Oh god the pain!!!

[vicbar]

DD3 is my 4th baby all of whch I have BF but my god the pain is getting unbearable.
I now have had masitis 3 times, 2 bleeding nipples and the outside of the areola feels burnt ? and one cut is really deep DD1 started crying when she saw it.
I noticed at the hospital she had a tongue tie but was told it was too small to be a problem but am finally getting it cut in 12 days time (5 weeks after demanding she be seen).
Please give me some tips DD wont take from a bottle or feed with nipple shields paracetamol isnt helping and DH just looks at me like Im mental as I bite a pillow as she latches on.
The health visitors have been NO help as DD is very happy gaining loads of weigh (still on the 99th centile) and has been sleeping through from 5 days old so if she's happy they dont seem to care.

Sorry this is soo long I just need some support I dont want to stop feeding and never had any problems with the others.

forgot to say Iam using Lanisnoh but it doesnt seem to help.

vicbar have you been to your GP with the mastitis? Could it be thrush? How old is DD3 - 3 lots of mastitis, you poor thing. If you can get them to check you tomorrow. Have you seen a BF counsellor?

Try ibruprofen too. For me wet healing worked best - loads of lansinoh, top off or breast shields. Lansinoh on before feeding too helped a bit. I know what you mean about the pillow biting, I used to eat chocolate at latch on point to get me through!

Hope it gets better for you. I had problems for 3 months feeding DD but all okay now. I think I only kept going because I knew what it should be like after having fed DS.

Oh goodness you poor soul. I'm sorry I can't offer you anything constructive but I wanted to offer you some sympathy, that sounds dreadful. I hope the snip fixes things for you - in the meantime, I think phoning any of the helplines is always a good idea. I've used a couple of them and found the volunteers to be lovely and maybe they could suggest something you haven't thought of.

Do get checked out for thrush.
After no problems at all breastfeeding my DD1 I found myself shrieking with pain every time DD2 latched on. I used my labour breathing techniques to get through it, although the pain always went after the first minute or so. It turned out to be thrush (although I also maintain she has a mouth like a steel trap too!).
Hope you get it sorted.

Gosh, you've really been suffering haven't you.

There's a thread over here about jelonet for healing cracks and by all accounts it's pretty amazing stuff.
Might be worth a purchase.

Are you getting a long enough course of anitbiotics for the mastitis? My SIL had it about 3 times and finally worked out that the GP hadn't given her enough tablets to clear it for good.

Hope you get things sorted soon.

Gin. Paracetamol every 4-6 hours, it works best ahead of the pain, you can take ibuprofen too and then a swig of strong liquor at latching on whenever you're nit coping. My sympathies. I find it unbelievable, how laid-back hcps can be with tongue ties.

DD3 is 14 weeks and I have been to the GP with each case of Masitis and each time have been given a longer course on anitibiotics. I think Im finding it soo hard because I never had these problems before and once the initial pain is gone I really enjoy the closeness of BF. This is my last baby so want to keep going as long as possible.

What helplines are good? Ive never used any and god forbid any of the health visitors would give me useful info like that...and they wonder why some many mums start then give up on BF they really have been no help at all.

You can get Jelonet prescribed, I had it in early days with DD and it did help heal. However I'm not sure if you have to be more on the alert for Thrush when using it (moist environment)?

My thread is here if other people's suggestions help; what worked for me was ibuprofen (esp in evening, as nights always seemed worse), breathing techniques/counting up to 10 (or 20 or 30) and really trying to concentrate on where her mouth went on ie not looking at nipple but at her lower jaw on aereola. I also saw ice recommended on Kellymom (ie hold ice cube to your nipple before she latches on) but I'm not sure how you get the timing right for that if you're feeding on demand!

Really hope Ibuprofen helps a bit for you.

Thanks everyone I didnt think I could take Ibuprofen when BF so Im dosing up. Im at the dr's tomorrow so Ill ask about jelonet.

Please get to your GP. Three lots of mastitis/three courses of antibiotics - this may well be thrush which can also affect the deeper breast tissues. Years after lots of b/f probs found out that ds had an unusually shaped palate which may have been responsible for many of the probs.

You poor thing. Advice above is good. Don't have much to add but wanted to send you doses of sympathies and hugs. You are doing amazing to be still feeding. Well done you. Your dd is getting such a great start (and has NO idea of the pain you are going through for her). I ve just got over bout of deep rooted thrush (no discharge on nipples or anything in baby'smouth - all internal) which was excrutiating. As well as nipples being raw, main symptom was severe after pain deep in breast. 28 day course of diflucan at 150 mg per tablet cured it (although finished course 2 weeks ago and suspect it's coming back- know the symptoms so not delaying & will get onto doc straight away). I hope you get sorted and end up pain free. It will be so worth persevering with these painful feeds. Best of luck

I'm pretty sure you can also take codeine when bfing if needed. Demand proper painrelief.

you poor, poor thing. echo the advice to see if you think it might be thrush. but also, maybe try using something other than lansinoh? i had incredibly painful cracked and scabby nipples for weeks, and was slathering lansinoh on all the time, then realised that i am normally sensitive to lanolin so tried stopping the lansinoh (which they claim is totally hypo-allergenic). the pain went away within days.

I second jellonet, it helped clear up my red, sore, bleeding nipple in about 1 week. Ah bliss...

Oh and getting my latch checked & corrected. Try to find a bfc/ bf drop in. It was the best thing for me.

Good luck

MrsTimeOut - I do get deep breat pain how do they diagnose it ? The dDr gave me a prescription for thrush cream but it really burns, which Im not sure it should.

Am bf baby no.5 at the moment and have also suffered really badly with mastitis, and wish I'd known I could take ibuprofen with my other children, as I have found it works a treat. As soon as I feel the symptoms coming on I now take brufen straight away and have also used a heat pad on the affected area, heating it up again just before a feed and this really helps! So this time have managed to avoid full blown mastitis completely! My only thing now is ds has developed teeth!!

Hope your Drs appt. went ok and your feeling better!

0300 330 0770 is the Nct bf line. They are lovely and helpful, and will chat for ages to make sure you get the support you need.