Possible mastitis/fever

alice928

Hi all,
So yesterday I went to work feeling fine and then after my lunch time pump session I started feeling pretty bad fast. Freezing, the shakes, fever, body aches....just awful. At that time I had no marks on my breast, but when I woke up this morning, I had a big red lump that was tender right near the nipple. I have an appt with my doc at 2:30, but my question is if it is mastitis and they give me antibiotics, will that affect my supply? I'm going to ask the doctor but just wanted a heads up about it. Also, fever is 102 and climbing, but I'm not due for another dose of Advil until about 2:30.....can I take something else to help with fever? I'm sorry for the long rant, I just feel awful!!

alice928

@poru‌ thank you! I also was surprised that they didn't want to see me right away. I called at 9:30 this morning and that was the soonest they could do. I even called the nurse back a hour and told her my fever was going up and could I take Tylenol and she said no, to wait until I get there....not happy!

LaBelle0412

I took Advil and Tylenol. After about 2 hrs on an Advil I did the Tylenol. My fever got to 102 as well but then it broke and the Tylenol helped it stay down. It was on a Sunday and I talked to the doc, but by the time it got really bad pharmacies were closed. The redness really spiderwebed out once the fever set in. Luckily my fever broke overnight so I never had to take antibiotics. It happened at 4 mo and hasn't been back. Nursing like crazy helped - good thing my baby is a good eater. Also really helped to spread out a blanket so I could lay over LO and position her jaw to suck out the blockage. I didn't want to believe I had it at first, but am glad I was able to fight off without antibiotics. I was nervous about supply as well. Good luck. It sucks.

thejewelster

I feel your pain! While no fever as of yet, I have a seriously blocked duct (ducts really!). Doing everything possible - feeding, massage (gawd that hurts!), and heat - and hoping. Keep us posted and hope you feel better and soon!

alice928

Thanks ladies, I'm on my way to the doctor now. Checked my temp before leaving and it's at 103. I took 2 Tylenol and am hoping that kicks in quickly.

steph1977

I'm sorry -- mastitis stinks. Be sure to keep up your eating and drink A LOT of water or even Gatorade. My supply dropped b/c I didn't feel well enough to eat.

alice928

Thanks for the advice everyone. Doctor said it's a vicious case of mastitis and is having me start keflex right away. The redness spread very quickly over the entire bottom half of my breast. She also told me to take Tylenol and Advil to stay on top of the fever. Is it normally to have to dump all the milk I've pumped since this started? I exclusively pump, so it's about a days worth of milk to dump

alice928

@poru‌ she said after I've been on keflex for 24 hours then I can stop dumping. Everything I have read says its fine to use the milk, so I'm going to! Thanks for the advice!

steph1977

Use the milk! No need to dump it -- it's totally safe. Hope you feel better soon!

alice928

@steph1977‌ thank you!!! It's way too much work to pump and then dump it for no reason!

spano41

I dumped the milk from my infected breast just because there was puss and bacteria in that milk and I had enough to spare. I only dumped it for a few days until i could feel the clogs were out. Hope you feel better soon, antibiotics usually work really quickly!