Surely this is a ridiculous reason to go to A&E but what do I do?!

[ColourfulHairbands]

I know there’s men on here but I don’t care anymore! I have to post on here for traffic and to see if anyone has ever experienced similar.

For nearly two weeks I’ve had extreme pain in my nipples. The pain doesn’t come and go, it’s there constantly and the best way to describe it is that I have shooting pains directly from my nipple going into my breast.

My nipples have been hard for two weeks non stop. You know the feeling of having hard nipples when you’re quite cold and eventually it gets a bit uncomfortable, that’s my life.

I have no clue what’s going on. I haven’t stopped breastfeeding or anything like that. I don’t know if it’s a hormonal thing (I have the implant so not a side effect of my period). I called the GP and he was none the wiser bless him. He booked me in for a blood test this Wednesday but he did say that he doubts anything will show up. I called 111 and they said go to your GP or A&E.

I’m seriously considering going to A&E. I don’t know how they can help me (they probably can’t) but I think I may need to be examined at the very least. Has anyone experienced anything like this? The pain is bringing me to tears daily and I’m starting to worry that this may be somewhat serious

I would expect a GP to examine you for any breast related issue though.

I get thrush in my nipples occasionally and what you are describing sounds like my symptoms. You need fluconazole which you can buy over the counter at a pharmacy.

As others have said you need a proper medical opinion too though.

I haven’t read all the replies but it sounds like thrush. You need cream for your nipples and gel for the baby’s mouth. Its a GP issue.

Definitely sounds like thrush.
Hope the cream helps

It is quite worrying your GP didn’t even consider thrush as a possibility to rule out and ordered blood tests that they don’t believe will show anything and proposed no recommendation to manage the pain. You should change GP.

Do people really need to be told to take some pain relief if they're in pain?

Is there no expectation of any self-care?

These were the symptoms of my first pregnancy, OP, so I'd buy that pregnancy test ASAP!

I would get DH to have a good suck on them to see if that helps to "re-set" the sensation! 😂

Fluconazole capsule might be more helpful to clear it if it's a deeper infection and if cream alone doesn't clear it
Sounds very painful
Try Co Codamol 8/500 otc plus regular ibuprofen for now too

Wow! I’ve just looked into what Raynaud’s Syndrome is and I genuinely believe I have that!

I have severe itching on my hands and under my feet. It’s been happening for about 2 years yet and I’ve always tried to ignore it. It’s only when my breasts have started to hurt then I decided to call the GP hence why I’m having a blood test.

How do you know whether you definitely have this or not? I’m ALWAYS cold and it’s a running joke in the office that I can never cope with the air con on. I had a look on the NHS page and it says that it can also be triggered by too much caffeine including chocolate. I have a pack of chocolate every single day! Fml this is a lot to take in!! Thank you so much:)

How do you actually get thrush in your nipples? I’m sure I sound uneducated but I’m really interested to know how this came about.

I bought Canesten (external cream) from Boots before work and it also included a tablet of Fluconazole so I’m hoping this does the trick. It’s clear this is for thrush within the vagina bu the pharmacist said it’s still okay to use

As I said upthread, I have a 1 year old and 2 year old so would be seriously pissed if I’m pregnant but I don’t think that’s the case😂

I forgot to purchase a pregnancy test before work because I was rushing so much. Will certainly get one after work just in case

Thank you all for the helpful comments, you guys have saved me as the pain is already a bit more bearable!

If the pain continues then I’ll call my GP again during the week. It’s not difficult for me to get an appointment at all. I’ll speak with my GP on Thursday morning and get seen on the same day, I’m extremely lucky. In my GP’s defence he did focus more on my itchy hands and feet because this is a problem I’ve had for ages.

Hoping there’s nothing serious with my boobs:)

I had similar pain for two weeks and then I had bleeding which shouldn’t happen as I’m on the pill continuously due to other medical problems. Ask your GP if your implant could be causing the problems.

@ColourfulHairbands it can occur from having a course of antibiotics or a weakened immune system. I had it in my mouth as well which was pretty unpleasant.

This would be extremely unreasonable to go to A&E! Next you’ll have a post of someone who’s elderly mother waited for 16 hours with a broken hip to be seen - due to people going in for non-emergencies like this.

Hi @ColourfulHairbands If it is Raynaud’s, no one really knows why people get it. There is a theory that it is genetic, and so is a tendency for “collecting” autoimmune diseases. If you feel cold all the time maybe you need your thyroid function tested as well. I’m 51 and was diagnosed with Raynaud’s as a teenager. The nipple thing began in my mid-20’s. I suspect hormones might affect things there. I hope it brings you comfort to realise that it’s unlikely to be anything more insidious like cancer, etc.

@Bananabreadandstrawberries calm down luv, I didn’t turn up at A&E did I? I came on here to get advice which if you read the thread, you’ll see I got many helpful responses.

@Fraaahnces can I ask how you got diagnosed? Do you suffer from the pain in your breast often? I don’t think I can live like this! Seriously hoping that it’s thrust but all of the symptoms sound just like me

Yes I have had the same as you OP and this post sounds much like mine. The doctor was at a loss (ruled out thrush) and I ended up figuring out it was probably Raynauds myself.
Agonizing pain which would suddenly hit without warning. I would actually cry out when the pain hit which got me strange looks from people but I really couldn't explain it to them! "Sorry, it's my nipples. As you were."

Really? Sounds nothing like thrush to me

I randomly for no reason got mastitis (5 years after I’d stopped breastfeeding).

if it’s hot and inflamed and you feel unwell, urgent care - which is what we have here as a midway between gp and a&e. If you don’t have those symptoms, GP. I’d say anyway, obvs I’m not a doctor.

I’ve come to Mcds after work and my nipples hurt so much right now I had tears in my bloody eyes. Wtf is this!! Do you get the pain often? How do you cope? I could really do with some tips

I had a phase of Reynaulds of the nipple when BFing following a bout of mastitis. It started in the November and dragged on all winter.

As it was connected with BFing in my case, I went to the HVs for advice and they looked blank, shrugged and suggested giving up BFing. Helpful 🙄

In my case it cleared with time. Using bamboo breastpads helped a bit with managing triggering temperature differences.

Hopefully having likely paths of Reynaulds or thrush to investigate may get better results at the GP.

I immediately thought vasospasm when I read your post as well. I had it during pregnancy, first time was after I got out of a cold swimming pool in warm weather and I didn't know what had hit me. It was agonising.

Sounds like a Candida infection to me. You probably need systemic treatment as well as topical. Baby will also need treatment.