Sore boob and feel poorly

[jimmyeatworld]

I've been hand pumping about 3 times a day, I am mixed feeding mainly formula but like to get a bottle of breast milk a day either to give to baby or freeze. I only pumped once yesterday and when I was giving a bottle in the early hours pumped again then and got about 6 ounces off both boobs. This morning my left boob is so painful and feels really full, but I also have aches like muscular flu aches, if I pump will this feeling go away ? Really feel crap just wondering if engorgement can cause this feeling

It could be mastitis -- if so, please work hard to treat it as if it gets bad you may need hospital admission. www.nhs.uk/conditions/mastitis/

You need to contact the GP, it sounds like you have mastitis that needs prompt treatment with antibiotics before you get really poorly.

I was coming on to say mastitis too, it’s so painful. See if you can find the source of the blockage and massage down towards the nipple while you’re pumping, that and standing trying the same thing without the pump under a hot shower can help.

I had to ring the Dr for antibiotics once because it didn’t shift but the few other times I managed to unblock the duct myself.

I agree with PP’s get onto GP without delay, sounds bizarre old wives tale, but cabbages leaves in your bra may help if you have any till the antibiotics take effect on the mastitis. I had it when feeding DS1, it’s very common OP. I know a few mums that have had it, none of them had a hospital stay so don’t panic, but get it treated. Good luck I hope you are feeling better soon

Engorgement can lead to mastitis, so talk to your GP immediately. Pumping can help relieve the pressure, but you will probably need antibiotics to cure it completely

Yep get antibiotics fast. I had mastitis that turned to a breast abscess over a weekend - I do not recommend. Six weeks of visits to the breast clinic and a spectacular pus explosion and it's finally on the mend!

You 100% have blocked ducts and it will quickly lead to mastitis.
Just be careful you dont overdo it with pumping to clear it - remember whatever you remove today you'll create tomorrow so you could end up with oversupply and back in the same position. So almost try and pump as you would do normally.
Ibuprofen. Cold compress between feeds/pumps. Warm compress before feed/pump and massage blockage gently towards the nipple OR towards the armpit as it goes back into lymphatic system. It's horrible, I've had a lot of run-ins with blocked ducts.

Thank you ladies. I pumped late morning and it felt better about ten mins later, it's still tender but not painfully so now, also the fluey aches have gone away. I did get this feeling last week but I never connected the dots and again it went away on its own.
I saw the health visitor today who said to try and unblock it myself by pumping and warm flannels etc and if it doesn't get better to call the gp.

How much should I be pumping would anyone know ? I try and do it 3 times a day spread out over 24 hours atm, I don't want masses just enough for a bottle a day, I tend to get a couple of ounces out of each boob at a time if I do it for twenty mins. Is this enough ?

Lecithin is good for reducing occurrences of blocked ducts. I exclusively pumped with DD1 for a while and suffered horribly with them till I started on a high dose of lecithin. I didn't get any after that.

Has it returned in exactly the same area as last week? I only ask as you might have not fully cleared it last week and why it has quickly returned. You could also be prone to getting it in a certain area - I am on my right boob for some reason but have heard it is common.

As for quantity, how old is your baby? Do you mean how much they need?

Best time for quantity (in my experience) is in the night 3am-ish and first thing morning.

It’s been a couple of years since I stopped but I think I just pumped enough to get rid of the blockage, I was afraid of increasing my supply and starting the whole situation all over again!

I always felt a bit sore and felt bruised after the blockage had gone but it was different from the intense pain that it had been before.

I’ve no idea if that’s any help but I’m glad you feel a bit better tonight!

There is new guidance around treating mastitis now...which has recently been released. The recommendation is ice packs, gentle massage, paracetamol/ibuprofen, rather than hot showers/heat, as the heat can cause swelling and more pain

I had blocked ducts, never had to contact the doctor. It will go away but you have to express milk more often. It will affect your supply for a few days, but you will be able to build it up. But you need to pump, pump, pump! I think expressing milk 3 times in 24 hour period is very little. I pumped every 3 hours (4 times) during the day and 2 times during night. If I couldn't every 3 hours or didn't pump during the night, the blocked ducts came back. So keep pumping, it will get better in a couple of days. Take some paracetamol, and massage them as often as you can!

Also, in my experience, I don't think it's possible just pump a little. If you do, you will end up with painful blocked ducts and your milk supply will go away. I think if you express milk you have to be very committed or not at all. Sorry, its propably not what you want to hear.

Yes the same boob and same area.

@Tina8800 do you think this is the reason it's happening then because I'm not pumping enough? I'm new to it all so didn't realise I have to pump so often, I thought that was only if you're ebf

I belive so. It happened to me when I didn't pump as much. Luckily, it went away after 2 days every time, but I remember how painful it was.
I think it will keep coming back if you don't pump enough. I know, expressing milk is a nightmare. I think try to pump more often even if only for a shorter amount of time.
I did struggle with my supply, ended up breastfeeding only for comfort. For 4 weeks I pumped in every 2 hours to build up supply and after 5 weeks in every 3 hours. When my baby started to sleep through the nights at 12 week I stopped pumping as much at night and that's when the blocked ducts happened...

Breastmilk works on a supply and demand basis. So whatever you remove, your body will make again and so forth. So if you pump x3 in a day but then the next day you only pump x1 then you have an excess. If that excess is left & isn't removed then it gets blocked. This is very high level explanation and I mostly breastfed so not an expert on pumping. But if you start pumping x6 times a day then you're potentially setting yourself up for more than you need if you're supplementing with formula.
You will want to make sure your breast feels empty/soft after a pump, so you're not just pumping a little but as if your baby has done a good feed.
As I said, not an expert on pumping though. Hopefully someone on here is.

Breastfeeding is very different from pumping, I don't think you can compare the two.

So this morning I pumped and got barely an ounce out of both boobs ! Not sure what's happened as I usually get loads...

My boob doesn't hurt now only if I press on it it feels abit tender

If you only want to give a bottle or something a day then you don't need to pump 8+ times a day. That's for building and maintaining exclusive breastmilk amounts of supply. If that is what you're working towards then yes you need to up your pumping schedule significantly, but if you just want your DC to have one bottle of ebm a day then you don't want or need to add pumping sessions really.

Try the lecithin, it really did work wonders for me. You can buy big bottles of sunflower lecithin online.

How old is your baby?

Thank you @Hugasauras she is 13 days old