Torpedo Tits

I had a nickname in high school. 
Torpedo Tits. 


I was late to mature and have never been well endowed. My nipples, however are another story. My nipples are sizable, nearly always erect, very sensitive (which used to be a great thing), and tend to show thru my clothing regardless of what I am wearing. 


In high school, they earned me the nickname Torpedo Tits. It was true, I couldn't fight it, so I embraced it and we had lots of fun with it. Remember the James Bond scene when the Bond girls open fire from their breasts? I loved to reenact that scene.  


My first serious boyfriend helped me discover just how wonderfully sensitive my nipples were. There is one first glorious encounter that I will never forget, mostly because I had no idea that my breasts and nipples could supply so much pleasure. 


I loved my nipples, thought that they were fantastic, but every so often, usually on colder mornings, I'd be overcome by nipple/breast pain. I'd sequester myself in a warm classroom, hands inside my shirt desperately pulling away the fabric of my bra and clothing from my nipples while simultaneously trying to warm them up. It didn't happen all the time, but I have very clear memories of the intense pain that accompanied the attacks. Crazy stuff is happening with a teenager body, and I just assumed that my boobs were growing or some other normal puberty thing was happening. 


I can't seem to remember any specific episodes of pain as intense as it was in high school, but suspect that there were a few now and again. Until now.


Last month, while were were waiting for our u-Haul truck, I was hit with a very intense very painful episode of breast pain. We were outside and there was a light breeze, it wasn't even that cold, but apparently cold enough to push me right over the edge. It was not tenderness, or discomfort, it was pain. Real, serious, intense PAIN. It lasted until we got into the truck and I started to warm up, maybe 15-20 minutes. 


I had another attack of really intense breast pain yesterday. I was at a big ceremony celebrating the expansion of a local college facility. My boss couldn't be there, so I was presenting a Proclamation on her behalf. It was outside in the garden area, and there was a slight breeze. Despite my three layers of clothing, the episode of pain came on strong. I tried to hug myself, to protect my breasts from the wind with my arms, but it just kept getting worse. Important people were giving speeches, but I had to excuse myself and run to my car to get my jacket. It took me another 10-15 minutes to warm up after which the pain subsided.




I consulted Dr Google when I got home, but my searches kept coming up with descriptions of breast tenderness, pre-menstrual breast discomfort, pain in a single breast as a result of an injury, nothing close to the cool temperature induced episode of severe intense breast pain that I experienced today. I kept searching, finally adding the term Raynauds. Raynauds is a vasospastic disorder that can cause pain within the affected extremities (most often hands and feet), discoloration (paleness) and sensations of cold and/or numbness. Wikepedia also explained that Raynaud's can occur in breastfeeding mothers, causing nipples to turn white and become extremely painful. Emotional stress and cold are classic triggers of the phenomenon." 


I first read about Raynauds on another blog, the description sounded so very similar to nipple pain that I used to experience in high school and again more recently. Intense episodes of pain that are brought on by cold. In classic Raynaud's the affected area changes colors from white to blue to purple. I've never been in a position to inspect my nipples while experiencing these episodes of pain, but am feeling pretty confident that this is a fitting explanation. 


I turned up a ton of useful information once I added Raynauds to my search. Apparently nipple pain is an often undiagnosed/misdiagnosed reason that women give up on breastfeeding. I found a really great article written by two lactation consultants in Australia that explains "Raynauds is a common condition affecting women of childbearing age with up to 22% of 21-50 year olds reporting symptoms.  It is likely therefore to be an underdiagnosed condition affecting the nipples of lactating women." Most of the stories I read described women who suffered for weeks and/or months, undergoing multiple treatments for other infections before finally getting an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. The best part is that there are very effective treatment options for Raynauds, unlike the complete lack of treatment options for generic breast pain.


The research confirmed my suspicions that the attacks are brought on my cold, and thus one of the first preventative strategies is to prevent your body, especially your breasts from getting cold. I am desperate enough for relief from this pain that I ordered some breast warmers from Australia! I will also be talking to my new OB about this, especially since it has the potential to interfere with breastfeeding. (I kind of want to test her by not revealing the fruits of my research, but don't know how playing games like that will benefit me. I am really confident that she is a fantastic OB, who will take brilliant good care of me, just as she has taken wonderful care of Bestie.)

My torpedo tits have turned against me! But I am going to take some really good care of them so that they are ready for our little one come December.