Hello dear moms,
I am a desperate mom of a 4 months beautiful daughter. When she was 1 month old, I discovered a lump (I exclusively pumped until then), and my OB asked me to wean, because I anyway had small amounts of milk. She gave me a pill for drying up. After another 1 month, because the lump would not go away, I had a mammogram, and it showed that it was only a cyst. Now I am scared that I had a mammo at only 7 weeks postpartum, after weaning suddenly. Did any of you go through something similar, or at least went for a mammo still having milk in your ducts, but without breastfeeding anymore? I appreciate your answers!
Currently she is 4 months old, and this happened 2 months ago, but I still worry about the irradiated milk which remained in my ducts, causing potential damage to my breasts because of the free radicals created during radiation.
Sorry, but I really do not know how to answer to your comments. I cannot find the option to reply to each of you.So my worry is about the radiation, and the fact that my milk, in small amounts, remained in my ducts, and being irradiated could have hurt my tissue, because of the free radicals generated by the X rays.
I have a high level of anxiety because of this mammogram (@B - you are more than right) :( , I do not want to get sick because of it, as I read on the internet that mammograms could be the cancer trigger. :(
@Jill K. - What do you mean by the doctor did a bad thing... I was very worried because of the lump, and this is why she recommended the mammogram. Are you referring to the radiation exposure that scares me also?
@Marda P. - My OB recommended weaning, it was not an order, but I had not enough milk for feeding my baby, and also I started to develop a mastitis and she said that probably I will get others because of the low supply.
You're fine. I had a mammogram while breastfeeding, due to a lump that was a clogged milk duct. The doctor assured me that it wouldn't affect my milk and I was able to feed my son that day. A web search of reputable sites about breastfeeding will confirm this - it doesn't affect the milk at all, you do not have irradiated milk in your ducts, calm down and move on. Yay, you don't have breast cancer! Relax and enjoy your baby.
I'm not really following.
What do you mean, you are 7 weeks postpartum, but you have a 4 months daughter?
So your concern is having a mammogram while having breastmilk?
Why would this be a concern - what exactly are you concerned about? I'm not following - that it might leak?
This is the second breast type question this morning, and they just seem odd to me. Would you not simply tell the technician? What else would you do ....
Milk dries up typically within weeks.
Ok, so - are you worried because you want to relactate and breastfeed your baby again?
Or are you just worried because you think a mammogram is somehow harmful to you?
Breasts don't work like faucets.
You don't turn off the spigot and the milk just sits there waiting to be let out.
On an annual basis - you get more radiation from sunlight than you do from a mammogram.
"How Much Radiation Are You Getting?"
http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20410979,00.html
Why are you desperate?
I would think that finding out the lump was only a cyst would be a relief.
Your anxiety level isn't rational.
Please TALK to your DOCTOR about your fears/anxieties/worries - because this level of desperation makes me think you are having an issue with postpartum depression.
I was on Zoloft for 6 months when our son was 1 1/2 years old and it helped me so much.
I was feeling like I had to be on guard all the time and I was killing myself trying to be Super Mom.
A few weeks on the medication and it felt like the hair on the back of my neck could finally stop standing on end all the time.
Just add comments in the "So What Happened" section.
There isn’t any milk in your breasts. Any milk that was there was absorbed back into your body awhile ago ... usually no more than a week after you stop nursing or pumping.
I’m confused as to why you were concerned about the milk, specifically. Your breasts also received radiation, but you focused on the milk. Any particular reason for that?
Many of us grew up fearing radiation. It makes sense because too much radiation can be harmful. There was a time when this was unknown, and x-ray technology was used for all kinds of things (like checking to see if shoes were the right size at a shoe stores. The medical community is very, very careful about radiation these days. When x-rays or ct-scans or mri’s or whatever are done, technicians are very careful to keep you as safe as possible.
If you have questions, call your doctor. But do try to relax. You have no milk to be irradiated.
ETA - this isn't facebook, instagram or snapchat. You use your So What Happened to tell people more). I agree with others - sorry - I didn't catch it - you have a 4 month old (16 weeks) and are 7 weeks postpartum? HUH?? How does that work?
You have STOPPED breast feeding - correct? So WHY are you worried about radiation if you are NO LONGER breast feeding??
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welcome to mamapedia, M..
What are you afraid of? If you are dried up, the chances of milk seeping out during a mammogram would be small. IF that's what you are worried about.
I don't know why you were FORCED to wean. I had a lump after breast feeding. It was just a swollen duct. it went away. I went on to breast feed for 2 years.
If you are NOT completed "dry"? Tell the technician handling your mammogram what is going on.
Do you mean at 7 weeks postpartum you had a mammogram and your daughter is now 4 months old? I'm also confused about why you're concerned. You said you had stopped breast feeding before the mammogram. If that's the case, your daughter was not exposed to your milk after the mammogram.
Mammograms are taken, using a small amount of x-rays. Nothing stays in your milk. We are naturaly exposed to radiation everyday. It's in the air. Food can be irradiated and still be safe. Women have numerous mammograms over a lifetime and remain healthy.
Again, if your daughter did not drink breast milk after the mammogram, why are you concerned? Even if she did, she is OK.
I'm guessing your doctor said you could wean as a choice not as an order.
As to how to reply to individual posts, reply to all in the "so what happened" space. You can include names if that will clarify what you're saying.
If your individual messages do not provide extra information for this post, you can click on their name which sends you to their profile where you can click on "personal message."
This site is about group interaction. We all need information that might change our answer.
How do you have a 4 month old and be 7 weeks postpartum?
What are you so afraid of? Go get a mammogram, it will ease your mind due to the lump and just communicated with the technician.
This is not a desperate situation.,, you are creating it in your head.
Just go get a mammogram.
medical paranoia is a real thing, and you've got it. it's more serious than the very remote possibility that you have traces of glowing irradiated cancer causing milk in your breast ducts.
i strongly suggest therapy to help you deal with irrational fears.
khairete
S.
I think you should ask your doctor, or call the clinic where you had your mammogram, to see if this is anything to be concerned about.
A mammogram uses xrays, which do not cause radioactivity. You do not have radioactive milk or anything else in your breasts.
You didn't need to have weaned to have a mammogram. You didn't need to have been dried up either. Additionally, lumps appearing during breastfeeding are super common and usually not scanned right away for this reason. Unless you have an existing history of breast cancer, your doctor did the wrong thing.
Dr gave you a pill to dry you up. So it is most likely that you had no milk left at the time of the mammo. I wouldn't worry about irradiated milk. If you have any further questions or worries call the Drs office and seek consultation about it.
