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Breastfeeding
Sharp Pains Throughout Breast After Feeding
Hello, I guess I should introduce myself first...
We were blessed with a baby boy on January 6th after an emergency c section due to him being breech (after making it to 10cm, and about to start pushing, unfortunately they didn't catch it at my prenatal appointments). Since we've had a lot of problems in the breast feeding department.
My milk was late to come in, I ended up with mastitis when he was almost 2 weeks old, my nipples still hurt SO BAD when he latches that I bite my tongue, curl my toes and kick my leg out. The thing that concerns me is that ever since my milk came in, I get these throbbing sharp pains throughout my entire breast (both), about 10 minutes after he's done feeding. It feels like someone is stabbing me and twisting the knife. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to breast feed without taking painkillers (Tylenol and ibuprofen) a couple times a day. I am wondering if any one else has experienced this??? Everyone keeps telling me it gets better with time, but he's a month old now and it's still the same... When I ask other moms about these pains they have no idea what I am talking about... It would be nice to find someone who is going through the same thing who would understand! Thanks!!
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Re: Sharp Pains Throughout Breast After Feeding
I had the same thing around that time. My LC told me to take the supplement, Soy Lecithin, every day. It's a fat emulsifier that's found in many foods. You can buy it at any health food store. I took it in pill format, 1360mg a day. The pains went away. I just finished all 100 pills (over 100 days) and stopped to see if I still needed it. I've noticed the sharp pains coming back after I feed, so I'm going to go buy another bottle this week and continue because obviously it works for me.
Here's the brand I use: https://www.vitacost.com/Solgar-Natural-Soya-Lecithin
You may want to give it a try or ask your LC about it. Good luck!
I had that exact sensation, but the pain lasted for hours. I saw a doctor who specialized in breastfeeding mothers and is also a LC. She diagnosed it as vascular spasms.
from thebreastfeedingdoctor.com:
Vascular Spasm(Raynaud?s Phenomenon, vasospasm) Definition: When blood vessels clamp up and don?t allow enough blood and oxygen to the breast tissue, nipple and/or areolae. Symptoms and signs: Usually deep breast pain.May be in one or both breasts.May occurr before or after feedings.May last a few minutes to hours.Stabbing, aching, throbbing or shooting pain.Can be severe, intense pain.Usually feels worse in the cold.Patches of the nipple or areolae may appear pale or purple during the spasm.The areolar skin may crinkle.The nipple may contract.May feel more intense when laying in bed at night. Causes:Most women have vascular spasm secondary to having inflammation of the nipple/areolae or breast tissue. This inflammation could be from trauma, wounds, scabs, blisters, blebs. Infections, like mastitis may also elicit vascular spasm. The most common infection to cause vascular spasm is yeast. Some women have primary vascular spasm. They may have a history of poor circulation, sensitivity to the cold, fingers turning white in the cold (Raynaud?s Phenomenon), an autoimmune disease or a history of autoimmune disease or Raynaud?s in the family. Treatment Always treat the underlying cause first and the vascular spasm should resolve. For immediate relief, when you feel the pain starting, take the palm of your hand and press your nipple/breast against your chest wall for a few minutes. Warmth will also ease the pain (hot water bottle, heating pad). Occasionally taking vitamin B6, 100mg daily for two weeks only will help. Severe vascular spasm that does not resolve after treating the underlying cause needs to be treated with medication. The medication used is nifedipine. Nifedipine is used to treat high blood pressure and also works to relieve vascular spasm. It works by opening up the blood vessels and allowing the blood to flow to the breast more easily. Because most women have normal blood pressure, you must be careful when you take this medication. It can drop your blood pressure and cause side effects of dizziness, lightheadedness or headache. Other side effects may include ankle swelling and palpitations (fast heart beat). Precautions If you are taking nifedipine:make sure to eat frequently during the day,drink plenty of fluids,get up slowly from a laying down position, so that your blood pressure does not drop too abruptly.Most people can stop the nifedipine after two weeks and the vascular spasm will not return. If it does, speak with your doctor to make sure that the underlying cause was properly treated."
Based on how you describe your pain, I am pretty sure you have thrush!
I thought that pain was normal, just beginner's pain but then I had a LC come to my house and she told me that I had thrush. It feels exactly how you described it....deep shooting pains and a horribly painful latch....so painful that I would dread feedings and cry from the pain. I told my DH it felt like somebody was stabbing me. Please call your ob/gyn for a rx for diflucan and triple nipple cream for you and call the pedi for treatment for your LO. Both you and your LO must be treated. I wish I would've known about thrush beforehand so that I could have treated it right away instead of waiting and letting it get so bad and get into my milk ducts.
Here is a c&p from another post of of how I got rid of it: I've been dealing w/thrush for the past month and I think I am finally in the clear. If you've been using nystatin for over a month and it's not working, then your DD needs something else. I've read that nystatin only works for 50% of yeast strains and that since it's suspended in a sugar solution that it's not very effective.
I would continue the APNO (all-purpose nipple cream/triple nipple cream) after each feeding but like pp mentioned, ask your ob/gyn to call in a prescription for diflucan. You should not have to be seen. Make sure they prescribe the correct dosage which is 14-15 pills of 200mg each WITH ONE REFILL.You take a loading dose of 2 pills (400 mg total) on the first day and take 1 each day. You must continue taking it for 7 days past the day that you last felt symptoms. I ended up getting the refill and taking it for 25 days total because I felt better but then after 2 weeks it came back one day.Along with diflucan I also made sure to wash everything that touched my breast or had breast milk on it every single day with 1/4 cup of vinegar in hot water - this included bras, towels, DD's clothes, blankets. I made sure to put a towel on my My Brest Friend each day that I used it and washed that as well.Also I immediately stopped eating sweets and anything w/yeast or white flour because I read that it feeds the yeast and you need to starve them out. I know it's kind of extreme but I was terrified that I would never be able to get rid of the thrush. I am also taking grapefruit seed extract capsules twice a day and probiotics (refrigerated kind) that has acidophilus strains in it. I was getting ready to use Gentian Violet 1% diluted in water (ordered from Target and it came in a day) as a last resort but then the thrush finally cleared. HTH!!Thank you guys SO SO MUCH!!! I now know that something is obviously wrong and need to call the Dr. Your advice and replies are much appreciated!!!!
no problem! i hope you can get the meds and start feeling better soon! also i forgot to mention to also use disposable breast pads and change them often. i also wipe my nipples after each feeding. excess breast milk can also feed the yeast.
also if you get nystatin for your lo, i would use a qtip to swab after each feeding. instructions say to give 1ml on each cheek but i read that it is more effective to swab the tongue and cheeks w/a q tip after each feed or every 2 hours. i didn't want to use the full 2ml each time because it can make them gassy.