Endless Pain

[Romily]

I am so close to stopping breast feeding for good. Currently my DS is just over 8 weeks and every feed has hurt without fail. I have seen breast feeding advisors at the hospital an NCT advisor and been to the LLL advisor and all have said the latch appears fine even though I am constantly in pain.

The doctor treated me for thrush and still I am sore at every single feed. It is not a let down pain and it dos not vanish after counting to 10 it is a pain at the base of my nipple and although it eases slightly as the feed progresses often it is just excruciating the whole way through.

It is so frustrating as I really want to feed my boy myself and I have kept going this long but i am beginning to think this pain will never stop.

Oh no Romily I'm so sorry. It shouldn't be painful like this. Are there any other lactation consultants/ bfeeding counsellors you can see?

DD's tongue tie didn't get diagnosed until she was 12 weeks, everyone else (at least 10 hcps) missed it. Made such a difference once it was snipped. Not implying your DD has one, just that even highly qualified hcp can miss things. If you feel something's not right then it isn't.

Sorry your DS! Not DD

this Jack Newman article was useful to me.

Ooh just a question, how were you treated for thrush? Did they treat both of you? Did you get an oral course of fluconazole for you or just the cream? Sometimes the cream doesn't do the job and an oral thrush treatment may make a difference. (My GP was able to prescribe mine over the phone.)

I had the course of flucozanole and cream/gel for both of us and it did not seem to make a difference.

As far as I know we have been to all the breast feeding support places in our area and they have all said that they see no problem with his latch but I am convinced there is something wrong.

He is also not gaining as much weight as he should be and I am worried that breast feeding may be playing a part in that. Already he gets one bottle at night to give me a break from the pain but I am now starting to think it would be better if he was completely bottle fed.

Romily I had this for a while and am now convinced the boy had an upper lip tie - the picture of him is classic for it. Similar weight gain issues, v small gaps between feeds even as he got to 3 months. My nipples were a weird shape after feed but all HCPs said good latch. Could you do a search on here for all the well-respected tongue tie people and pay for private consultation?

After discussions we realised that my hubby had an upper lip tie and my daughter has one that needs to be cut now she is heading into her teens. There is a tongue tie clinic at the local children's hospital so I will call them tomorrow and see what we need to do to get a referral or if we can self refer.

Also going to go back to the docs as my nipples are still sore and I wonder if the thrush is still there??

I feel a bit as if I am clutching at straws, but I just want to know that I have done everything I can to feed him myself.