Breastfeeding issues and IDC

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McClure77
McClure77 Member Posts: 55
edited February 2016 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

When I was breastfeeding my daughter (she's 8 now) I used to get a lot of blocked ducts. From what I remember, they were mostly (or perhaps all?) on my right side. Flash forward to my diagnosis of both DCIS and IDC in that breast. I cannot help but wonder if these two things are related in some way? Could it be possible that someone who experiences a lot of problems with blocked ducts while breast feeding might have an increased risk of breast cancer? Or, could it be an early indication of cancer already there? Since many women are much farther out from breast feeding when they are diagnosed, it might be that no one talks about these things, or that farther out, they are less indicative. Anyone else diagnosed with IDC remember having breastfeeding issues?

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  • Skittlegirl
    Skittlegirl Member Posts: 428
    edited January 2016

    I nursed my three kids for over a year each. I think I had one clogged duct with #2 and #3. So no real issues breastfeeding and still got cancer.

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  • wrmbrownie
    wrmbrownie Member Posts: 114
    edited January 2016

    I had the same issue. One area on my left side used to get blocked...exactly where my BC was. My youngest kiddo is now 7 (so it was 5 yrs ago.)

    When I was diagnosed, I asked my MO about the fact that I had breastfed all of my kids (each a long time) and wasn't that supposed to help me not get BC? She said that it may have helped as I might have gotten BC 5 years earlier had I not. Well, that was another way of thinking about it...

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  • phrogger78
    phrogger78 Member Posts: 115
    edited January 2016

    I had mastitis in my left breast and I have cancer in my right. What I found interesting was my right breast was the breast all my kids preferred to nurse off of, and it was by far my higher producing breast. Even when I only exclusively pumped (I did that after 4 pregnancies) and my right probably produced nearly twice as much as my left side. It is really interesting to think about though. And I find it interesting as well that I started having kids quite young (17) nursed or pumped for 10 kids, and still have breast cancer at 37. I think it has more to do with the fertility hormones I took.

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  • BlueHeron
    BlueHeron Member Posts: 154
    edited January 2016

    I thought about this. My right side was my high producer, including blocked ducts and mastitis. But my cancer is on the left.

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  • Stephmoen
    Stephmoen Member Posts: 563
    edited February 2016

    I was diagnosed when my daughter was 13 months I breast fed and pumped for the first month..my cancer bReast barely produced any milk I gave up becomes of this little did I know there was cancer growing in there :(

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