8 weeks in and still in pain - please help!

[NewKidOnTheBlock99]

Hello so I’m 8 weeks in and for the last 3-4 weeks I’ve had a burning sensation in my breast tissue, breasts can feel almost sunburnt to the touch, stabbing pains & also a feeling of pins in my nipples! If I press my breasts feels like they are bruised. I’m literally at my wits end with it, it doesn’t hurt while breastfeeding it just comes and goes and is a lot worse at night when I’m engorged as baby does long stints! We did a course of thrush treatment but didn’t help at all. Is this normal?!

Should add nipples feel quite dry and sore but not while feeding just on and off!

maybe mastitis you need to ring your doctor for advice ,for now pop a cabbage in the fridge.Popping a cold leaf in your bra will help soothe the pain

Sounds like mastitis
Warm compress on breast or bath and lie on your front soak your breasts in the warm water and then try some massage of the breast tissue
Contact GP for advice and keep feeding

www.nhs.uk/conditions/mastitis/

Doesn't sound normal! Could be mastitis but if you've ruled that out, it's probably to do with latching/positioning. I get pains/shooting pains/needling pains if my baby goes to sleep on the boob and they sort of slide away from the good latch I started with. I also got it when my baby had grown but I hadn't adjusted how I held her. She needed a bigger pillow to lie on 😂. Especially at night it can be easy to slump down when you are exhausted!!! Try putting Vaseline or lanolin on your nipples after feeding. If sore I use a bit of germolene as long as it's not near a feed.

This is interesting @catsnore ! My posture is terrible when I feed I.e I can really slouch sometimes and these issues started once my latch “improved” (baby still had partial tongue tie after it was fixed but miraculously feeding pain stopped) do you only get these type of pains while feeding though? Mine are after and worse at night after or while im engorged!

I have thought this but a midwife told me if I had mastitis I would be bedridden with flu like symptoms @pamplemoussee @rosydreams not sure how accurate that is though

Doesn’t sound normal, no. Contact your local breastfeeding team (HV should have details) or find a reputable IBCLC (look on lcgb.org/find-an-ibclc/) who can provide a full feeding assessment and will have much more up to date training and advice than GP/HV.

What thrush treatment did you have and how long for, were both you and baby treated?

The burning sensation etc fits - I had mastitis a couple of times and felt exhausted (but that was hard to determine as you're exhausted anyway!! Some achiness but I wouldn't describe flu symptoms as to what I experienced) anyway whatever it is I think you need a medical opinion from gp and you could also do with checking your latch / getting some specialist feeding advice do you have a local infant feeding team?

Yes my pain was afterwards too. Do you have any red/streaky areas on your boob where the pain is concentrated (sign of infection). But yes I would have thought you would be feeling terrible by now if it was mastitis. There is a fairly comprehensive list of pain (!) here www.laleche.org.uk/nipple-pain/. I would second the suggestion to see a breastfeeding counsellor, especially with possible tongue tie issues. They have a lot more expertise on breastfeeding than gp/hv etc, and they concentrate just on that (midwives have lots other stuff to worry about). Good luck!!