shooting pains in breast and throughout back

[@llli*fogarty4]

It's been a rough 3 1/2 weeks and still trying to hang in there...but now I'm experiencing shooting pains in my breast and throughout my back. It feels like nerve endings are open and when I get cold or when I nurse, the pain shoots through my upper body. Been to the OBGYN and they said there is no infection, but I can't seem to get clear answers on what's going on. Anyone else ever experienced this?

[@llli*hls02]

Powerful letdown? Bad Latch perhaps? With my second son, the letdown was so strong I felt it in my whole body. Does it hurt when baby latches on?
Oh! Perhaps Thrush? I know that can cause shooting pains http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/thrush.html

[@llli*mommal]

Welcome to the forum!

Shooting, tingling pain can be due to several things. Breast infection, by either bacteria or yeast (a.k.a. thrush) is one possibility. Check out this link for more on thrush: http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/thrush-resources/

Another possibility is that you're experiencing letdown pain. The sensation of letdown is often described as tingling or shooting, and is sometimes painful. This is particularly true for moms with overabundant milk supplies. If you're often full or engorged, or you see milk shoot or squirt from the breast if your baby pulls off during nursing, this could describe you.

A final possibility is vasospasm (see http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/moth...ple-blanching/). Vasospasm is very compatible with the fact that you experience pain when cold.

[@llli*ohiomama]

Mama.

My money is on the vasospasms. When I experienced them, the pain made me feel like my breasts and upper body would literally break into a million pieces. It was awful. It will happen especially when the nipple is exposed to cooler air once baby unlatches or when you get a cold chill. (I really hated trips to the grocery.) I dealt with the pain for 6-7 weeks when they suddenly stopped. It was not so bad when I had DS2.

Here's what Dr Jack Newman has to say about vasospasms: http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/conte...ename=doc-V-RP Additional magnesium really helped me when I had my second LO.

[@llli*maddieb]

Yes the cold being part of the picture makes me think vasospasm as well.

As far as it hurting in your back, breast tissue does extend well up around your sides, toward your back-I am not up on the exact physiology but certainly moms can feel letdown around their sides (under their arms) and up to their toward shoulders-and also, pain in one part of your body can make you hurt elsewhere, or you may actually be sort of stiffening up with the pain-Since this happens only along with the breast pain, I assume it is not related to back pain many moms get due 1) uncomfortable nursing positions and 2) back/shoulder strain from the new experience of constantly carrying a baby around 3) things that happened during delivery causing back pain down the line.

If letdown pain is involved-For what it's worth, here is my personal exp-I have a pretty extreme letdown sensation. It's way beyond pins and needles-With my last baby, I said it felt like a freight train running down through my breasts. With this baby, now a month old, the pain is more localized in the nipple/areola area but it really hurts, and I have oversupply and multiple letdowns a day, even when baby is not nursing, so, it's a...pain. In my personal experience this gets better over time, as time (generally) evens out supply, then the letdowns are not only less frequent, the painful feeling lasts for a shorter and shorter amount of time and eventually, fades. Interestingly, I had NO letdown sensation at all with my oldest, even though I had oversupply with him as well.

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

I also have pretty extreme letdown sensations. But I will say they got painful to the point of mind-blowing recently when I got thrush. I knew it was thrush when it improved right away with treatment. The letdown pain was accompanied by very painful breasts, extremely painful nipples, and bright red nipples. HTH.