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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Breast pain at start of feed and after feeding

33 replies

Spink · 18/03/2007 11:49

Hello - any ideas what this might be? ds is 3 weeks old, and bf started off ok, but for the last week and a half, latching on is eye wateringly painful, then once the feed starts it usually gets better. After feeding, I get pain in my breasts (not just the nipples), a kind of shooting burning pain. That can last for a couple of hours. Also my nipples are really tender all the time, even drying them after a bath is painful.

OP posts:

worleythewisp · 18/03/2007 11:58

have you had thrush?
i had it a while ago, but had been feeding for about 6 months when i got it. it was a deep pain right in my boob., even when the towel brushed my nipples it was agony so big (carefull & gentle)hugs to you.
have a look in ds's mouth and see if any white patches.
also my nipples were bright red.... and then i started racting to my lansinoh cream also..
still bf though and hes nearly 9 months

Original poster

Spink · 18/03/2007 12:53

Sounds like I might have something similar to you... I've never had thrush before so don't know what to look out for - if you have any info I'd appreciate it!

I've had a look in ds's mouth - nothing there that I can see. What helped when you had it - and how long did it take before it all got better and towels were your friends again??

and a big double thumbs up for still bf - I have had thoughts about giving up, with this horrible pain, but I am fighting them and hope to get it sorted and carry on with bf for a while yet!

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pinkchuchi · 18/03/2007 22:57

Spink- don't worry babe and try to keep going if you can.
I have been BF DD on demand for 4 1/2 months now and love it but it was painful to begin with.
Latching on really hurt for the first 2 minutes or so and i used to get those pains. Basically with nipples it's like a new pair of shoes- you have to wear them in.
I always put the shooting pains down to more milk coming in after a good feed?
You sound like you are doing really well thuogh.

Spidermama · 18/03/2007 23:01

It sounds like it could well be thrush inside the milk ducts.

I had this and it is extremely painful.

The Breastfeeding Network are very good on this.

There have been some really good threads on it in the past too. I'll try to find one for you. Just a sec ...

badelaide · 18/03/2007 23:01

I've had thrush, you get the pain even when you're not actually feeding. Ds had no symptoms at all, got some sort of solution on prescrip. for him and cream for me.
He's 8m, thrush a distant memory and still bf.
Good Luck!

moondog · 18/03/2007 23:02

Info. on thrush

Hmm,sounds a bit like thrush to me which can make life a misery. I know,having suffered twice. Read the above.
Also stacks in MN archives on this.
Spidermama is a wealth of useful information.

moondog · 18/03/2007 23:02

Ah,she got her already.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 18/03/2007 23:03

Sounds very much like thrush. You need to get some nystatin oral medication for your DS, some daktarin cream for your nipples, and some fluconazole. You can take Ibuprofen a short time before each feed to help ease the pain.

Spidermama · 18/03/2007 23:06

I just did an archive search with the word thrush in the title and posts by me, spidermama. Quite a few came up so you might like to browse them for info.

I kept topping up painkillers just to get through it and I hardly ever take pain killers of any sort. It was so bad. BUT, I did get through it. I was two years ago and I'm still feeding him now.

Best of luck. xx

Twinklemegan · 18/03/2007 23:29

This sounds very like thrush - poor you! Be warned, you might have to fight your GP to prescribe fluconazole, if that's what you want. My GP went away and researched it, discussed it with many many colleagues, and came back saying that he wasn't prepared to prescribe it for me. He did say that if I had absolutely insisted he would have done so, but it would have been at my own risk since it's not licensed for breastfeeding mothers. I didn't pursue it in the end and settled for Daktarin cream which did seem to do the trick thank goodness!

The consensus from my GP, his fellow partners, and other professionals he spoke to was that there's no evidence that thrush causes a problem. He said that if you swabbed the nipples of breastfeeding mothers, most would reveal thrush because the bacteria is so prevalent.

So what I'm saying is it's well worth informing yourself before visiting your GP and taking along any leaflets you can find. Good luck!

badelaide · 18/03/2007 23:30

Mine wouldn't let me have it either.

moondog · 19/03/2007 07:57

Ah well for me the fluconazole made a difference in a matter of days.
I went from a wreck who did nothing but cry and who couldn't even walk upright (clothes rubbing on nipples were agony) to a human being.
God it was wonderful.
My brilliant mw/bf counsellor went to the GP and got it prescribed.
Fluconazole can be bought without prescription so in worst case scenario you can dose yourself.

worleythewisp · 19/03/2007 14:46

my hv diagnosed me and told my gp what he had to prescribe.
he did as he was told!! he affectionatley calls her the oracle, shes just retieed though lovely hv.
they also gave me a pot to express milk in to after i had finished my meds if i was still getting the pain as they said they would send the milk off and check what was in it.
i had daktarin fdual action cream (for athletes footfor my nipples,daktarin oral gel for ds2 and cant remember what tablets i had.

but alls fine and dandy now. (apart from having mastitis a few weeks ago that is)

Original poster

Spink · 19/03/2007 19:19

I wish I'd read your GP warnings before I headed off to the GP...
She told me that I didn't have thrush, even before I'd told her all the symptoms, and said that for some women, bf is just excruciating, and I just have to find ways to deal with it. She didn't think there was anything I was doing wrong and so told me there was nothing I could do to make it better.
My lovely husband wasn't having any of this and called the community mw and hv. The mw came today, and said "hmmm" when I told her about the GP. She thinks I DO have thrush, and gave me some tips to improve ds's latching on, which is Ok but not great and may be making things worse (my nipple comes out of his mouth slightly flattened and it should be coming out 'barrel shaped', apparently, the flattening is caused by it being pushed against his hard palate?)
HV coming tomorrow - mw reckons she will be able to prescribe what I need for thrush treatment. I'll print out that BF network stuff. Thank you .
Here's hoping for barrel-shaped and thrush free nips x

OP posts:

Original poster

Spink · 19/03/2007 19:21

ps - moondog - I can so relate to the crying/not being able to be upright. I SO WANT to be a human being again. Your survival inspires me

OP posts:

Twinklemegan · 19/03/2007 19:23

Aww Spink - that's almost exactly what my GP said, but I'm to hear that coming from a woman. Bet she doesn't have any kids. It's just the worst thing isn't it to be dismissed like that? Hope you have better luck with the HV.

Spaceman · 19/03/2007 19:34

BF for me was the same - I went to the doc to see if I had thrush/infection and I didn't have anything wrong with me. I was in agony and had to psyke myself up for bf every time it was feed time. I perservered however and after a few weeks thing got a lot better. In fact I went on to successfully bf for six months and only stopped when I went back to work. My advice is give it six weeks. There seems to be a magic gate that opens for women after this time and if you make it that far then you'll soon be established at it - like I got to be eventually. Then you just pop baby on and off you go - there's no engorement or anything. BTW, the pain you have in the back of the breast could be the milk rushing in. There are a lot of feelings you get when you first start bf, and it takes a lot of practice indeed. Many of my friends gave up, but if you go for the magic six weeks, you'll probably see a vast difference. It's still early days for you at the moment so keep on doing it and I assure you it will get better.

Good luck, I hope you feel some relief soon.

clarebka1 · 19/03/2007 21:00

This sounds so familiar - by 3 weeks I was in tears every time I breastfed. MW was certain it wasn't thrush. I ended up expressing as I simply couldn't cope (crap really), ended up expressing for 4 weeks - everytime I tried again it was really painful after a 1day or so. Ended up giving up as made me so miserable and felt if I was miserable so was she. But keep trying just make the right decisions for you as well

Twinklemegan · 19/03/2007 21:34

Yes I found that as well Clarebka - feeding got progressively more painful day on day, within the breast, not the nipple as such. I don't know thrush caused any of my problems or not, but the Daktarin cream did do something to help. Dermatitis on the nipples is also a possibility and Daktarin also treats that. In fact I do wonder if I might have been allergic to the lanolin in Lansinoh and whether the pain I felt inside was to do with the letdown, since using a Whittlestone expresser that relies on initiating the letdown was agonisingly painful.

It's trial and error I think Spink as it's by no means an exact science. Keep perservering for as long as you feel you can, and best of luck!

Original poster

Spink · 20/03/2007 04:07

Thank you ladies, it is such a huge help being able to read your wise words and experiences. It is 4am and I've been up since 1 trying to feed. I couldn't believe it, after an hour of crying and trying to latch on, ds just seemed to give up, and went all limp and floppy. That was much more upsetting than any amount of yelling
So, I then spent an hour and a half painfully expressing. At least when he wakes for his next feed I'll be able to give him something. At the mo I just can't face trying to do the boobs.
I know that bf is healthiest for babies and mamas, but why do so many of us feel like failures if we struggle with it? My rational head knows that all I can do is try my best, and that formula, if I went that way, is really not the devil's work, and of course lots of babies healthily grow on it. But my emotional head tells me that I'm not a proper mum if I can't bf 'properly'. Crazy what we women do to ourselves.

OP posts:

clarebka1 · 20/03/2007 08:58

Spink - poor you and I know how you feel - it broke my heart not being able to feed her properly I did feel a lot better using expressed tho as at least I was giving the goodness . I did find that I was producing very little milk in the evening and hv recommended giving a formula feed in the evening instead of bm. This worked really well and gave me more bm for other feeds. Overtime I then did 2 formula and 4 bm and then 50:50. I also found that after a day or so expressing didn't hurt at all and once I'd got the knack could express quickly. The plan was to go back to bf once everything had settled down but I had developed such pain fears this proved too difficult for me. Good luck and it does get easier

moondog · 20/03/2007 20:14

Hi Spimk how are you now?
You really need to demand this treatment.

Clare,your MW was wrong.
By missing a feed and substituting formula you won't have more breastmilk for other feeds.Indeed your post suggests this as you ended up dropping the breastfeeds.
Breastmilk works on a very simple supply and demand basis.The more the breast is sucked,the more milk it will produce.
Tis very simple.

Spink it is not about feeling a failure,it is about deciding what is right for you (armed with the full facts) and then ensuring that those who are paid to support you (ie mws and hvs)enable you to meet your goal.

Really rooting for you.

HK · 20/03/2007 20:27

I have similar problems - does anyone know - can I just get a treatment from the chemist? - i am thinking of the stuff you use for vaginal thrush?

moondog · 20/03/2007 20:56

Yes HK.
Read the Breast Feeding Network stuff linked here,and work out the dose then buy what you need.

clarebka1 · 20/03/2007 21:44

Moondog - you are right, I expressed every 3/4 hours but in the evening could only get very small volumes of bm which wasn't enough for a whole feed, so gave formula in the evening, expressed at each feed and drank loads of water, over the course of a week I double the bm output and was able to give much more. My pain was much much worse in the evening and at night and I personally think that is because dd was sucking and getting nothing. I wish I had known about thrush though as if I could have coped with / treated the pain we'd still be bfing.

Unfortunately with time and getting out and about more I ended up not expressing enough and my bm decreased. Tried to go back to direct which she did really well but the pain came back really badly and I decided that it was not for me. Only just getting into posting messages if only .....

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