So let me preface this all by telling you I don't have any insurance, otherwise I wouldn't be bothering you guys.
Anyways, I'm six months into my breastfeeding relationship with DD and 3 weeks ago, I had my first plugged ducts arrive quite suddenly. I worked through them within 24 hours and all was good, except for the large, hard lumps in my breasts that have been there since I started nursing and never go down. Then, about a week later, I notice that every single time I pump (which I've been doing since I went back to work when she was 3 weeks old) I can only pump a couple of minutes before my nipple starts swelling massively - so big it doesn't fit in the phlange properly, ten times the size my already-large nipple usually is. It will get swollen and very hard and I'll have to stop the session because it won't effectively express and it hurts so much. And I had smaller phlanges, but sized up right after I got my pump. The size has never been an issue with the new ones and also, it's only my left nipple.
During all this, I feel a burning pain in my breast tissue. I feel the burning whether I'm pumping or nursing and my nipple does still swell and hurt very much when nursing, but the swelling is less than with a pump. I WOHM 10 hours a day so even a day without pumping isn't an option.
Has this happened to anyone else? Does it sound familiar?
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