Painful breasts

Over the last 4-5 months my breasts have been extremely painful for about 3-4 weeks of my cycle. I’m used to some breast tenderness the week or so before my period begins and know this is normal, but the pain I’m experiencing at the moment is something else! And it stays for such a long time. I’ve looked at heaps of Endo websites to see if this is a side effect of Endo but haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere. Is this something others have experienced? If it is then have you got any tips to minimise the pain?

[Hidden]

Hi mine get really sore too, can't touch them or wear a bra. I haven't found anything that helps but not wearing a bra does make it a little better x

[cherry78]

Hi, I have painful breasts too most of the month which has got worse recently. I thought it may be a side effect of the progesterone pills I am taking but I wouldn't be surprised if it is yet another side effect of endo. I would agree with Christina11 about not wearing a bra! I would also monitor and keep an eye on them for anything unusual such as any painful lumps or changes in the skin on the breast, anything like that go straight to a GPx

[JellyKat]

I had this, where the pain was sharp like a jagged blade being shoved in my boob. I saw a specialist who suggested I cut out all caffeine. I only drank 3 - 4 cups of tea a day, 3 - 4 cups of coffee a week.

I switched to decaf and it made the world of difference! If it picks up again a bit, I use starflower oil (high in GLA) as recommended by the specialist.

Worth a try?

[Hidden in reply to JellyKat]

Thanks, that’s helpful. I try to only drink one caffinated cup of tea a day but have been a bit lax on it recently. Haven’t tried using sunflower oil though, so will give it a go and try to cut out caffeine completely too.

[JellyKat in reply to Hidden]

Starflower oil has the highest gla, but if you can’t find that evening primrose oil has it too. Sunflower oil isn’t known for having it, but you can get the others easily enough in supermarkets in capsules

[Kerry_M]

God yes, hugely painful boobs sometimes for a few months, then randomly goes away for a while. I panicked and asked for a breast scan - as have lumpy boobs anyway - and the pain was also going under both arms, but the scan (thankfully) was clear and the breast consultant said it was highly likely hormonal brought on by stress. There is a strong connection between the two. Like others have said, go for something with the highest GLA eg. Starflower. If you can’t get that, Evening Primrose is fine, but my consultant said you need 300/400 GLA per day ideally, which could mean 3 tablets daily, not the 1 tablet recommended on the bottle.

[StillEverHopeful]

I do hope you are sorted now. If not follow up with high dose of gamma linoic acid (GLA) found in. Evening primrose oil & starflower oil.

Years ago I had extremely painful hormonal breasts & my GP was able to prescribe a great product (now discontinued) which was high strength GLA capsules.it really does work.

Now I'm menopausal & it's not flushes, which are much better than breast pain

[ABrehon]

Hi, I've experienced this and found taking vitamin B6 regularly really helps. Also anti inflammatory foods - pineapple, blueberries, walnuts, salmon, spinach etc... Good Luck!