ANOTHER blocked duct! why???

[curlyLJ]

DD is 7 weeks and EBF. I already had one excruciatingly painful blockage a couple of weeks ago, then we got thrush and I am still taking my course of Fluconazole as it had got into the ducts and now i have another blockage Been trying to clear it since yesterday with no luck and i am worried it's going to turn into Mastitis or that my boob will explode
Have tried 'combing it', dangle feeding, submerging breast in hot water before feeding, massaging - is there anything else i can try?

I love BF and want to continue, but all these issues make it really hard going. What causes recurrent blocked ducts? I do try to make sure DD drains the breast, that the latch is good etc etc. The only thing I can think if is it's the way I sleep - I have quite big boobs and I sleep on my side but seem to roll forwards a bit and then squash the bottom one sometimes.

can anyone help?

I'm not sure I can help but I can certainly sympathise as I am similar. My dd is 7 months and I have had almost constant blocked ducts and full on mastitis a few times.

I've been quite down about it at times as I have always felt feeding ought to be easier by now but I am better at dealing with them now and I think I'm just used to it now! Also it didn't help that people would say 'just switch to formula then' not realising that stopping feeding was harder and more painful than continuing!

I don't get them as frequently as I used to- but to be honest I still probably get them once a fortnight- and it is only in the last month or so that they have reduced to that level.

You're doing all the right things to shift it- but sometimes I think they just seem to need time and patience. I'm also still trying to figure out why they occur so frequently so if you find out, let me know!

Next challenge for me is working out how I'll ever stop feeding now without terrible pain and mastitis so if anyone has any ideas please let me know!

Take some ibuprofen if the pain is bad- and have a wine and a hand hold from me! Good luck with it and well done for getting this far- if it ever really gets you down and you want to chat, pm me as I always felt a bit alone with this problem as no friends or hcp seemed to have come across it before and they didn't really understand.

Thanks tired and sorry you've been suffering with this too. I did BF my DD1 for a year in the end (gradually reducing it down from 9m), despite all the blocked ducts, but this time I am struggling with it a bit more.

I have taken some Ibuprofen and massaged vigorously in the shower but it's still there. I could have cried earlier as it's so frustrating. DD is either having a growth spurt or is getting frustrated at the slow flow of milk on that side as she wants to feed more often than usual too

I found something on an old thread about a supplement called Lecithin (sp?) that can help stop milk from being so 'sticky' so i am going to get some of that later if I can...

With regards to reducing feeding, if I remember right, in order to cut down I just introduced one midday bottle at first and although i got a bit engorged my supply sorted itself out pretty quickly by that stage. I then introduced another afternoon bottle a good while after (a month or so) and i never had any problems.
When i decided to stop at 1yr, I didn't get engorged at all as i think my supply had dwindled quite a lot by then as I had only been feeding morning and bedtime.

Double check that your bras fit properly, I have generous boobs too and made the mistake of wearing a slightly too small bra overnight, I was in agony by about 4am, and the whole of the following day.

I don't wear my bras at night anymore (stopped after the first few weeks) so am wondering if maybenthis is not helping. Is it better to wear a bra while still breastfeeding?

I'm not sure, I got into the habit when feeding ds 3 years ago and have never stopped! Plus I have to at the moment due to 5 week old dd and all the leaking that is going on (nice!).

Check the fit of your daytime ones too though.

Curly thanks for your reply. Its good to know that for you stopping wasn't as bad as I am imagining! I just sometimes feel its 2 step forwards, one step back. I had switched her mod afternoon feed to formula and it was going really well for about 2 weeks. But then yesterday I found a lump on one side- and by today I had them in several places on both sides and they're really sore ones! So I'm probably feeling a bit sorry for myself!

Well done on feeding dd1 for as long as you did- and I'm impressed that after that you are bf again! A lot of people wouldn't have even tried to bf a second dc after your first experience.

I think I might try that lecithin too- I looked it up once before but sort of chickened out as I couldn't find any info about any potential side effects etc- but now I think it might just be worth a go!

Is this article any help curly? Link says mastitis but it's about blocked ducts too.
kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/recurrent-mastitis/

I had blocked ducts at least once a fortnight for the first year of breastfeeding ds1, and mastitis a few times as well. He has a posterior tongue tie and lip tie.

I had always suspected the ties contributed to the problems I had, but was poo-pooed by the various hcp's I spoke to.

Ds2 is now 14 weeks and I have had no problems at all - not even a hint of a blockage. I really wish I had pushed harder for diagnosis and treatment with ds1. I suspect it could have saved us a lot of pain!