Pregnancy & Motherhood Forum

by **kitcantwait** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:09 am

Does anyone have any experience with this? I've had mild raynaud's-type symptoms in other extremities, mostly fingers and toes, for years, but since I've been pregnant and still BFing it's also been affecting my nipples pretty badly. We do have, and have always had, a crappy, shallow latch (combination of DD having a small mouth and me having enormous nipples LOL), so it could be that, but it hasn't bothered me before now and DD's just turned 2. It's bad in cold weather, like clutch-and-rub-my-boob-in-public kind of bad, and I was wondering if anyone knows of anything that helps alleviate the symps? TIA!

by **jessm** » Thu Feb 28, 2013 7:36 am

I'm sorry I wish I could help you!

by **HawkeyeGirl18** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:34 pm

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. I also developed Raynauds while I was breastfeeding and it was part of what drove me to EP (along with horrible supply issues and having to return to school when DS was 2weeks old). It was extremely painful, and due to how often it was happening, my nipples weren't healing because they weren't getting good blood supply. Pumping made it a little more tolerable. I had DH get me a warm washcloth that I would hold over my nipples for about 10-15 minutes after each pump session. It helped, but any time it got cold, I was in a lot of pain. I also used medela soft shells for sore nipples, because I couldn't tolerate anything, like my bra, touching my nipples when I had an attack.

I did some research and found out that nifedipine can help prevent the attacks. I called my OB and she was willing to take a look at what I found to help. Here is the article that I brought to my OB: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ... /e360.full . My OB prescribed me the 5mg dose of nifedipine three times per day. My pharmacy was unable to get 5mg pills, so I took 10mg three times per day for two weeks. I noticed a huge improvement after several days. After I was finished with the nifedipine, I still had attacks every once in a while for a few months, but it wasn't anything like before treatment. Apparently you can take another round or two of the nifedipine if symptoms get worse again, but I didn't think I needed it.

HTH. Good luck! I hope you can find some relief!

by **kitcantwait** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 7:54 am

Thanks so much for your replies!
Hawkeyegirl, thank you, that's so much helpful information! I'm really sorry you've been dealing with this and soldiering on through it. Very glad you found some relief in the end!