Over the years I’ve had some petty interesting side affects taking anti-depressants. Or I thought I had. And now I can’t even really think of many, there is always the weight gain, I have never been spared the sexual side affects, this one time I went on a drug that exacerbated all of my worst depression symptoms and I went NUTS until I was off of it. Coming off meds I’ve had the regular side affects, night sweats, the shakes, nightmares, anxiety, basically it isn’t fun.
One day I was inspecting my boobs, the whole boob, nipples included; just inspecting them, nothing serious and I noticed on both nipples a bubble of fluid appeared. I instantly started squeezing my nipple but hardly any more fluid was coming out. I love picking at stuff, it is like a bloody drug. But I somehow forgot about the fluid in my nipples until after a run a week or so later, they had become a little irritated and I was tentatively scratching them when again fluid appeared on the tips of my nipples. During this inspection I must have pressed on the areola and gotten a bit of my breast in with it because fluid gushed out. The fluid was clear with a milky, yellowish color and I pressed and pressed and let it run down my chest till it was drained and then did the other side. I was in a trance. It was like having six zits lined up in a row that you KNOW are going to explode onto the mirror but better. Although on one hand I was concerned the fascination of being able to drain fluid down my chest from my nipples was winning over because for one it didn’t hurt.
I do not know why but I kept this to myself. I was embarrassed which honestly made no sense to me having had and written extensively about my ass surgery. In the beginning I didn’t even become obsessed with nipple draining I didn’t tell Adam for probably two weeks. Nothing I read on-line in regards to leaky nipples was good so I decided to also tell a pregnant friend and she said it sounded like breast milk and I should for sure go have it looked at but I knew I wasn’t pregnant and apparently breast milk doesn’t come in right away. I’d probably had it for going on three or four weeks by this time.
I went to a walk in clinic and got the same Dr. I got last time when I went in because my allergies were really really bad and I knew there was nothing that could be done but I was being a baby. GREAT. Now I get to tell this Dr. about my leaky nipples and show her because she made me I pressed out a nice bubble of fluid and she passed me a tissue. She sent me for blood tests, one for pregnancy and one that would measure my prolactin levels.
I got called back for the test results the next day and was totally afraid I was pregnant but am not, awesome. But my prolactin levels were HIGH the Dr. [a new one this time] started going off on how this was bad and asked about all my medications wrote them all down and started to get all serious and saying he was going to send me to an endocrinologist, and that I was going to need a CAT scan an MRI and that I could have tumors. I hear tumors and basically heard nothing else after that. I could feel the color drain from my face. I said Tumors??
This Dr. was so extreme I didn’t even realize he is talking about tumors in my head and not my breasts at first. All I knew was that I had real breast milk coming out of my nipples and I didn’t have a baby on the way to feed. I entered back into reality and decided this really wasn’t working for me and requested that all of this information be sent to my actual family Dr. and I would deal with it from there. Nothing he was saying was making any sense and it was really freaking me out and I told him I would rather deal with one Dr. instead of seeing a different bloody Dr. every time I went to the walk in clinic. My Dr. is a bit of a trek I only go over to her for big things. I figured this warranted a visit. I made the appropriate appointment.
Now in between all of this non pleasurable action happening around my breasts I had a therapy appointment and I went in all stressed out and let my story stream out from the first detail. The explaining how I discovered the actual fluid being the most comfortable part to tell.
Dr. Buttle after listening attentively to my experience at the walk in clinic and my fears over all the urgency asked me why I had never mentioned this was happening in a previous session. [Well shit man I was embarrassed of course, and did not see what relevance it had to my therapy now the cat is out of the bag and I'm stressed.] [Obviously.] This was where he mentioned that risperidone the newest drug added to my cocktail can cause a woman to start producing prolactin, it is rare at the dose I’m on [of course] but that is what he felt was causing it. And he instantly lowered my risperidone dosage.
It was decided that I would not see my family Dr. until my therapist had a chance to talk things over with her because although it was probably just the medication causing it there was talk of a CAT scan and talk of more blood tests.
As it stands now I have seen my Dr. and gone for a second set of blood tests where they took lots of my blood, results should be back soon, and I am waiting to hear when my CAT scan is and I go back for more blood tests in July. At first I was pretty worried because the fluid was not slowing down but now it is so I am definitely leaning towards medication side affects and not that I’m dying. Having the prolactin levels high in my system when I’m not pregnant can cause its own set of new problems but right now I am just concentrating on the positive like being able to offer myself as a wet nurse to my girlfriend. I can’t think of a better gift to offer a friend with a baby.
