I'm at my wits end. Help please

[holidaydreaming]

I've got a beautiful new ds who is 11 days old. I have two other great dds, 5 and 2.5. I breastfed both of them for around a year and although it was rough at first i got through it. Anyhow, I am in the throes of mastitis on my right breast where the nipple is very raw too. I'm in tears almost constantly and my dh helps when he's not at work but he is also tired and I can hear him shouting at the two girls. We are usually a really happy family but at the mo we are very unhappy.
I feel super rough and I wish I'd never started breastfeeding him. It is excruciating and I cry or almost scream through the pain when he's on the right breast. The left breast is fine. He has a very slight tongue tie and we have an appt next Thursday which is the first clinic available. I am on ibuprofen, paracetamol, and antibiotics (since yesterday) and they don't seem to touch the sides.
I know I've got to feed on the right breast but I simply can hardly put myself through the pain. I have started to try and express on that breast. Hand expression results in virtually nothing and I tried the pump twice in the night and I got 30 mls and 20 mls after 40 mins and 30 mins so that was very depressing. I gave it to him with a syringe.

I really don't want to feed any more. It's very bad for our family and I have persevered and haven't had a pain free feed since he was born as I just can't get the latch right on the right breast.

I am in a lot of pain, have diarrhoea, can't eat much, shivering and sweating with aches and pains and am very depressed with obviously an incredibly tender right breast. I wish I could inject something to stop the milk.

I'm sure there's no easy answer but if anyone has got any advice I would be very appreciative.

Ack. That sounds like a lot on at once.

First of all - is he feeding well on the left side? No pain, no damage to the nipple? If so, the problem cannot be his tongue tie ... if he can feed without it hurting you, on the left side, then the problem is likely to be positioning and attachment, not his mouth.

Second - talk to me about the mastitis. Is the breast as a whole sore? Are there hard red patches? The sore nipple - what are you doing to treat that?

Third, and most important really, how are you holding him? What position are you using to feed him? When he latches on, how much of his nose and chin can you see? How is his position on one breast different from the other?

Is calling one of the BF hotlines an option?

Thx for reply. Yeah, the nipple has a lot of trauma. I am using lansinoh, cold cabbage leaves and hot flannels.
The breast is red on the top third and is so sore I can't bear to cuddle my other children:-(
I've watchrd videos on the Internet for good positioning and know what I should be doing it just doesn't seem to be working as it is always super painful. I use The cross cradle most of the time and sometimes the rugby ball. Both are v painful and the nipple is never round when he comes off.

I guess I could give a helpline a try but I am desperate to give up and I have had help from bf counsellors. Still hurts.

Is feeding from one breast only an option for you? I've done this for 4 and a half months so far with no probs. Really feel for you - good luck, whatever your decision.

If you are desperate to switch to formula (don't say 'give up' - you're still feeding the wee mite, and you've been working so, so hard!) then switch. Your body, your baby, your family, your choice. Trouble is, you'll still have mastitis and also engorgement. Can you get the doc/midwife to come and see you again? It sounds really painful, you poor thing. Maybe they could give you some more heavy-duty pain relief or something.

Whatever you do today doesn't have to be what you do tomorrow.

Oh you poor thing. Am in a very similar position. Lots of crying here too.

Do you have anti biotics for the mastitis? If not, call gp asap. They should see you as an emergency as you are a nursing mum.

Excellent news that you are getting checked for TT. I'm behind on getting that sorted as i had it checked twice immediately after delivery (Dd1 was TT) but the nipple pain has continued though it is better on one side than the other. After DD had it snipped pain and mastitis both went away though not instantly.

On the expressing, have you tried laying baby across your knees whilst sitting on the floor - I found physical contact helps.

Are you eating? Hv this morning asked me I realised I'd skipped a lot of meals as I felt so rough. Am trying to actively remember to eat even if not hungry.

Thx all for support.
Badger- god, I feel for you. Excellent hv sorted out tongue tie appt and gp for me. I'd call the hv ASAP.

Going to keep expressing but that is also painful. If I don't feed on the infected breast ( which I just cannot) how will the mastitis ever go?

Poor you. I can remember that pain well and it is not something I would wish to repeat. I had a similar bout of mastitis with dc3. I couldn't even lift my arm it was so painful. I found really really hot compresses eased it slightly and tried to massage the area with the shower as hot as I could get it. It did clear up eventually but I think it came down to being rundown. Try and rest as much as possible (easier said than done) and good luck with everything X

Ok, first of all, the lumps on the top side are blocked ducts. These are probably down to the latch being not-quite-right (second possibility: have you ever left something pressing against that portion of your breast, throughout a feed?). The easiest way to clear blocked ducts is to feed with the baby's chin to the lump. With a tiny baby, and blocked ducts where they are, the simplest way is to lie your baby flat on your bed, and crouch over him, iyswim. Feeding or expressing, while trying to massage out the lumps can help, but feeding chin-to-lump helps the most, imo.

Second, to help your nipples heal, cabbage leaves are no use. Hind milk and lanolin-based products (like you're already using) are great. But if possible, you want to keep your nipple always moist. Clothing and breast pads soak up the creams and milk, and often stick to your damaged skin, making things worse. The easy way around this is to do wet wound healing - put a layer of clingfilm between your nipple and your clothing or breastpad. This keeps your nipple moist and clean and protected.

Third, to improve latch. If you can bear to get him on, and it's hurting lots, if you shift him slightly in the direction of his feet (just a mm or two), without taking him off the breast, that often improves the latch.

If you don't feed on the infected breast, your supply on that side will decrease. The infection will probably clear up. Beware though: if the pain goes away, but the lumps remain, you need to go back to the GP, as it may be a cyst.

Thx so much all.
Jen- the hot flannel is giving me some relief

Cockney - am now trying out the cling film over lansinoh. Never thought that I'd go to sleep with cabbage leaves over my boobs one night and cling film the next!

Anyhow, at half ten last night gave up and gave him 60 mls of formula. Unf he slept for ages and at 5 I woke him to try and stop the good breast becoming engorged!
By that time I had been up for 3 hours with trying to express -40 mins and 10 mls(!!!!!). Then got serious shivers and couldn't get to sleep. Ah-the injustice.

But I really appreciate the support-thank you lots.

Holiday, how are things going? I'm at the point of cracking too - feeding has become so painful even with the mastitis being under control. I suspect the TT is the real issue. Just wondering what your experience is with the formula? Are you still bf as well?

can you massage lumps when expressing or is that too painful? try a different pump!? ring midwife/doctor asap if antibiotics not helping by now. It sounds like you might have a bad infection with shivers etc.