Nipple pain/blanching - please help

[littlemimosa]

Hello, im new here and desperate for some support. I'm bf-ing my 3 week old baby (2nd child) and am having lots of pain, mainly on one side. I started getting blanching/vasospasm/Reynauds 3 days ago (i knew what it was as i had it with LO1, tho i think it's worse this time). Both nipples blanch after a feed but one side is bearable and the other is excruciating. It's mainly when latching but the stinging and deep breast pain continue after a feed for ages. I considered thrush but as it's really on one side only & we have no symptoms i've dismissed that idea. Have been prescribed Nifedipene 2 days ago but dont think it's had any effect yet... (also it's giving me awful headaches - anyone had this?). The latch is 'ok' but the nipple is inverted so it's tricky anyway. This prob doesn't help matters. So really am asking if anyone has experience of this, do you have any advice and has Nifedipene worked for anyone? Thank u in advance.

I have this in my left nipple, and had noticed stiffness too. Trying warmth, but don't know what else I can do. Watching this thread to see how the nifed works!

Quick update from me - things are much much better today. I think the Nifedipine is really working for me:-) so pleased. It's had an all round good impact on my bf experience, including on night feeds which have been so much easier. In fact, we haven't topped up now for 2 days thinking about it! Highly recommend it to anyone suffering from nipple vasospasm. Also i've really been focusing on the latch which has helped too. Hopefully I won't need anymore support from you lovely ladies. SO glad I came here. Thanks all, especially TS x

Bumping this back up as need some more advice! So, bf has been going well since i started the Nifed. It has REALLY helped. The blanching is still there a bit but the pain has almost gone, happily. (Still can't cope with the frozen food aisle though...)

However, for the last 24 hours we've got a new 'issue', which could or could not be related to the vasospasm. DC has started viciously 'clicking/rolling' my nipple (on the problematic left side!) round his tongue in a very painful manner. He unlatches a lot when doing it too. So it's getting really sore again. He's on and off, on and off and it's getting me down again. Just when i thought we'd overcome all our issues. Anyone any advice?

Mimosa - did the bfc check for tongue tie (as it finger in baby's mouth with a suck assessment check not a quick looksee in the mouth)? Clicking can be a sign of TT and TT can cause vasospasm as the baby clamps down on the nipple to stop from sliding off in some cases (esp. where the nipple is 'shaped' during the feed).

Have you tried the Deep Latch Technique to get more breast into baby's mouth? Was the BFC able to offer any real life solutions (sometimes it's easier to suggest 'tweaks' to a latch/position if baby and mum are right in front of you).

Thrush would be on both sides not just one ...

Vasospam is common with nipples that have already been damaged (e.g. by ineffective latch, or indeed thrush) - the damage causes the blood vessels to become extra-sensitive and constrict like mad, causing the pain and the blanching. That's why heat helps - it encourages the blood vessels to dilate again.

Sorry, ignore my last post - didn't read last few messages!

I really hope you get to the bottom of this asap.
Just wanted to mention though zoobie, that I had bout after bout of thrush throughout breastfeeding which started when I was given antibiotics after labour, but on several occasions I only had it in one breast, despite treating both sides just in case, and it only cleared up with oral medication for me.