Milk from breasts not pregnant

Galactorrhea: What You Should Know About It

Am Fam Physician. 2004;70(3):553-554

What is galactorrhea?

Sometimes a woman's breasts make milk even though she is not pregnant or breastfeeding. This condition is called galactorrhea (say: guh-lack-tuh-ree-ah). The milk may come from one or both breasts. It may leak on its own or only when the breasts are touched. Men can have galactorrhea, too, but it is more common in women.

What causes galactorrhea?

Galactorrhea has many causes, although sometimes a cause cannot be found. Here are some possible causes:

Some medicines, like hormones, birth control pills, antidepressants, and blood pressure medicine
Herbal medicines, such as nettle, fennel, blessed thistle, anise, and fenugreek seed
Street drugs, like marijuana and opiates
Hormone imbalances
Clothes that irritate the breasts, like scratchy shirts or bras that don't fit well
Too frequent breast self-exams (daily exams)
Stimulating the breasts during sex
Tumors of the pituitary (say: pih-too-ih-terry) gland in the brain. These tumors are rare. They usually are not serious.
In newborn babies, hormones from the mother are passed on to the baby during birth.
Thyroid disease
Kidney failure

What signs should I tell my doctor about?

Tell your doctor if you have any of these signs with your galactorrhea:

Irregular menstrual periods
Red (bloody) fluid leaking from your breasts
Headaches
Trouble sleeping
Less interest in sex or trouble having sex
Problems with your eyesight
Increase in hair growth on your chin or chest
Acne
Increased thirst or urination

Which tests might my doctor want?

Tests are not always needed to find out what is causing your galactorrhea. But your doctor might want to take a blood sample to find out your hormone levels and to see if you are pregnant. Your doctor also might want you to have an MRI scan of your head to see if you have a tumor.

How is galactorrhea treated?

Sometimes galactorrhea will go away by itself. If you have galactorrhea and no other problems, you may not have to be treated. If galactorrhea is a side effect of a medicine you are taking, your doctor might change medicines or give you a different dosage.

Most tumors that cause galactorrhea are not cancer. They usually can be treated with medicine. Most people do not need to have surgery for a tumor.

Lactating Not Pregnant: Symptoms and Treatment

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Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph. D., MSN, R.N., IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT — By Rena Goldman on July 14, 2016

Lactation is the process of producing breast milk. For women who are pregnant or recently gave birth, lactation is normal. Hormones signal the mammary glands in your body to start producing milk to feed the baby. But it’s also possible for women who have never been pregnant — and even men — to lactate. This is called galactorrhea, and it can happen for a variety of reasons.

Galactorrhea happens to around 20 to 25 percent of women, according to Dr. Sherry Ross, OB/GYN at Providence Saint John’s Health Center.

Symptoms of lactating when you’re not pregnant

Galactorrhea’s most common symptom is one or both breasts producing excessive milk. The condition is most common in women, but can also happen to men and newborn babies.

Other symptoms include:

leaking from nipples that happens at random
enlargement of breast tissue
missed or irregular periods
loss of or lowered sex drive
nausea
acne
abnormal hair growth
headaches
trouble with vision

Causes of lactating when you’re not pregnant

Galactorrhea has a wide variety of different causes, and in some cases, the cause is hard to pinpoint. Reasons for lactating when not recently pregnant can range from hormone imbalances to medication side effects to other health conditions.

The most common cause of breast milk production is an elevation of a hormone produced in the brain called prolactin. Elevation of prolactin can be caused by:

medications
underlying medical issues
a tumor
overstimulation of the nipples

Other causes include the following.

Medications

Some medications may cause galactorrhea. These include:

antipsychotics
antidepressants
birth control
heart burn medications
certain pain killers
blood pressure medicines
medications that contain hormones

Medical conditions

These conditions may also contribute to lactating when not pregnant:

thyroid issues
kidney or liver disease
chronic stress
tumors or disease of the hypothalamus
any trauma or damage to breast tissue
high levels of estrogen (in newborns)

Drug use

Regular use of certain drugs, like opiates, marijuana, and cocaine, can trigger lactation without pregnancy. It’s important to tell your doctor if you’re using any drugs, and how often. They will need to consider this when diagnosing your galactorrhea.

Breast stimulation

For some people, having regular breast stimulation may trigger galactorrhea. This can be stimulation during sexual activity, from frequent breast self-exams, or from clothing that rubs against the nipples.

Mothers who are adopting babies and wish to breast-feed can prepare their breasts and increase prolactin levels with pumping.

Diagnosis for lactating when you’re not pregnant

Treatment for galactorrhea depends on what’s causing it. Your doctor will ask about family history and then may do a few tests to determine the cause. The doctor will also do a physical breast exam. They may try to express some of the discharge for examination in a lab.

Other tests can include:

bloodwork to see hormone levels
pregnancy test to rule out pregnancy
mammogram or ultrasound to check for changes in breast tissue
MRI to examine the brain for tumors or issues with the pituitary gland

Treatment for lactating when you’re not pregnant

Once your doctor has confirmed a cause, they’ll recommend treatment. Some things can be done on your own, like avoiding tight clothing and reducing the amount of nipple stimulation during sexual activities.

Other treatments need to be supervised by your doctor, like changing medications (for example, switching to a different antidepressant) or taking additional medications to regulate hormones.

Stopping antipsychotic medications, cutting back on marijuana, cocaine, and/or opiates, and limiting nipple stimulation are all ways to stop galactorrhea if these things are found to be the cause, according to Dr. Kevin Audlin of the Institute for Gynecologic Care at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. But he points out that it can take a few months for milk production to stop, even after discontinuing medication.

If the cause is a tumor or issues with the pituitary gland, it’s possible you may need surgery. Your doctor will likely do more tests.

Dr. Ross says medication can be given to bring down high prolactin numbers. “Bromocriptine is a medication used to lower the high levels of prolactin in your blood, which helps treat the symptom of lactation. ”

Prevention

Many of the causes of galactorrhea, like hormonal imbalances, tumors, or other medical conditions, are beyond our control. But there are a few things you can do at home to reduce your likelihood of lactating while not pregnant, including:

avoiding bras or clothing that irritate your nipples
avoiding stimulating breasts too often
practicing healthy ways to relieve stress

Should I be concerned?

The good news is that galactorrhea typically either goes away on its own or after medical treatment for its underlying cause. But if the discharge coming from your nipples is not milky and looks clear, bloody, or yellow, this is cause for concern. These may be signs of breast cancer. You should see your doctor right away.

Other concerning causes of nipple discharge include:

a benign (noncancerous) breast growth
pituitary gland tumors
a rare form of breast cancer called Paget’s disease of the nipple

Next steps

If you haven’t been pregnant or nursing in a six-month period and you’re lactating or seeing any other type of discharge from one or both nipples, see your doctor. If something serious is causing the discharge, it’s best to start treatment early.

Last medically reviewed on July 14, 2016

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Galactorrhea. (2014, March).
Retrieved from
familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/galactorrhea.html
Galactorrhea. (2015, March).
Retrieved from
mountsinai.org/patient-care/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/galactorrhea
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2016, January
4). Galactorrhea
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/galactorrhea/symptoms-causes/dxc-20167594

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Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph. D., MSN, R.N., IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT — By Rena Goldman on July 14, 2016

What does nipple discharge say

December 6, 2020 Likbez Health

If you are not breastfeeding and something is leaking from your breast, you should go to the doctor.

When discharge from the nipples is not dangerous

The structure of a woman's breast resembles bunches of grapes, where the berries are the alveoli that produce milk, and the twigs are the ducts through which it collects and flows out of the nipples. The cells of the inner layer of the glands throughout life are gradually renewed, sloughed off and, with a small amount of intercellular fluid, are brought out. So normal transparent discharges appear, sometimes with a yellow or brown tint. They can be seen by pressing on the nipple. nine0003 Illustrations: Tsuyna / Shutterstock

But the primary function of the breast is to feed the baby. Preparation for this begins already during pregnancy. When pressing on the breast, a sticky liquid may appear, which after childbirth will be replaced by milk. Lactation continues for 1-2 years after the birth of the baby, the rest of the time the breast is at rest.

It is also not dangerous if a woman stops breastfeeding, and after 3-6 months milk comes out of the nipples again: this condition can last up to 2-3 years. nine0003

What kind of discharge from the nipples indicates diseases

Various discharges from the nipples can be a sign of pathology, both in women and men.

Milk

Sometimes milk drips from the nipples even though the woman is not pregnant or has a baby. In this case, the discharge is associated with an increase in the level of prolactin in the blood. It is actively produced after childbirth in the pituitary gland, a small gland in the brain. In other women and men, the concentration of the hormone is minimal. Increased synthesis can occur with pituitary tumors, hypothyroidism, or under the influence of certain drugs:

contraceptives;
antidepressants;
high blood pressure products;
cannabinoids;
opiates;
prokinetics.

Bloody

Blood or brown sticky fluid most often occurs with intraductal papilloma, fibrocystic mastopathy, trauma or breast cancer. The older the woman, the higher the likelihood that such discharge is associated with oncology.

By the way, men also get breast cancer, although much less often than women. The symptoms are similar. nine0003

Yellow-green

If a focus of inflammation appears in the chest, blood leukocytes, bacteria join the dead cells, the discharge becomes yellow-green. This occurs with mastitis or suppuration of the tumor. In this case, the gland turns red, swells and hurts a lot. The disease usually develops on one side - either on the left or on the right.

Black or green

A thick black or green liquid indicates pathology, while the nipples are drawn inward, and the chest hurts and reddens. These are symptoms of lactiferous duct ectasia. nine0003

What to do if you have nipple discharge

If you are a woman who is not breastfeeding, or if you are a man, any discharge should be a reason to see a mammologist. Without consulting a doctor, it is impossible to determine whether this is a variant of the norm or a pathology.

The following methods are used for diagnosis:

Cytological smear. A drop from the nipple is squeezed onto the glass and sent for analysis. The lab technician can detect tumor cells and suggest cancer.
Breast ultrasound. Quickly and safely helps to identify the expansion of the ducts or papilloma in them, the tumor. nine0024
Mammography. X-ray method is recommended for women over 40 years of age. The pictures are informative for the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Ductography. A thin catheter is inserted into the nipple, and a special contrast solution is passed through it. After that, a picture is taken, in which papillomas or duct expansions are clearly visible.
Biopsy. It is carried out if a node is found on ultrasound or mammography. The doctor uses ultrasound to control the position of the neoplasm and takes a tissue sample from it with a thin needle. nine0024
CT or MRI of the brain. An examination is necessary for women and men with milk secretions to examine the condition of the pituitary gland.
Blood test for hormones. Assign if the doctor suspects that the patient has hypothyroidism or other endocrine disorders.

How to get rid of nipple discharge

Treatment depends on the cause and should be chosen by the doctor. In some cases, medications are prescribed. For example, with hypothyroidism or elevated prolactin levels, drugs that affect the production of hormones are needed. But if the secretion of milk is associated with a pituitary tumor, the mammologist will refer the patient to a neurosurgeon. He will decide if surgery is needed. nine0003

If the cause of the discharge is mastitis, intraductal papilloma or breast cancer, surgical treatment is necessary.

For duct ectasia, antibiotics and other drugs will be prescribed first, and if it does not help, surgery will be performed.

Why does milk come out of the breast if you are not pregnant? And how dangerous is it? 🤔

Love

You are not breastfeeding and definitely not pregnant, but you notice that there are small spots on your bra. Surprisingly, "milk" can go even if you have never given birth or had sex. nine0003

Photo: Getty Images

How dangerous is discharge from the nipples, is it worth worrying about, does it happen to guys and who to contact? We asked these questions to a professional mammologist.

oncologist, mammologist

⚪ My chest is leaking, but I'm not pregnant - is this normal?

There should be no discharge from the nipples outside of breastfeeding. If you have a discharge that looks like milk, you need to see a doctor. nine0003

⚪ What does breast discharge look like?

The discharge is not always obvious and sometimes does not look like droplets from the nipple. To understand if there is a discharge, it is necessary to examine the underwear from the inside.

⚪ But why does the breast “flow”?

Discharge can be caused by various reasons. The most common option is hormonal restructuring , which every girl faces during puberty. Signs that it is the hormones: