Hello everyone! I am helping a friend and fellow LLL Leader with some breast pain she is having, and she gave me permission to post. As always, a private response is welcome if you want to respond off-list. She does not subscribe to Lactnet but said she would be happy to correspond by email if anyone wanted to do that. You may email me privately for her address. If any of you have had a similar situation with a mom, and have ideas, or have said "Yeah, it turned out to be mastitis" or whatever, please let me know! (I am the other LLL Leader she consulted and we just were not at all sure what to think!) Here are her symptoms as stated in her email to me today: Last Friday, my left breast felt sore and tender (outside of breast from 3-6 o'clock position - no one area, just whole area was painful). I had no lumps, redness, swelling, fever, flu-like symptoms, etc. and my right breast is fine. Nursing on the left side is VERY painful, but nursing on the right side is fine. My left nipple felt raw and burned, but there was no sign of a crack, blister, redness, white patches, etc. I have also felt a bit tired and run down (but I have been feeling that way for over a month which I blame on lack of sleep (my 15 month old is waking often to nurse in the night and going to bed late and waking up "to play" during the night, etc....normal mom tiredness is what I attributed my fatigue to). I didn't seem to have enough symptoms to identify thrush, plugged duct, breast infection/mastitis. The pain I felt in my breast and nipple was constant and worsened when I nursed - I had to do labor breathing to get through a nursing. My symptoms were the same on Sat., except my breast soreness/tenderness and nipple pain was worse (still no symptoms of any common breast problems and still only on the left side). On Sun., my breast pain felt like it was deeper in the breast and was excruciating all the time and I cried every time I nursed my 15 month old son because the pain was so unbearable (curl my toes painful). I checked for poor latch or teething issues and found none. I felt slightly nauseous all day, but was still able to eat and was hungry. I also had a really intense headache and felt achy and sore with a good deal of pain in my back and neck from my bra line up to the top of my neck at my hairline. My husband massaged this area and it felt better while he massaged but the pain intensity did not diminish or go away and returned in intensity when he stopped. I am an LLL Leader and I talked with an LLL Leader and we decided that I should treat myself for a breast infection with rest, fluids, heating pad on breast, warm moist hot compresses, massage, frequent nursing on affected side, etc. I continued this treatment all day Sunday, all day Monday and most of Tuesday with no improvement or relief. I talked to an LLL Area Professional Liaison and she was as baffled as I was but agreed that I did not have the classic symptoms for thrush, breast infection/mastitis, pregnancy or breast abscess. On Tuesday late afternoon, I saw my family physician who was convinced that I was pregnant. I was convinced that I was not (and later proved it with a pregnancy test) since the pain was distinctly different from the pain I experienced in my 1st two pregnancies and it was confined to just one breast. My family physician examined my breast and confirmed that she didn't feel any lumps (she also seemed baffled) but sent me home with a prescription for Keflex 4 times a day for 10 days which I started on Weds. morning. My family physician said she thought I had a deep, early breast infection that had not worked it way to the surface yet. On Weds. morning, my breast started to feel better and my nipple too, but the pain is still there and bothersome. Nursing on that side is still uncomfortable, but not unbearable. It is now Friday (one week since this began) and my breast still feels sore and tender (still deeper breast pain and now more concentrated below the areola, but still in the left outside quadrant). My nipple is also still tender, but nursing is not as painful as Sunday. My back and neck soreness is VERY intense today. I have had plugged ducts before and this pain feels different. I have also never had plugged ducts without a lump that I was able to get rid of with rest, massage, frequent nursing and hot warm compresses. I am completely baffled and if anyone has any insight, I would be most grateful!!! Thanks so much, Liz Cammin, RN, LLLL -- I didn't give you the gift of life. Life gave me the gift of you. *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html Mail all commands to [log in to unmask] To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask]) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask]) To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]