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

Op, please give an update on here after doctor - I am invested! Hope it gets sorted, sounds absolutely horrid. I used to get the sharpest spasms up my anus of all
olaces! It was like I had just sat on a knitting needle - it was agony and I would genuinely leap out of my seat. Googled it and it’s something to do with periods?! Random pain in random places is horrible and often embarrassing so I have lots of sympathy. 💐

I had mild Reynaulds while breastfeeding my first. Temperature changes and cold were the big triggers. I found layers of clothing over my breasts to keep them warm, using nipple guards to keep clothing from rubbing, and hot water bottles all helped. It eventually went away on its own. Good luck with it!

Hi, this sounds exactly like thrush in your breasts. It can happen where the thrush is actually inside the ducts inside your boobs. I’ve had it and it is EXCRUCIATING. Like someone slicing a knife down the inside of your boobs. To clear it you need oral fluconazole tablets (a proper course) and the topical cream for your nips. Doctors have no idea it exists in my experience so I recommend looking at the breast feeding network webpage (I know you’re not breast feeding but it has a fact sheet on there with the treatment information).

Very late to this and I'm sure you've got to the bottom of this but I immediately thought thrush which you can just get from warm, moist environments and clothes. I've had thrush and it sounded like it but I also have Raynauds(always in hands and feel but nothing like my boobs!), I got little heat pads that I could discreetly put in my bra......game changer

Can't advise for the nipple pain, but if it's Reynauds causing the itching in your hands and feet then I recommend keeping your wrists and ankles warm. Turtle doves wrist warmers have saved my fingers for years now, and as soon as it drops below 15C I have to switch to boots because shoes just don't cut it.

I had strange symptoms similar to you for well over a year after giving birth. Not the nipples but more hands and feet. It just disappeared then, and never returned. It must have been pregnancy related hormones in retrospect.

I have reynauds in my nipples. Heat packs stuffed down the bra and I often put a make up cotton pad over my nipples as that seems to help.

I suffer more in the autumn and winter. It’s agony and you have my sympathy.

I had thrush when breastfeeding DD. It was excruciating - sort of like sunburn and then deep burning and pain in my breasts. It was horrendous. Skin on and around nipples was bright red like v v bad sunburn. Honestly couldn’t wear anything on my top half for a while. Not exaggerating! I’m

I know you aren’t breastfeeding (pressed read all 😉) but maybe a possibility?

Sounds like thrush! And you can get it at random even without breastfeeding, especially if you have been getting hot and sweaty in the heat, wearing tight bras etc.

I have reynuads in hands and feet in the winter and got severe nipple vasospasm when pregnant, it's agony. Buy hand warmers and put them in your bra. And buy electric rechargeable socks and gloves for the winter!

What’s the relevance of there being men on here?!

Never mind the breastfeeding - based on her first sentence I thought OP was a man and had to read the whole post twice to correct myself.

I have never ever understood the mentality that men have to be protected from hearing about 'women's problems'. I think the secrecy underlies the very serious issues of women's pain being disbelieved by HCPs. Men have nipples and don't need to be protected from nipple chat.

Glad you are feeling a bit better, OP.

Raynaulds of the nipple here too. Never pregnant or breastfed but it particularly flares up a after a lot of caffeine or stress. No raynaulds in other extremities.

I can regularly be found with heat packs on my boobs and cotton wool in my bra, also have gel pouches that I microwave for 30 seconds and stick in bra.

Hope the thrush treatments helps too, it's a case of throw everything at it and see what helps.

Hope you get sorted Op as that sounds horrendous to deal with!

Sounds like either internal breast thrush or mastitis , but this nit sly doesn’t give can bat any nipple pain . A GP visit will sort it

Sounds like possibly Raynauds- I’m plagued with this. Merino wool breast pads help a lot. I also find it flares up massively every single time I fall pregnant- 5 babies later and sore boobs is always the first sign for me.

@ColourfulHairbands - it does come and go, but there are a few things you can do. I find that the tireder I am, the worse/more frequent the episodes are. (My husband has said that I get so cold to touch that he will know I’ve died in my sleep only when I begin to smell. 😵‍💫 And they say romance is dead….) I have a heated vest that is charged with a power bank. I wear that in winter, Obvs. I find hot water bottles soothing too. I cut some circles out of sheepskin. Snipped a thin ”pizza slice” out of them and sewed the slice back up so that they fit nicely in my bra. I have a few of these and they’re washable and portable. I just carry them in a repurposed organza gift bag thingy. (Ziplock would be equally fine.) Too much caffeine is bad. Car trips can set mine off (esp seat belt rubbing, so have a soft cover for that). Ibuprofen can help with vasodilation, as can aspirin. (Aspirin + caffeine also helps but seems contradictory.) I basically treat bad episodes of Raynaud’s like I would an impending migraine. Like someone else upstream, I have found that mine has improved since starting HRT. (As have my migraines). Anyhow, there must be a hormonal element to it.

OP, somebody have suggested here it’s Reynaud syndrome, I do have one, I just did not know it can affect nipples.

this problem occurs when blood supply is not sufficient to the limb endings (forgive my English, I am not native) I used to have painful sensation in my fingers when being out in cold, holding frozen food in my hands was unbearable. For some reason it does affect lots of young women.

Also it is not curable, it is possible to make it much better. I don’t have these symptoms any more. In my country I have been prescribed some vitamin injections, they were vitamins B1, B2 and B12. I had a course many years ago and I am fine.

I know that your GP probably won’t prescribe you these, but these vitamins can be bought in Tesco. My mother in law is suffering from this condition, but since she started talking exactly these vitamins, she saw big improvement. I hope this help x

She has stated many times she is not BFing…. 🤦‍♀️ highly unlikely to be thrush of the nipple… as she isn’t breastfeeding!!

She isn’t breastfeeding as op has stated many times… 🤦‍♀️

Being Anaemic won’t help if it’s Raynaud, might need iron tabs and vit b12 to give your circulation a boost.
I have classic EDS, one of the crappy other things I get because of it is Raynauds, Iv had my nipples hurt like your description for about 2 months when I was early 20s in my mid 30s now and thankfully hasn’t happened again.
due to be being blood circulation, this will not remove symptom’s but will help reduce duration more than anything and help you recognise when u need to take a break. You need to keep blood full of iron and vitamin b12, which help with circulation, will not take Raynauds away, but if stores are low it won’t help. Stress can also trigger it, so trying to recognise when you feel stressed to know when it’s time to take some you time. Which I know is very difficult with small kids (I think you said 2 and 3?) to get you time. But it’s needed as well as enough sleep (I know that can be almost impossible with small kids) its not always to do with cold, and most that helps is resting and avoiding overwhelming or very stressful things or people and keeping vitamins up (dosnt stop it just improves circulation) oh and not sitting or standing for too long for periods of time.. I know you don’t take your tits for a walk 😂 but it helps keep circulation moving which can help reduce length of time of attack.

RIng 111 for advice

I had it when I was BF (I know you're not), google vasospasms. Excruciating. Perhaps it can also happen when you're not BF?

Go back to your gp not a Nd e. Peri menopaise?

I have Raynaud's & migraines - and also vasospastic angina (also known as Prinzmetal's angina) that resulted in a heart attack. If you have vasospasms in multiple body areas already, keep cardiac symptoms in mind. They tend to all occur together. Also avoid vasoconstrictors like epinephrine/lidocaine (dentist), some cold meds, cocaine (also used in surgical procedures), migraine meds etc.