Could pacifiers and bottles be why my son clamps down?

[9jawife]

Long story short, we had a really rough time in the beginning with breastfeeding and my son ended up getting bottles and a pacifier. I'm not proud of it, but it is what it is and we've made tons of progress since then. I posted before about how he clamps on my nipples, causing pain. I have been to outpatient LCs and they say my technique is fine. The latest one thinks he is allergic to the formula we were giving him and the gas pain from that has made him clamp down. ?? Doesn't make sense to me, especially since we're formula-free for almost a week now. Could it be because he had the bottles and pacifiers? If so, is there anyway to correct it (besides just getting rid of them..we don't use bottles anymore and are weaning him off the pacifiers.) My nipples are killing me!