Drying up my milk OUCH

Surprised84

On Sunday I began the process of drying up my milk. I never knew it could hurt this bad. I'm so engorged and pump maybe twice a day just to relieve pressure. I'm leaking everywhere! It is so hard to even hold my daughter because of the pain. I'm afraid I'm going to end up with clogged ducts and/or mastitis(sp) if I don't have them already. I'm headed out to buy some sage tea and have been taking advil, but what else can I do? I'm miserable. How long does this take? Any help is appreciated.

irer

Sorry you are in pain! I have heard cabbage leaves can help...not sure how it works but if you google it, you should get the idea. Good luck.

merricksmom

This is why I haven't been able to let my milk dry up! I am so afraid. I let her nurse in the afternoon and the relief was instant.

mindymaske

I also took sudafed, it kills your milk supply, which when you are trying to dry up really helps. I did 3 days where I only pumped 3-4 x/day then on a sunday I completly stopped. ALl day sunday I was engorged and uncomfortable and had hard time holding LO. On Monday, it was HORRIBLE, I couldn't have anything even slightly touch my boobs and monday night it was almost impossible to sleep because I was so tender. Im pretty sure I cried a couple times. However by tuesday moring it started to go away and I was back to just being tender and by wed no pain really at all. By sat/sun (like 2 days ago) im not even leaking and my boobs are back to their normal small boobies. PS also wear 2 sports bras so that they are super tight in there.

LME06

I'm in the process too. I highly recommend Lecithin. You can find it at the health food store. It helps prevent clogged ducts. I've heard Sudafed is wonderful. I'm getting some tomorrow.

fastcarsandfreedom3319

I stopped pumping almost 4 weeks ago and I will still leak if I squeeze my nips. Advil was my best friend those first few days for sure. They don't hurt anymore but the nips are still dry and cracked, no matter how much lanolin I put on there! Haven't tried the cabbage leaves but everyone says it works wonders!