Am I just destined for a life of pain while bf'ing? x-posted in bf'ing

[yasinsmama]

Without going into too much detail, basically, I have had issues since day one. Recently, the pain became too much for me, so I decided to pump/feed for a few days and do salt water soaks to let my nipples heal (I had a hole on the face of my right nipple). I pumped and soaked all evening Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday. I nursed a couple of times Saturday for convenience and there was no pain. Last night and this morning I gave him bottles of bm. I have only nursed him twice on each side today, and this last time on the right hurt SO bad again. The pain is back.
Do I need to give it more time to heal, or is this as good as it gets for us?
I don't know if I have it in me to be an ep'er and I just can't keep going through this pain. I am so upset.

[RachelGS]

Oh, mama. I'm so sorry. Have you seen an IBCLC? You need to find out what's hurting you: poor latch (and if that's it, why? tongue tie? high palate?), thrush, staph... There are many FIXABLE possibilities. You shouldn't have to hurt like this! I admire you for persisting! Please get help.

[neostudded]

Hey I have to make a quick reply but my advice is to contact LLL s

[jadedone80]

Have you tried taking magnesium supplements and maybe some Emergenc-C? Also olive oil is incredibly healing for the nipples, especially if the salt soaks are drying.

I feel for you. :
Good for you to keep it up.
I had a terrible time too, from poor latch, thrush, to blood vessels constricting. I treated every single thing as best as possible with one or another natural remedy.

Anyway, try seeing a LC too, if you can.

[yasinsmama]

Originally Posted by jadedone80

Have you tried taking magnesium supplements and maybe some Emergenc-C? Also olive oil is incredibly healing for the nipples, especially if the salt soaks are drying.

I feel for you. :
Good for you to keep it up.
I had a terrible time too, from poor latch, thrush, to blood vessels constricting. I treated every single thing as best as possible with one or another natural remedy.

Anyway, try seeing a LC too, if you can.

Thanks mamas. I x-posted in "bf'ing", so i've been replying over there.

Jadedone:
the only supplements i've been taking is Acidophillus.
DS is 10 weeks old: I started out with very bad cracked/bleeding nipples, plugged ducts, mastits, and thrush.
I was taking diflucan, and doing GSE/vinegar rinses for the thrush, and applying monistat/lotrimin/nystatin, whatever was closest.
So when this pain started getting worse, at first I thought the thrush was back, but then I noticed a hole on the face of my right nipple (I had always seen it & thought it was supposed to look like that, until it started spreading). So I started the salt water soaks & pumping. Started feeling better, so I tried to alternate nursing with bottles of bm. Well, nursing was GREAT the 1st 2 times, then it went downhill.

So now I don't know if it is the hole, or the thrush. I don't know if I should treat it like broken skin (with the salt water), or thrush (with the GSE rinses), or both.
If it's the hole that's causing me pain, I don't want to keep nursing and not let it heal.
I am so confused.

What will the magnesium and emergen-c do? I am Muslim, but I would probably : a big gravy smothered pork chop right about now if it would make all of the pain disappear!! (not really)

Oh yea, I did olive oil, lansinoh, earth mama nipple butter, etc.

I think I would have come out cheaper just buing formula! But I just can't do that to my little baby.

[jadedone80]

LOL.. a gravy smothered pork chop : I am Jewish so that is really quite funny.

You sweet mama! I really feel for you. It must be hard and you have such determination!

First, don't use the lansinoh. I know almost everyone says to use it, but if you had/have thrush, then it just keeps it the there under a protective barrier and is almost impossible to cure. In addition, you could be allergic to wool, which is what lansinoh is made from. AND you might have reinfected yourself with the thrush by using the same tube.

If it is the hole, ouch, does it bleed or pus? You could keep using the olive oil to help heal it inbetween salt rinses. The olive oil should help if there is thrush too. I don't know about the nipple butter, so I can't comment on that.

Have you tried just walking around with out a top. I know there are modesty issues there, but air drying is very healing and 5 minutes of sunlight a day helps heal thrush.

Magnesium and Emergen-C are both Kosher. The magnesium will help blood vessels unconstrict, allowing for healing and the Emergen-C has vitamin C and B-vitamins. The vit-C will help with healing (and thrush) and the B-vitamins will help in general.

: It will get better. Just take one feeding at a time.

[yasinsmama]

Originally Posted by jadedone80

LOL.. a gravy smothered pork chop : I am Jewish so that is really quite funny.

You sweet mama! I really feel for you. It must be hard and you have such determination!

First, don't use the lansinoh. I know almost everyone says to use it, but if you had/have thrush, then it just keeps it the there under a protective barrier and is almost impossible to cure. In addition, you could be allergic to wool, which is what lansinoh is made from. AND you might have reinfected yourself with the thrush by using the same tube.

If it is the hole, ouch, does it bleed or pus? You could keep using the olive oil to help heal it inbetween salt rinses. The olive oil should help if there is thrush too. I don't know about the nipple butter, so I can't comment on that.

Have you tried just walking around with out a top. I know there are modesty issues there, but air drying is very healing and 5 minutes of sunlight a day helps heal thrush.

Magnesium and Emergen-C are both Kosher. The magnesium will help blood vessels unconstrict, allowing for healing and the Emergen-C has vitamin C and B-vitamins. The vit-C will help with healing (and thrush) and the B-vitamins will help in general.

: It will get better. Just take one feeding at a time.

Thanks.
Actually, Dh keeps asking me when I am going to put a top on. I think I have been topless since DS was 3 weeks old! That's why I hate going places, because I have to wear clothes.
I bought some Magnesium and emergen-c today. Do I just take them as the bottle directs?

[jadedone80]

Yes, just take as the bottle instructs.

It will get better. And if you can, still try to find a Lactation Consultant, just to check baby's latch and the hole in your nipple.

[Mommal]

I just want to encourage you to hang in there. I also started out with badly cracked nipples. My LC said they were the "second worst" she's seen, and she's seen a lot. I persisted with nursing, all the time thinking "Okay, I will do one year with these cracked nips, and then I am done done DONE." Well, lo and behold, at 4.5 months my nipples started to heal. By 5 months they were all better. I think two things finally allowed the healing to happen: first, I was staying with my parents and they have no air conditioning. Really humid, moist air helped a lot! The second, more important thing that helped was that my baby grew. Once she had a bigger mouth and a longer tongue, she was able to latch on more deeply.

I won't say that nursing was trouble-free after that- I still got the odd plugged duct and about a million nipple blisters. (The hole you have in your nipple reminds me a lot of what a bad blister can be like once it pops, BTW.) But things only got better with time. By the time my daughter was 1 year old, there was no way I was going to stop. DD is 28 months now and I can't bear to wean her!

I'm also Jewish, and I would also have eaten a gravy-covered pork chop to make the pain go away.