses of B6 may inhibit prolactin and increase levels of progesterone, which in turn suppresses prolactin. (In my case for example I was taking doses of B6 safe for pregnancy but 2400% higher than had been established in one study as appropriate for lactation.) If combined with any nutritional deficiencies the HG mother is suffering (especially iron deficiency – another known cause of primary low supply) then it is possible these mothers may go on to have great difficulty making breastmilk. They may also go on to experience long-term adverse effects from HG or conditions associated with it (I have no idea what these might be as HG is severely underresearched). This would then appear in the data as if they were due to not breastfeeding when in fact that was not the case.

Others here have already spoken about the impact difficulties with breastfeeding have on mental health, so that could be another example where correlation is mistaken for causation.

Your feedback would be most appreciated.

Obviously it’s run a lot like a theatre where they’d rather you buy expensive food inside (so they ban you bringing your own). However, unlike a theatre, Canada’s Wonderland will let you leave, eat your picnic, and come back in at no extra charge. It seems like a fair policy to me, and it’s pretty much standard at all theme parks that aren’t in Orlando or Anaheim.

Also, having known an employee from the park who worked prior to 2007 (and having been there myself 15 years ago) the no outside food policy is long standing. The National Post would do well to dig a little deeper as Canada’s Wonderland was actually more strict back then—that employee found out that picnics weren’t allowed at that time on the front lawn, they required patrons to vacate the premises (including the parking lot) entirely to eat outside food.