The Overlooked Hormone: A Complete Guide to Decreasing Prolactin for Better Fertility

Nov-07-2025
The Overlooked Hormone: A Complete Guide to Decreasing Prolactin for Better Fertility

You’ve been trying to conceive, but your periods are irregular, or maybe they’ve stopped altogether. You're doing everything "right," but nothing seems to be working. Then, a blood test brings a new, confusing word into your life: prolactin.

Your doctor says your levels are high, and this might be the reason for your fertility struggles.

At New World Fertility, we see this all the time. A diagnosis of high prolactin (known as hyperprolactinemia) can feel like one more frustrating hurdle. But we're here to tell you something we tell our patients every day: this is not only a clear diagnosis, but it's also one of the most treatable causes of infertility.

You're in the right place. Let's walk through what this means, why it's happening, and the clear path to lowering your levels and getting your fertility back on track.

Table of Contents

  • What is Prolactin, Anyway? (It's Not Just for Breastfeeding)

  • The "Why": How High Prolactin Actually Stops Pregnancy

  • Symptoms of High Prolactin (It's Not Always Obvious)

  • What Causes High Prolactin Levels in the First Place?

  • The First Step: How We Diagnose High Prolactin

  • The "Gold Standard": Medical Treatments to Lower Prolactin

  • What About "Natural" Ways to Lower Prolactin?

  • Your Fertility Future: The Hopeful Bottom Line

What is Prolactin, Anyway? (It's Not Just for Breastfeeding)

Let's start with the basics. Prolactin is a hormone produced by your pituitary gland, a tiny, pea-sized gland at the base of your brain.

Its primary, well-known job is to tell the body to produce breast milk after childbirth. This is why it's often called the "milk hormone."

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, prolactin levels are naturally very high. This is not just to produce milk, but also to act as a natural (though not 100% reliable!) contraceptive. High prolactin sends a powerful signal to the brain to pause fertility, essentially telling your body, "We're busy with a newborn, now is not the time to get pregnant again."

But when you are not pregnant and not breastfeeding, your prolactin levels should be very low. When they are high, that same "pause" signal is sent by mistake, and your reproductive system is put on hold.

The "Why": How High Prolactin Actually Stops Pregnancy

This is the most critical piece of the puzzle. How does this one hormone have so much power?

It all comes down to a domino effect in your brain.

  1. Prolactin Rises: For some reason (which we'll cover next), your pituitary gland starts overproducing prolactin.

  2. It Blocks the "Start" Signal: High levels of prolactin directly suppress another crucial hormone called Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH).

  3. The Dominos Fall: GnRH is the "master" hormone that tells your pituitary gland to release FSH (Follicle-Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Luteinizing Hormone).

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