B'f is not easy even in the best of circumstances, so you surely had a lot of obstacles to overcome. you cant blame any of that on yourself.

I know how painful the first few days/weeks and sometimes months of breastfeeding are as i b'f my 3 bubs. It wasnt until the 3rd time round that a friend introduced me to nipple guards and boy im glad she did.

I used them right from the word go while still in hospital (much to the midwives displeasure) but i just did not want to go thru that initial pain, so i didnt.

I only needed to use them for a few weeks and after that i could b'f without them...without the pain

so if you find that the pain is causing you problems again, try nipple guards...they are great for getting you over the hardest part of b'f.