[Sarahbie]

I stopped breastfeeding 6 months ago. During the 2+ years I breastfed, I had nearly constant milk blisters, issues with overproduction, and difficulty expressing.

There are fibrous non-cancerous cysts in my breasts, and some are close to the nipple. Since stopping breastfeeding, I've had constant pain from engorgement that's barely relieved through even more painful expressing. It's just in my right breast. The left doesn't hurt.

Please believe when I tell you, I've tried every homeopathic recipe under the sun. Primrose Oil, Iron Supplements, Cabbage Leaves, No-More-Milk Tea, Lecithin, Sage Tea, and more. I've used antihistamines as my doctor recommended on a daily basis to slow production.

High-end hospital grade pumps do almost nothing to pull milk out. I have to squeeze and squeeze for hours to get a small amount of temporary relief.

It hurts so much, all the time. All of your ideas are welcome.

 

[katelove]

If the expressing is painful and only provides minimal, temporary relief anyway, I'm wondering if it's worth stopping. The stimulation may be making the engorgement worse even though you only get a little bit out.

This is what I would suggest:

- continue the antihistamines as prescribed

- wear a firm fitting bra all the time, including at night

- minimise all stimulation to the breast. Don't express and avoid hot showers etc

- apply ice packs as often as possible to manage pain and reduce blood flow

- if you are able to take anti inflammatory medications take ibuprofen every 6hrs to help with pain and reduce local inflammation

You will, I imagine, need to persist with this regime for at least a couple of weeks and possibly longer before you notice much difference as this has been a long-standing problem. You'll need to be very aware of mastitis symptoms and seek prompt treatment but, as you're not currently feeding, the risk is lower.


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[Sarahbie]

If the expressing is painful and only provides minimal, temporary relief anyway, I'm wondering if it's worth stopping. The stimulation may be making the engorgement worse even though you only get a little bit out.

This is what I would suggest:

- continue the antihistamines as prescribed

- wear a firm fitting bra all the time, including at night

- minimise all stimulation to the breast. Don't express and avoid hot showers etc

- apply ice packs as often as possible to manage pain and reduce blood flow

- if you are able to take anti inflammatory medications take ibuprofen every 6hrs to help with pain and reduce local inflammation

You will, I imagine, need to persist with this regime for at least a couple of weeks and possibly longer before you notice much difference as this has been a long-standing problem. You'll need to be very aware of mastitis symptoms and seek prompt treatment but, as you're not currently feeding, the risk is lower.


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Thank you for your reply. I'm conflicted between trying to bear the pain in an effort to be done with it for good, and the intense need to be in less pain. Wearing a tight fitting bra seems to increase the pain, so I haven't stuck to that, same with the ice presses.

It seems like the only path forward is to deal with the pain, but at this point, I'm losing it.

I found an article about galactocele at ourstory.net...my doctor never had mentioned this is possible, but since I have cysts, I'm going to bring it up at our next appointment. I'll post again if I'm able to find anything helpful.

 

[Ratchet]

This sounds unusual/ concerning-ish. Not to freak you out. But this is not normal "engorgement" and I don't think milk in there is the problem. It's normal to have some drops of milk for a year after weaning but "engorgement" type pain sounds odd. Have you had an ultrasound of your breast? Do you have theoption of going to a 'breast specialist'? Often the same people who treat cancers, BUT rest assured pain is not a common presentation for cancer.