Does this sound like mastitis?

seethesmiles

I woke up fine this morning. Then a few hours ago I noticed I was really cold and shivering. It took me a while to realize I had the chills. Took my temp and it's 101. Now I noticed that my right breast is very slightly tender (but I've had issues with pain since I started bfing so I'm not totally convinced it's from mastitis.) My breast looks normal, no swelling or redness, no lumps that I can feel. I just called the dr's office and they are at lunch until 1:30pm so I thought I'd try to get some insight in the meantime. What is the typical treatment and when can I expect to feel better? Any advice?

little__bit

Yes, it could be.  Your breast may develop a patch of redness, triangular shaped.  Does the other one feel normal?

Call a nurse at your doctor's office.  When I had mastitis, a nurse diagnosed it over the phone and had a doctor call in a prescription.  Mastitis is NO FUN, and you need antibiotics.  In the meantime, take some ibuprofen and start drinking lots of fluids.

seethesmiles

Thanks. I'm waiting for a call back from my dr's office. My left breast feels slightly tender, too, much less tender than the right but I've had issues with pain since I started bfing so it's really difficult to tell. I'm not sure whether I'd rather it be the flu or mastitis!

bithy75

When I had mastitis, I had chills and a fever for a whole day before I noticed any redness on my breast. In fact, I ended up going to the emergency room with a 104 fever before I really believed it was mastitis because the fever and chills were the only symptoms I had up to that point. If it is mastitis, you'll need antibiotics and ibuprofen for the pain and fever. I felt much better within 24 hours of starting the meds, but it did take a couple of weeks for my milk supply to bounce back in the affected breast.

seethesmiles

Interesting you mentioned supply issues. I've noticed for the past 2 days DS cries when I put him on my right side, which is usually the side he favors.. I wonder if the supply has been low for a few days...

ashleighathomson

Sounds like it to me. I just got it over the weekend, so I had to let my body deal with it on it's own. It started Friday evening when I felt achey and just fatigued and Saturday I started developing a temperature and getting chills/ hot flashes. Both nipples were red and very sore. I'm pretty sure it was brought on by stress/fatigue because I hadn't had any sleep at all in about 24 hours. Had I had access to a doctor right away I would have gone to get antibiotics to treat it. GL, get plenty of rest, drink water, and take good care of yourself.