Stress and Deep Breast Pain
By Tiffany Buraglio
Carmel Valley CA USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 20 No. 1, January-February 2003, p. 9
I had an easy time breastfeeding
my first child. So when I was pregnant with my second child, I didn't
even brush up on my breastfeeding knowledge because I was confident
that my second experience would go as smoothly as my first. For the
first few weeks, breastfeeding progressed as I expected.
Then, when my daughter was
about three months old, I had my first plugged duct. That had never
happened to me before, so I did some research on how to get rid of it.
I was able to relieve the pressure after about 24 hours, but then I
experienced a soreness in the duct area for a few days and felt as though
I was bruised. A week or two later, I got another plugged duct. This
began my pattern of getting plugged ducts every week or two. After six
weeks of this, I experienced a different sort of breast pain, with tenderness,
redness, and heat on one breast. I thought it might be mastitis, so
I made an appointment with my obstetrician/gynecologist. He agreed and
prescribed a course of antibiotics. The pain went away, but after a
week or so, my pattern of plugged ducts began again. Soon afterward,
I came down with a sinus infection and I went on antibiotics again.
Since this was my second
child, I was feeling taxed, both mentally and physically, and really
didn't devote much time or energy to figuring out why I was getting
so many plugged ducts. Because I had mastered how to treat them, I just
dealt with them and moved on. I already knew what a beneficial experience
breastfeeding was for both me and my baby, and I never felt like giving
up. I thought that maybe I just had too much milk. I was hoping the
occurrence of plugged ducts would diminish after my baby started solid
foods and my milk supply decreased.
But even when my daughter
did start solids, the problems didn't go away. I began experiencing
bouts of burning pain in my breasts that seemed to radiate from my chest
wall out to the nipple. Since I had experienced plugged ducts and mastitis,
I knew this was different. My breasts were soft, with no hard ducts,
they were not red on the outside or hot to the touch, yet there was
a burning, shooting pain inside. The pain was more severe when I wasn't
nursing and came and went every few days, kind of like the plugged ducts.
Then I developed a severe case of tonsillitis and took yet another course
of antibiotic medication.
When my daughter turned a
year old, I had a very severe case of this breast pain. For about 12
hours, the pain was so intense it made me gasp. Then, the pain lessened
until it went away. Now, in addition to the cycle of plugged ducts,
I was getting cycles of intense pain every few days. The pain was really
making me short-tempered and I was feeling very guilty about having
no patience with my daughter, my four-year-old son, or my husband. I
was also feeling so run down by the persistent pain that I was physically
exhausted. I finally got serious about trying to figure out what was
going on.
While doing some research
on the Internet, I came across articles about yeast infections of the
breast ducts. I had never heard of this before, but the symptoms seemed
to fit my problems. I didn't have any external signs of thrush, but
obviously something was going on inside my breasts. My gynecologist
told me that I would have to be severely immunocompromised in order
for that to happen. He suggested that I stop ingesting caffeine, which
I did for a week with no lessening of symptoms. I got some other suggestions
from a La Leche League Leader in my area, including encouragement to
get as much rest as possible, but the symptoms persisted.
Finally, a local certified
pediatric nurse practitioner that I spoke with on the phone suggested
I take megadoses of acidophilus, since she thought that it was possible
that I did have a ductal yeast infection. Now that I have completed
two months of the suggested treatment, I have not had a single recurrence
of either breast pain or a plugged duct. My daughter is 16 months old
now, and we are finally enjoying a breastfeeding experience without
persistent bouts of pain.
Looking back, I see that the three courses of antibiotics I took-combined
with the effort my sleep-deprived body was making to breastfeed, care
for two children, and deal with stress from the events of September
11, 2001-really must have weakened my immune system. The acidophilus
has worked wonders for me and I am so happy to finally have my usual
temperament back. I'm sure my family is happy for that too!
Last updated Tuesday, October 24, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:37 UTC 2007.
