Padget’s?

Hello. This will be very long, so if you read all of it, thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I’m 25 years old and I have two kids. My son will be 3 at the end of this month, and I have a daughter who turns 8 months old in a few days. My left nipple/areola/breast is always INCREDIBLY itchy. The type of itch you can’t scratch or satiate. That breast is also bigger than my right one, and the areola puffier. I first noticed the itch when I was pregnant with my son.. so 3 years ago. I breastfed him for a month shy of two years, dried up because I was pregnant with my daughter. I am still currently breastfeeding her now. I’ve always brushed the itching off as being pregnancy/breastfeeding related, but something tells me it’s something more.. But then again, I also have horrible anxiety, so I worry all the time over everything.

I made an appointment with a doctor and explained to her. She seemed puzzled and prescribed me an anti yeast pill to see if that would help. It didn’t. I’ve tried topicals. Doesn’t work. So she ordered an ultrasound of the breast. I went to that, and the tech told me the radiologist didn’t notice anything concerning, and that they’d mail me the radiology report and my doctor would discuss it with me at a follow up.. however, I’m in the process of moving and have two babies, so it slipped my mind and I missed the appointment. This was about a month ago.. Always forget to reschedule until it’s late at night. I just am scared to confront this and I’m having to do it alone because of covid.. I finally rescheduled for this coming up Thursday.

I’m terrified because I have now noticed my left areola has a really prominent vein on it that I don’t believe was there before.. if it was, it wasn’t as big as it is now.. I also feel like my feeling in my breast seems more dull. Like it’s kind of numb a little bit on part of it? I don’t know... I guess I’m just looking for support. I can hardly eat or sleep I’m so stressed and scared. Hard to stay present emotionally for my children...

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this and it not be Padget’s? I’m just so scared that I’ll end up dying and missing my sweet babies grow up.. the thought makes me unconsolable.. I’m also stressed because I don’t have insurance and am going to have to pay for all of these appointments out of pocket.. just having a hard time right now. Please give me any advice you have. I’ve never felt so low. Thank you.

Try not to worry yourself too much! My biggest symptom with Pagets was a red more erect nipple, I never had the intense itching. The only way to diagnose Pagets is with a punch biopsy. I did that through my dermatologist after a prescription steroid didn't work. I had also tried over the counter topicals with no luck. I would request the biopsy to ease your mind, it may also eliminate the need for an extra appointment. Let us know how you fare next week!

I had DCIS underneath the pagets which I believe is fairly common but not always the case. I treated the DCIS by having a BMX. I'm not sure what treatment would be for just pagets but probably removal of the nipple and ensuring you had clear margins.