https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:15:31 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086789 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 13:19:18 +0000 HappyBaker 2086789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone, I'm definitely going to give it a shot! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086629 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 12:04:13 +0000 gingerbebe 2086629@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes I take lecithin - I use Now brand sunflower lecithin about 2-3 times a day. I do think it thins the milk out and gets more out but I second the nipple clog thing. I make sure to soap and rub my nipples well in a hot shower and then gently exfoliate them with a damp washcloth when I get out - I always see dry milk and skin rub off. Pumping makes that stuff build up fast. I had mastitis last week because of a combo plugged duct and nipple pore clog. The worst! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086553 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 11:38:51 +0000 Anagram 2086553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsLonghorn: only when I had a plug. It didn't work *every* time, but usually it did. Sometimes I had to apply fresh cotton balls for a 2nd or 3rd round before it loosened up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086442 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 10:48:09 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2086442@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Plugged ducts ALL the time over here! I swear by 3 capsules of 1200mg Sunflower Lecithin every day. I absent-mindedly skipped them this past weekend, and of course had a MASSIVE plug on Tuesday.</p> <p>@anagram I will definitely be trying the olive oil trick. Do you do it only when you have a plug? I resorted to both a needle and my husband (we will never speak of that again!) on Tuesday, and neither worked. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086253 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:07:32 +0000 Alivoo01 2086253@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: OMG!! Yes!! I've even left work because I was in such excruciating pain. It was always on the side of my boob so I couldn't put my arm down! Since I'm at a computer all day with my arm touching my boob while typing... yea... no. Owwwww!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086229 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:55:06 +0000 Anagram 2086229@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alivoo01: I had so many crazy nights where I was in TEARS from the boob pain, and Dh would be trying to "help" me---have you seen that "neighbors" movie where the husband...ahem...milks her because her pump is broken?</p> <p>Let's just say.....I've been there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086217 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:50:24 +0000 Alivoo01 2086217@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Soul sisters I tell ya! First the baby sleep and now clogged ducts sympathies. lol I remembered trying all those techniques and nothing helped. It was so effing painful! Not even breastfeeding relieved the pain or removed the clogged duct! I could feel him sucking and the pulling of the duct/milk but no release. Took me almost 6 months to realize what was going on. Oof! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086215 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:50:09 +0000 HappyBaker 2086215@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: oh interesting about the cotton ball trick!</p> <p>I am EPing too so maybe that's why I'm getting them so often. Basically one spot on each boob seems to get ping pong ball size every other day! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086212 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:49:08 +0000 SweetiePie 2086212@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: OMG I wish I had known all of this while I was EP'ing! Probably would have given me so much more relief! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086209 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:49:02 +0000 Alivoo01 2086209@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Another sufferer of frequent clogged ducts. I took the sunflower lecithin, and it seemed to help. But it was me hand expressing for a few minutes after pumping or feeding that seemed to help the most. I kept getting these itty bitty dried milk ducts in one of my nipples. Like if I squeezed hard enough, I could see it. So annoying! So I kept squeezing until I heard a "pop" meaning the duct finally opened up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086202 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:43:52 +0000 Anagram 2086202@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>OH, another thing I remembered---what I thought were clogged ducts were usually actually an invisible (to the eye) clogged nipple pore. I think this issue is more common if you pump, because if you ONLY bf, the baby's saliva dissolves a lot of the leftover dried milk.</p> <p>I also started really scrubbing my nips well with a towel after showers (and sometimes even picking any white residue off) and that helped a lot, too.</p> <p>Since the clogged pores were invisible to the eye, I only figured it out after multiple (I probably went through 2 dozen instances of what I thought were clogged ducts) attempts at the hot showers, massages, etc with no relief--and then I read somewhere (Kelly's mom?) about soaking a cotton ball in olive oil and sticking it on the nipple for about an hours before pumping--that would sometimes open up a pore and when I would pump, milk would come shooting out and I would have immediate relief). After I experienced that a few times, I would just sterilize a needle and kind of lightly scrape around till I found the clogged pore. Once when I did that, milk shot out probably 5 ft, across the room.</p> <p>The things we do for our kids. :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086184 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:37:33 +0000 SweetiePie 2086184@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I ended up EP'ing for the first month and got clogged ducts all the time. So painful! I started the lecithin and it seemed to help. I took capsules I purchased from Fairway.<br /> I think @gingerbebe takes them also. She's still BF and pumping where I am not, so she might have more helpful info. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086182 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:35:46 +0000 Anagram 2086182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I used the soy lecithin until my LO got diagnosed with MSPI, then I stopped using it.</p> <p>I had a TON of clogged ducts and clogged nipple pores the first 5-6 months. The only thing that eventually helped for me was when I started pumping less, because before that I had kind of an oversupply problem (up until that point, I was pumping 6-7 times a day and producing 45+ oz a day--I was an EPer).</p> <p>When I cut down to 4 pumps a day and started only producing 32 oz or so, I never got clogged ducts again. It was so weird. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086177 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:32:46 +0000 HappyBaker 2086177@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms.Pumpkin: thanks! I didn't even know there were granules! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086170 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:21:42 +0000 Ms.Pumpkin 2086170@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Replying here to partially chime in, but also to see what others say!</p> <p>I got some awful plugged ducts the other week, and I'm determined to not have it happen again, so I got the sunflower lecithin granules-I had read somewhere that the sunflower was preferable to the soy. I've been putting a tablespoon in my oatmeal each morning, but I'm not sure if that's the right amount since all the resources online I've seen give the dosage for capsules? Kellymom has some info:</p> <p><a href="http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/lecithin/" rel="nofollow">http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/lecithin/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lecithin-experience#post-2086161 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:00:00 +0000 HappyBaker 2086161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Did you take it everyday? How much? Does it help you empty faster or just prevent clogs / do you think it actually helped? </p>