Teething and Breastfeeding

My 3 month old is teething and he hates me! I'm pretty depressed at the moment. The past few days, he's been fussy and drooly, not wanting to eat, but sucking on (almost) anything that gets close to his mouth. My mom said she thought he was teething early, and I said no way. But, sure enough, he's got a little tooth bud coming in on the bottom.
He was nursing considerably less this past week, but then yesterday began refusing the breast altogether- spitting it out, turning his head away, etc. But I held out and hoped that when he got hungry enough, he'd change his mind. But now it's to the point that if I even hold him in a way that suggests I'm about to try to nurse, he freaks the smurf out.
I called his pediatrician, who was concerned about his wet diaper output and told me to go ahead and give him formula (or pumped milk, but pumping doesn't really work for me) to make sure he doesn't dehydrate. LO was so happy to get the bottle. I was about to cry. I've worked SO SO hard at getting him off formula and getting my super sensitive milk supply where it needs to be, and I feel like this is a HUGE step backward. Not to mention I can't figure out why teething would make him hate bfing all of a sudden?!
Does anyone have any experience with this, have any idea why this is happening, or what I should be doing differently? Heeeelllppp!
Thanks in advance.

I don't have any experience with this, but I have a couple of ideas for you to try.
First, give him Hylands teething tablets (homeopathic remedy).
Second, he might be refusing the breast because his gums are tender and it hurts. Allow him to chew on a frozen damp rag, or some other cold teething thing first, and apply a little pressure to his gums just before you start breastfeeding. At first, the pressure hurts, so he started to associate pain with BFing.
But, after a couple of minutes with pressure, it starts to relieve some of the pain (cold helps too), so they like that. Anyhow, if you can get some of the pain relieved before he starts to breastfeed, he can hopefully stop making the association.
Thanks for being so dedicated to the breastfeeding relationship! Good for you!

Quoting Mombom:" I don't have any experience with this, but I have a couple of ideas for you to try. First, give him Hylands ... [snip!] ... he can hopefully stop making the association. Thanks for being so dedicated to the breastfeeding relationship! Good for you!"

Those sound like great suggestions!

OP, I'm sorry you are dealing with this. Your baby doesn't hate you, he's just in pain. I know it must be sad for you that he's so willingly taking a bottle but refusing your breast. I hope you figure this out and are able to continue BF'ing. I also say good for you for your dedication to BF'ing!

Yes i've been through this, not as bad but been there. It has to do with how hard they have to suckle to get the milk out of us vs. a bottle. All the suckling hurts their teeth. Try compressing your breast while he eats, also try some teething tabs and orajel, and KEEP AT IT! It'll pass.

Thanks so much, you guys. I guess I'm just going to keep at it. I went out and got the Hyland's Teething Tablets and baby orajel and I've got some terrycloth and a teething ring in the freezer for when he wakes up. Poor little guy seems miserable.
On the plus side, I got him to sleep-nurse for about 10 minutes earlier and my boobs feel a hell of a lot better. Once he began to wake up, it was a no go, but at least now I don't have giant, painful milk tumors.