I was tested for insulin in my breastmilk........
 

A bit of background first....
6 years ago I was diagnosed with Hyperinsulinemia and corrected it with diet before falling pregnant and having my now 5 year old daughter. All was fine until half way through the pregnancy of my now 2 1/2 yr old daughter when the sugar cravings kicked in again and left me with horrible carb cravings. Being a busy mum of two kids, looking after myself was the last thing on my list and it continued until I fell pregnant again earlier this year and at 10 weeks suffered a missed miscarriage.
I immediately commenced a low carb diet again as I believe that my insulin levels needed to be balanced to ensure a successful pregnancy in the future. Anyway, kids got really sick followed by hubby, who ended up in hospital and so I gave it up.
Fast forward to now.... I am still breastfeeding my 2 1/2 year old and she is totally addicted! I mean she feeds ALL night and would feed all day if I sat in one place long enough. And she is really loud if I try and get a break from it! She also has bad eczema and has done from a very young baby. This has got worse in the last 6 months though.

So I took my 2 1/2 daughter to see the allergy specialist who originally diagnosed me and he said that he wanted to test for insulin in my breastmilk. He said that he had come across another case where an extended breastfed baby had bad eczema and after tests it came back that she had insulin in her breastmilk.

I went off to the pathology lab and got ushered into a room to express some milk. They were extremely excited about the test as they had only ever tested blood! Anway, I got the results today and it came back at 33 iu in my breastmilk (after an overnight fast and a breakfast with some carbs an hour before the test). He also said that whilst the insulin she ingests would be dealt with by her stomach, it would also be absorbed by the mucus membranes. My specialist said that so much more research needs to be done on this but in the meantime I need to have an insulin aware diet until she weans and then go full low carb.
Personally I think that I need to go the full low carb now as I myself am quite insulin resistant. I feel awful that whilst I am trying to do the right thing for my girl by extended breastfeeding I may actually be causing more harm than good. I have no desire to force her to stop but know I need to reduce the insulin in my milk so that she can feel she can wean naturally when she is ready. I know what it is like to be addicted to carbs and no doubt she feels the same about my milk. I thought this information might help other breastfeeding Mums.

Now I need to work out how to approach this as I have a ferocious appetite due to the heavy overnight feeding. Any ideas? What has worked for you. Do you ease into the diet when breastfeeding or do you jump straight in?

I look forward to your replies!

I'm currently in the same boat as you, as far as jumping into a low-carb diet while breastfeeding... I've been doing my best to watch my carbs while nursing (usually 75-100 net carbs), but I just can't seem to lose ANY weight this way and I'm the type of person that gets mega carb cravings if I even allow myself up to 50 g net carbs per day. It sucks. So as of two days ago I started Induction. Kinda. Everything I read says not to do induction while nursing, but at the same time I always read how breastfed babies have HAD to survive on a number of different diets over the years depending on what foods were available for the mothers. I think the issue is that there hasn't been enough research on diet and breastfeeding... Anyway, after much consideration I've decided that I'm just going to go for it because I've been feeling lousy and want to lose this dang pregnancy weight already! lol. So I opted to do a loose version of Induction, which basically means I'm allowing as many acceptable veggies as I'd like, instead of measuring them like the book says. I also have an occasional slice of low calorie/carb bread (35 cals and 5 net carbs) w/ a Tablespoon or two of natural peanut butter if I get a craving for sugar. I'd rather eat that then end up cheating! Otherwise I'm using the rules of Induction.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm hoping it'll work out, but I haven't been doing this long enough while nursing to know. Obviously if my milk supply drops or if my baby starts getting fussy at the breast and I can't find another reason, then I'm going to have to reevaluate how I eat. I'm hoping that won't be the case, but only time will tell. So far it seems to be going well.

I'd say just jump back into the low-carbing and make any tweaks as you need to along the way. Your body and your little one will let you know what to do! Good luck!

Thanks for your reply! It is hard to know what to do but I am like you in that 75-100g carb is just too high for me. That level of carbs breeds cravings for me so I have decided to just jump in. I'm not actually counting my carbs at the moment but I am having mainly protein and fat along with salad and low carb veggies. I'm not counting the carbs of my veggies and salads but I am not having any potatoes, corns, peas, etc. I'm definitely not having any breads or pastas. Oh, and I also have some nuts. I expect I am having 30-50 grams of carb a day. This is now day 10 for me and I am feeling good, much more energy and my daughter seems to be sleeping better at night. I have lost about 1.5kg (I don't tend to lose very fast!) and don't feel as bloated.
As my baby is now 2 1/2yrs old I am not concerned about losing milk supply but in my experience (this is bub #2) it is not lack of carbs that cause loss of milk supply but lack of essential fatty acids. A low carb diet is usually perfect for milk supply as it is often high in avocadoes, nuts, oils, etc.

It seems there are a lot of breastfeeding Mums/Moms who are looking for support. Perhaps I should start a Breastfeeding discussion thread so we can all support each other like the Pregnancy thread. Off to start one now!