nursing 4 yo and engorgement? really?

[kindacrunchy]

I have been having issues with my right breast for a few weeks now. I've posted before about it. Some tingling, prickling, fullness, etc. No evidence of a clogged duct but I swear my right breast is filling up often. My left breast is fine. Lately i have been noticing it in my nipple. It kind of puffed out from a full breast. Expressing some milk just from the nipple alleviates the mild discomfort/irritation.
I've been to the doc and she says all looks and feels fine. I just don't understand. We are trying to change some nursing times so I don't know if my right breast is confused My left seems to be regulating just fine.
Anybody else or any insight?
Thanks!
Karen

[annekh23]

I don't want to scare you, but I can't read this and not mention inflamatory breast cancer, it's rare, but when it does occur in nursing women there is often a delay in diagnosis because it's put down to lactation related problems. Sudden engorgement after 4yrs of nursing isn't normal and it happening only on one side without you being able to spot a pattern of nursing that has led to that isn't normal, so do mention this to your doctor.

[kindacrunchy]

i appreciate your concern, however, i don't exhibit any other symptoms.
i did use cabbage a couple of times in the last 24 hours and it seems much better. i will be keeping an eye on it though. thank you

[wanderinggypsy]

If you had inflammatory breast cancer, expressing some milk wouldn't alleviate your condition. That's totally NOT what you have.

What you do have sounds exactly like what I have: fibrocystic breasts, more so on the right side. I've had multiple ultrasounds of my breasts, and they all show the same thing... numerous cysts. The cysts put pressure on the milk ducts, stimulating let down sometimes, and the pressure from the cyst forces the milk down towards the nipple, where it collects unless you express it/have the baby nurse. For me, this started after the birth of my third child, when I was 29. I'm now 31 and nursing my fourth child and it's still the same. If I am very strict about eliminating caffeine from my diet, it helps a lot but sometimes I just can't function without a coffee!!!

When I first started trying to figure out what was going on with my right breast, I thought it was ONLY the right breast, and I was absolutely terrified that I might have some kind of cancer. My daughter was actually going through cancer at that time and that whole ordeal made me into quite a hypochondriac, so I was a mess... However, the ultrasounds have shown there to be cysts in both breasts, only more in the right. My right one is so full of cysts that the shape of the whole breast changes when my milk lets down. Creepy, but harmless.

[kindacrunchy]

the thing is, my doc says i have very smooth breasts, so no fibrocystic breasts. however, i did have this 3 other times this year. one other time with my right which seemed to improve after my period ended. two other times on my left. this time it seemd to last longer. i think it is a combo of things. loads of caffeine, gained weight, thyroid issues, eating like crap, having other issues from sleeping on one side ALWAYS, and DS kickin' it up a notch at night. so, i have cut down on caffeine, joined weight watchers, been to a chiropractor, set night time limits, and using cabbage. all seems to help except for an irritated nipple right now that i am using lasinoh on. he has been asking to nurse a lot lately so maybe i just didn't realize how much i was except for how awful my nights were going.
i am also a hypochondriac about things since my dad passed about a year ago. so way too in tune with little twinges in my body.
no super huge, red, breasts.

[wanderinggypsy]

Hmm... I still wouldn't rule it out. When I first started complaining to my doctor about this stuff, she did a breast exam on me and said they were 'smooth... no lumps or bumps'. I insisted on furthur testing and the scan revealed all kinds of cysts clustered together. I guess the way that they were, small cysts in clusters allowed them to move around, not showing up as a lump on a breast exam. Over the past two years they sometimes get bad enough that my right breast is quite lumpy, then I smarten up on diet and caffeine, and they go down again.


Another thing I've wondered about is this: I'm right handed, and I have in the past sometimes over nursed on the left to free up my right hand, sometimes resulting in unhealthy engorgement on the right. I wonder if some of the ducts kind of got whacked out of shape doing that and that may explain the weird breast/nipple distortion on let down.

Hmm.

How many years have you been nursing for? I've been breastfeeding for about 10 years with no more than a couple months break between babes.