To think painkillers or giving up aren't the answer?

[woundedbutwalking]

Following an ECS I had problems feeding my now 3mo DD. I literally put up with any pain to get started and was just grateful I was feeding her. The constant pain is getting to me now... I've sought advice privately from a lactation consultant who ruled out tongue tie & referred to to an Osteopath to see if stiffness following use of foreceps during birth was to blame. We've been back to Osteo 3 times over the course of 6 weeks & he's now happy that's sorted.

HV & lactation consultant both happy with positioning & latch; neither could see any signs of thrush. GP today has basically told me take paracetamol or give up when I've asked how I can try an improve things!

I'm at the end of my tether - I really want to continue, but also want to know how to without it hurting! Initial latch is horrible, but pain subsides after a minute or two. After I've finished feeding I get a deep pain in my breast tissue. No mastitis or blocked ducts either. WTF else can I do??!

[Bambamber]

Have you both been checked for thrush? Never had it personally, but apparently can cause a lot of pain

[woundedbutwalking]

Basically forced the Dr to swab us, she's convinced it's not it.

[Coffeeisnecessary]

I had this, it's awful. Talk to la leche league if you have someone local? Mine was great about finding info out about thrush and giving me stuff to take to the doctor about it and insist on treatment. Doctors seem to be very reluctant to treat thrush when there isn't any symptoms visible but I found the fluconazole tablets really helpful in easing the pain. That said, it was always a bit painful with my first and I was happy to give up at 6 months. Second child was a breeze in comparison. Good luck!

[woundedbutwalking]

Thanks coffee if no visible symptoms will swab show any results? Have left a message for LLL on their help line, hopefully they can help!!

[Jadetreesbringluck]

In my experience - it could well still be tongue tie. Can you have him rechecked with someone show is expert? I had my son assessed for it and as it was an unusal hard to spot type, was told he did not have it. When I got a lactation consultant on my second child she was able to diagose the baby and also looked at my then toddler and said he was too.

[Janek]

I have nothing helpful to add, but I am very impressed with how strong and determined you are being .

[Albadross]

I had this - ours was lip tie which then split when DS fell over and hit it!

[woundedbutwalking]

Lactation consultant we saw is very highly recommended- she said there's a very small posterior TT but snipping it is unlikely to make a big difference. I'd forgotten about that so will make it the next avenue of investigation. Dr has phoned back this PM to get me back in again next week. Not sure why, but hopefully that means she'll look into other support options for me...

[woundedbutwalking]

Thanks Janek I could be accused of stubbornness!!!

[MadreDeDios]

My two had tongue tie but it was the one with posterior tongue tie who struggled to feed the most, and caused the most pain to me. The diagnosis did take a while and having it snipped definitely helped me to continue breast feeding.

[Coffeeisnecessary]

Mine did have a tongue tie and it was snipped at 10 days but think he had developed a bad position by then, and then the thrush set in. We never had a swab so don't know if it would show up but i would have thought unlikely if there are no outward symptoms? The LLL seemed go think it could be more internal?

[woundedbutwalking]

That's what the HV said coffee, Dr raised her eyebrows... I was pretty persistent, asked if I could take medication on the off chance, she wouldn't agree to that, but did then swab us both. Hopefully something will show up...

[Coffeeisnecessary]

Fingers crossed. They don't like to give fluconazole because there aren't any trials done of it on breastfeeding mothers, but that's only because they aren't allowed to test things then, it's a safe drug (as long as it isn't used for ages). I was eventually given a high dose for a few days (week? Can't remember exactly as it was so long ago) then a low dose for a few more weeks I think. It definitely helped. Hope you get some answers! Will also say though, the only thing that properly cleared it up for me was finishing breastfeeding, but I was stubborn like you and wanted to give up on my own terms- if I'd had the same issues with my second I would have given up much quicker!