Dr. Marjorie Greenfield
Specializing in pregnancy and birth.
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 Ask Dr. Greenfield
Galactorrhea: Production of Breast Milk without Pregnancy | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Greenfield,
I was doing a self-exam for breast cancer before I got into the shower. I gently squeezed them and a white substance came out of my nipple. It wasn't really liquidly but it wasn't really foamy either. It happened with both breasts. I don't think I'm pregnant. But a friend of mine said that she thought that it might be the start of breast milk forming. Is this true?— Shangri3 in Linwood, NJ, United States | | | ANSWER |
April 19, 2002 | | | Dear Shangri3,
What you are experiencing is called galactorrhea, the production of some milk when you haven't had a baby recently. Breast cancer won't cause a discharge from both breasts, so that is not an issue, if you were worrying along those lines. Galactorrhea can occur during pregnancy, but usually there are many other pregnancy signs like absent periods, weight gain, fatigue, and nausea. If you have any reason to think that you are pregnant, a home pregnancy test will answer that question quickly.
Galactorrhea is sometimes caused by too much of the milk hormone prolactin, or occasionally by other hormonal changes, like low thyroid. Sometimes the hormonal changes associated with galactorrhea can disturb your menstrual cycle, so you should keep a written record of your periods while this is being investigated.
The best thing to do is to see your gynecologist or primary care doctor, who can do a few blood tests to try to figure out what might be causing this new finding. I hope that this answers your question. Take care. — by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. |
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