In agony - will this get better?

[Cloclo15]

My baby is 7 weeks old and since he was 4 weeks, feeding on my right breast has become excruciating! For the first four weeks, feeding was not painful, and I fed in any position etc. However, my right nipple started to become painful at four weeks to the extent to which I spent a day expressing to give that breast a break. I then went back onto it but by 5 weeks was in so much pain again and my nipples were blanching after feeds that I rang the local infant feeding team who advised me to get checked for thrush.
The GP saw no sign of thrush but thought my breasts looked inflamed and gave me antibiotics for mastitis. I continued to feed through the pain but decided to go call the BF support worker again who saw me feed and said the baby was compressing my nipple and told me to try biological nurturing. Tried that all the following weekend but baby got very frustrated when I kept taking him off when it felt like he was biting me and failed to drain that side, causing a painfully engorged breast which I had to led him feed from in his own way just to empty it. At the start of last week I called the infant feeding team again who told me I was doing everything they could advise in terms of positioning etc and would need to be seen in person. Last Thursday I was visited at home but the BF supporter said that from the outside the latch looks fine and I'm doing everything right, but the baby must be compressing my nipple which is causing the vasospasms (painful nipple blanching) to occur.
I have continued to feed with use of the odd painkiller and with massaging olive oil and using heat to try to alleviate the pain, but today it hasn't stopped at all between feeds and when I went to feed him before bed it was excruciating, as if someone was driving needles into my nipple - I was crying with the pain. The pain went on for 45mins after until painkillers kicked in, and when I looked a crack had got deep and I could see a bit of white through the crack.
The only thing the BF team can suggest to me is tongue tie but the consultant at the hospital when he was born said he didn't have one. He also feeds well and has put on a lot of weight - the problem is my pain!
My mum and husband are telling me to give up but I really don't want to and feel so upset. I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow to find out if the vasospasms are dangerous, but I don't know what to do. I cannot feed off this side again tonight (the thought of it is terrible) and have no idea why I can't feed my baby without pain.
If anyone has any thoughts or has experienced something similar please give me hope that we can get through this :(

has anyone suggested that your milk might be coming out too fast for your baby and that's why your baby is clamping down?

This happened to me about 3 weeks in, also on right side, and after ruling out thrush, the NCT advisor suggested this. So what I did was change my position so that the milk had to work against gravity to slow it down i.e. Lie back with baby on top of me so the milk has to go up. This can get messy, so I used to put a muslin/towel below my boob to help.

This worked almost immediately. Try looking up fast letdown on somewhere like KellyMom. There will be other things you can do to help slow it down too. I think one tip was to feed on the same side twice in a row, but it's a bit hazy now! In the meantime you'll want to help your poor sore nipple, maybe use lansinoh a lot!

If it is fast letdown it wears off after a while. I think you're doing amazingly, well done. Your mum probably worries about her 'baby' so wants you to stop (so the pain stops).

Google 'forceful letdown' breastfeeding, and the KellyMom article should pop up. Good luck.

I found the first months of bf all my DC's excruciating.

I had a lot of support, was treated for thrush, mastitis and cracked nipples- although I'm pretty sure I didn't actually have the former. All the DCs were examined for tongue tie and I was told on every ocassion that the latch appeared perfect, baby was gaining etc.

I saw tens of people and tried everything but no one could ever offer any suggestion. I used plent of lasinoh and the breast cups that sit in your bra so your nipples get a chance to heal (even being touched by a breast pad was painful) and eventually there was an improvement.

It took a great deal of determination and perseverance but I took it one day at a time and by 4 mths it was enjoyable rather than stamp my feet agonizing. I went on to feed DC4 for another year after that so well worth the initial struggle in my mind.
Good luck

You poor thing. I have just experienced similar with my 3.5 week old. For general relief and speeding up the heeling process I recommend multi mam compresses.
Mine was my left breast and he used to suck to top of the nipple into the roof of his mouth. I would always start from the right breast as it could take the urgency of his first latch. I also gently held down the chin with my right thumb whilst feeding to ensure the best position of nippe facing throat as opposed to roof of mouth. This really worked for me and know he feeds without. Shaving to guide him! Hope it gets better soon.

Oops doing my middle of the night feed on silly iPad! Should read without having to guide him, now and suck the top of the nipple....

Many tongue ties are missed by professionals because they are not skilled at spotting them properly. Lots of mothers of tt babies have been told by at least one HCP that there is no tongue tie.

have a look at this and see what you think

and this

Hi, this sounds similar to me a couple of weeks ago - crying with pain through and after feeds ( and before next one!)
I expressed from the bad side and fed only from the good side - I only managed for 12 hours but even that small break let the nipple settle down a bit.
I fed lying down on my bed so it was more comfortable for both of us and I could concentrate more on latch and fed both sides each time so that the breast was less engorged and easier to latch on. Sometimes hand expressed a little bit before feed.
With the strong let down I found using normal cross cradle position but leaning back in chair/pillows so he was sucking upwards helped and is easier to do in public than biological nursing :-)
Good luck - take each feed/day/week one at a time - each one is a success

I had excruciating pain in both breasts for first 8-9 weeks. No thrush and from the out side the latch looked good. But basically my DD was not opening her mouth wide enough (I think) and didn't take enough of my breast into her mouth. Nipples felt like they were in a vice and stabbed with knives.

After 9 weeks, she started opening her mouth wider and the pain went and I was able to happily feed her till she was 10mths!