Hi all, looking for a bit if advice/opinion.
I'm a second time breastfeeding mum and first time round apart from the initial few weeks of pain while everything 'toughened' up and one round of thrush&mastitis, I managed to feed my ds without much fuss until his 1st bday. 2nd time round however has been a whole different experience!
Since the beginning feeding on my left side has been on and off quite uncomfortable and at times excruciating but in the past 6 weeks (since my dd was about 15wks) the problem has been much worse and I am now unable to feed her and have been expressing form that side.
After a few days of pumping the pain settles and I can then feed her PAIN FREE but within minutes of stopping the feed I start to get a tingling which turns into very painful shooting pains that can last for hours. At the same time my areola will become a bit swollen. The next time I feed her will be more uncomfortable then by the third feed I can't bare it. Within one or two feeds I will also start to develop milk blisters and blockages.
I have been to a lactation specialist who discovered at 16wks that my dd had a posterior tongue tie and so is attributing my problems to vasospasm and milk blisters caused by tongue tie.they have advised against doing anything about the tongue tie as with it being discovered at this age there would apparently be more risks. It is not a particularly severe tongue tie and dd can stick her tongue beyond her bottom lip. I have now been discharged from them with a 'persevere' plan which I am definitely struggling with, especially with a lively 2 yr old running around!
Although my symptoms do seem to match vasospasm and milk blisters a few things are puzzling me and wondering if anyone else has had similar experience. Why, if the cause is tongue tie would only one side be affected so badly? I have tried rugby ball hold to try mimic positioning of right side but it made no difference. Why is the problem getting worse? I would have thought that as my baby got bigger the impact of the tongue tie would be less, not more?
On a side note I have had treatment for thrush twice with no effect and it has now been ruled out by swab. A milk sample grew staph but a course of antibiotics didnt help and the doc suspects this was a contaminant rather than a true infection.
If anyone has any thoughts/suggestions I'd love to hear them!