D-MER: How homeopathy supports changing mood during milk let-down.

Most people have never heard of D-MER.

Yet, when it is experienced, many mothers silently blame themselves for it.

D-MER: Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex is a physiological reflex, not a psychological one.

When milk lets down, the brain has to lower dopamine so prolactin can rise.

For some women, that dopamine drop happens too fast or too sharply, and the nervous system responds with:

• a sudden wave of sadness

• dread or sinking feelings

• irritability

• anxiety or panic

• hollowness in the chest or stomach

• a sense of “something is wrong”

It usually lasts 30–90 seconds, then passes.

And mothers often never tell anyone because they think it means they’re depressed, or “not bonded enough,” or doing something wrong.

None of that is true.

This is a somatic reflex, not a flaw or failure.

It’s the nervous system is reacting to a rapid neurochemical shift.

And your body is telling the story before your mind can understand it.

Homeopathy has long described emotional states that look very similar to what we call D-MER.

Classical authors wrote about sudden dips in mood, irritability linked with lactation, emotional heaviness connected to physiological reflexes, or a “sudden sinking of the vital force accompanying a natural function”.

Here are remedies classical authors referenced for states resembling D-MER

(educational, not medical advice):

• Ignatia – sudden dips of mood or nervous affections

• Sepia – indifference, irritability, and aversion to nursing though she loves the child

• Pulsatilla – changeable moods accompanying hormonal or lactation functions

• Aconite – sudden waves of fear or sinking before a physical reaction sets in

• Lac maternum / Lac remedies – emotional fluctuations connected with lactation and maternal identity

These descriptions aren’t modern labels.

They’re patterns.

Expressions of how emotional life can move through the body.

Exactly what so many mothers experience with D-MER today.

And this is why homeopathy supports women in this pattern so well.

It listens to the full picture.

The emotional tone.

The physical response.

The timing.

The somatic truth that the body reveals long before the mind can explain it.

If let-down during breastfeeding feels heavy or strange or suddenly overwhelming, book a discovery call to see how I can support you on your journey.