Duct Ectasia - Not given the all clear yet..

Hi Tori_Grace , glad you had such a lovely doctor and that the news is mostly good… but sorry you’re left with big questions and a measure of uncertainty. 
Re duct ectasia - that’s what I was told I had about 28 years ago, when my son was 9 months old. I was breastfeeding and the main symptom which sent me to my GP was a tearing feeling after feeding my baby on one side. It was my right breast and it was an agonising pain, as if someone was ripping it off! The GP treated it as mastitis and gave me antibiotics but when there was no improvement she sent me to the breast clinic. The doctor there simply did a manual examination and told me that I had duct ectasia and should just stop breastfeeding. He acted like I shouldn’t still be breastfeeding at 9 months and I left feeling like I’d been told off! Anyway I stopped feeding on that side but carried on feeding from the left side for another 9 months or so. And sure enough the right side simply deflated as it was no longer being asked for milk, and the pain never came back. Very weird, and until your post I’d never heard of anyone else having duct ectasia. I was 35 at the time. I had my daughter the next year and fed her without that issue arising again. 
My feeling is that your doctor is being very thorough in calling you back again in 3 months. I don’t know the answers to your questions re DCIS though or whether an MRI would be more accurate though I’d assume it would. My cancer was in my other breast, not the duct ectasia one. It did have cysts many years ago, well after I’d finished with breast feeding. I think you’d be entitled to get back in contact with the breast clinic to ask these questions, are you on the ‘self referral’ system where you don’t need to go through your GP? It’s easy to leave these appointments thinking initially that it’s all fine as nothing ‘nasty’ was found, but then find afterwards that you have unanswered questions. 
Hope you can get further information and reassurance, love and hugs, HFxx 

Hi HappyFeet, thank you for responding. I was disappointed no one had

The issue with the duct ecstsia diagnosis is I've never been pregnant and i don't have pain. I have none of the symptoms of DE and they are simply basing it off of thickening they can in a quarter section of my ducts where it's hard, its pulling my breast down or that's how it feels. So that's why i'm perplexed and so was the doctor. He said he couldn't understand with my history why that would be the US result. 

I think they gave me the 3 months to see if it would go away. I guess like an infection. Also had blood tests and zero infection markers. I also take the max amount of ibuprofen a day for other issues so the doctor said he couldn't even suggest that as a remedy because I'm already taking it and have been.

I'm just concerned. the radiologist wasn't very good, brought in someone else higher up who took 2 seconds to say oh its DE. and they kept asking me if i had any nipple discharge and i've never had any. 

it's very frustrating. xx

Hi again, gosh that sounds so confusing, I’m not surprised you’re questioning it all. I guess it’s whether you wait for the 3 months to have ‘the works’ again which I’d say is a necessary minimum, or contact them asking for further tests now. I am not medical at all but from other posts it does seem that an MRI would provide more detailed imaging. But I have no idea what ‘qualifies’ you to have/ need an MRI. I’ve never had one myself. And I don’t know about your question re DCIS. 
I wonder if it’s worth posting your query in the Ask a Nurse section here? Or even phoning the helpline for some advice. It’s horrible being in this limbo. 
Love and hugs, HFxx