Ow ow ow

[MrsHumphz]

Hi all

I've been in near constant pain with breast feeding for the last 6-8 weeks. About 15 minutes after I feed, I get this deep panging pain in the breast which lasts around 2 hours. It doesn't hurt whilst I am feeding. As I'm feeding my 3month old on a 3 hourly basis, it means it hurts nearly all the time!! Getting v difficult to sleep.

My GP has finally given up and referred me to the breast clinic at the hospital - I've an appointment in a couple of weeks.

But was wondering if any MN's had any clue as to what I might have so I can read up on it and go feeling slightly educated!

I've had mastitis three times (on antibiotics at the moment) and been prescribed three different treatments for thrush.

Any ideas gratefully received!

thanks
MrsH

You poor girl. Have you tried an NCT breastfeeding counsellor? (Apologies if this reply makes you hit the roof)
You can look up your nearest one on the NCT website i believe. I know from experience a lot of problems are caused by dodgy positioning by the baby so maybe they can help??? hth hugs

Sounds thrush-like. What treatments have you been prescribed? Have you seen this?

I took the leaflet to my doctor when I had thrush and got sorted very quickly.

Sorry if you've been down that road, it's just the deep pain sounds familiar.

Huge sympathy, hope you find out what is causing it soon.

p.s. are you taking paracetamol?

I have thrush and sounds like thrush to me; esp pain is deeprooted in the breast & hard to pinpoint. Mine wld keep me awake for ages after a night feed whilst dd was happy out snoozing away. Doc and medication is only solution. I've had it 7 wks now & it brought me so close to giving up so many times but have stuck with it & am hoping latest treatment (strong dose diflucan for 28 days) works. Tried all the topical treatments but because it's deeprooted the didn't work. Good luck.

I agree with it sounding thrush like. Especially as the pain comes after feeding. Hope you get it sorted. :)

Another 'vote' for thrush.
Take the leaflet linked to above to your GP and get treatment before you even go to the breast clinic - if the pain is still there at least you'll know it is not thrush if it has not responded to treatment.
Good luck .

Thank you all very much for this..

I did suspect thrush so have had dactarin for the baby, I had fluconazole for 10 days, then I got clotrimazxole cream for nipples, and then doc prescribed 2x one hit fluconazole. I took one at the beginning of the latest round of ant-biotics (for the mastitis) which runs out tomorrow so I have another one to take.

The leaflet is interesting tho' - sounds like i need a longer course of fluc.

The cream gave me loads of litle blisters on my nipples which wasn't v comfortable!!

I haven@t had baby position checked but will try and do so... he doesn't have any sign of thrush, btw.

MrsH

and, o yes, am taking paracetemol! problem is that because it hurts all the time - I don't want to be on constant painkillers as not sure if good for baby. I try and save them for the night.

MrsH., what dose of flucanzole did you take for the 10 days? 50 or 150 mg?

Hi MrsTO

It was 50mg - the one off tablets I have are for 500mg.

MrsH

I thought I had thrush with similar sounding pain, esp on one side. Saw a bf counsellor who said latch wasn't right so milk wasn't being drained efficiently enough causing deep breast pain all the time. Bit of practice and pain went.

Good luck.

MrsHumphz, I feel your pain. I have been hospitalised twice with mastitis since DD born in June and also had the exact pain after bf'ing that you describe. My best friend who also had mastitis also had the same thing. We both thought it was thrush but despite thrush treatments the pain continued for me and I got mastitis again. After first mastitis I was taking flucloxacillin and metronidazole and no improvement in post bf'ing pain. However, after second mastitis was put on augmentin (co-amoxiclav) after leaving hospital and this has worked and fixed the post b'fing pain for me at last. Rest is also an incredibly important part of getting over the mastitis and the aftermath. Plus, keeping the breasts warm immediately after bf'ing so they don't go white and start hurting. Do you have any breast warmers? Don't worry about the paracetamol affecting the baby too much. It will help your pain.

Thanks Sunworshipper - I'll take this to the clinic with me - very useful. Where did you get the breast warmers from? I can't even find a hot water bottle as apparently they're out of season :(

I'm resting as much as I can but my 3.5month old has decided to wake up every 2 hours at night at the moment. Urgh.

Sorry to hear you were hospitilised, you've had it way worse than me and I felt like dying so yours must have been awful.

Albrecht - I'll also try to find someone to look at my latch, just in case. Thanks for the suggestion.

MrsH

I just used hand warmers like these www.iwantoneofthose.com/hot-hand-warmer/index.html

My little one is the same age and it is so tough caring for them when you feel so awful. I think I was just unlucky in that I had a bacterial mastitis and it took hold when I was at a low ebb. What kind of mastitis did you have -

A good lactation consultant is worth her weight in gold. Mine has been brilliantly supportive over the mastitis, diagnosed my baby's tongue tie and helped me get the latch right and I can call her at any time with any worries about my breasts.

Take care.

Hi MrsHumphz. I have been having terrible pain after feeding too and I have just started a 10 day course of fluconazole. I have had this pain before and the course of thrush treatment worked last time. I also took garlic and probiotics, which may have helped, who knows. I definitely advise taking probiotics since you are on antibiotics, because they can cause the thrush. You can get live probiotic tablets in Holland and Barrett.
Good luck, and my sympathies. I know it's agony.

MrsH, you can get hot water bottles online but those hot/ cold gel packs you can get in Boots/ Tescos also work well as they are easy to wrap around the breast. You can stick them down your top so they stay in place, not so easy with a hot water bottle!

If you haven't seen a breastfeeding counsellor about this I would definately recommend getting hold of one. There should be one attached to your maternity ward or you can call the LLL helpline on 0845 120 2918. They may well come out to see you to check latch but if not will have lots of helpful information, I found them indispensable when I had thrush and a lot more knowledgable than my HV/ GP.

Good luck :)

Hi MrsHumphz. I have just joined Mumsnet specially to respond to your post, which I cam across by chance through a search engine. I suffer from pains after feeding like the ones you describe, due to Raynaud's disease - it makes your fingers go white and numb in cold weather, and can also affect the nipples. My pain has just returned in the last few weeks, having been absent during the summer. I can't tell you how many people tried to tell me I had thrush, as this seems to be the only common cause of such severe pain. There is a drug you can take for it - nifedipine - although I wasn't keen to do this. The really important thing to do is keep warm - I put a plug-in heater by my feeding chair and stick a microwave wheat bag under my bra straps for a while before and after feeding. There is a fair bit of information about it on the web. I found it was a huge relief just to know what the problem was and how to address it, after all the blank looks and thrush diagnoses. I'm still breastfeeding now at 8 months, and really glad I stuck with it. Very best of luck.

JMHJHM - so very kind of you! I did wonder about Reynaud's as my nipples do have a tendancy to go white after a feed (like he's sucked the colour out) and they are extremely sensitive to heat changes. But I've never noticed my fingers / toes going white in the cols. Heat does really help though - if the worst comes to the worst, I dive in the shower or a bath (which is fine until I come out again! :) )

Thanks again.