help!!! mastitis

Joes_love

I think I might have mastitis :-(  I've never had it before, but one side of my breast is red, it's been tender most of the evening, and i have a fever of 101.4.  I don't *feel* feverish or particularly ill other then tired...but I'm guessing I need to call someone.

 

problem is...it's almost 9pm on a Saturday night, I don't know who to call!  What would you do?  Is it dire enough that I need to go to the ER(please say no since I haven't started driving yet and we JUST got Noah to bed)?  Can it wait till morning/Monday?  and do you call your ob-gyn or pcp?

 

 this freaking sucks.

Fun2Dream

I would call your MW/OB.  I would also google natural treatment for mastitis and try everything I could find if I thought it would mean letting my toddler sleep.  But, I've never had it, so I am not speaking from experience.

danjou21

With a fever, I would say definitely call your OB.  Though when DS was a few weeks old, one of my breasts got very red and painful and I was for sure I had mastitis, but it went away on it's own.  Hope you feel better!

RandomLurker

I called my PCP when this happened to me.  They should have an on-call doctor.  My Dr. didn't need to see, just called in antibiotics.  Here is what helped me when I had mastitis:

• nurse as often as possible from that side, pump the other side
• when baby is done nursing, pump
• massage the breast just before letting baby nurse - I found that a warm wash cloth under a heating pad worked best to get things moving (you could also do this in the shower)
• don't go more than 2 hours without a nursing or pumping session (including overnight)
• change nursing positions so baby can get milk from a different angle (I think this, along with the moist heat is what helped the best)

Feel better soon.

RandomLurker

RandomLurker:

I called my PCP when this happened to me.  They should have an on-call doctor.  My Dr. didn't need to see, just called in antibiotics.  Here is what helped me when I had mastitis:

• nurse as often as possible from that side, pump the other side
• when baby is done nursing, pump
• massage the breast just before letting baby nurse - I found that a warm wash cloth under a heating pad worked best to get things moving (you could also do this in the shower)
• don't go more than 2 hours without a nursing or pumping session (including overnight)
• change nursing positions so baby can get milk from a different angle (I think this, along with the moist heat is what helped the best)

 

Feel better soon.

This was a pretty bulleted list when I typed it out.  Not sure what happened.

nurse as often as possible from that side, pump the other side

when baby is done nursing, pump

massage the breast just before letting baby nurse - I found that a warm wash cloth under a heating pad worked best to get things moving (you could also do this in the shower)

don't go more than 2 hours without a nursing or pumping session (including overnight)

change nursing positions so baby can get milk from a different angle (I think this, along with the moist heat is what helped the best)

(hoping this formatting worked better)

Joes_love

thanks ladies!  the after hour doc said try heat/express/ice first and if the pain or redness worsens then they'll call in an antibiotic.

mrs.a.butler

Joes_love:

thanks ladies!  the after hour doc said try heat/express/ice first and if the pain or redness worsens then they'll call in an antibiotic.

did you tell them that you have a fever?  a fever means an infection.  If it was just a little redness/pain I may think clogged duct, but a fever makes me think otherwise!

the symptoms of mastitis go from 0-100 in the blink of an eye.  I've had it more often than I can count.  The first time my boob just kept hurting and finally realized it was mastitis when I saw the red lines.  Nothing else.  And then a few hours later I started feeling achy.

the first time I had it with L I was fine.  no pains, nothing.  At my sisters I all of the sudden got chills and thought it was just cold in her house.  An hour later we went home and I had a fever, chills, aches, etc.  The whole 9 yards.  

 

Joes_love

mrs.a.butler:

Joes_love:

thanks ladies!  the after hour doc said try heat/express/ice first and if the pain or redness worsens then they'll call in an antibiotic.

did you tell them that you have a fever?  a fever means an infection.  If it was just a little redness/pain I may think clogged duct, but a fever makes me think otherwise!

 

yeah, she said even engorgement can cause a low grade fever so try these methods first.  idk her, but i'll try anything to avoid antibiotics :-/ 

mrs.a.butler

Joes_love:

mrs.a.butler:

Joes_love:

thanks ladies!  the after hour doc said try heat/express/ice first and if the pain or redness worsens then they'll call in an antibiotic.

did you tell them that you have a fever?  a fever means an infection.  If it was just a little redness/pain I may think clogged duct, but a fever makes me think otherwise!

 

yeah, she said even engorgement can cause a low grade fever so try these methods first.  idk her, but i'll try anything to avoid antibiotics :-/ 

Ok.  I've never known that.  But I guess that's because every time I got a fever I got mastitis. :P  (I have a spot in my right side that chronically gets clogged)

Just know that it can do a complete 180* quickly and if you start getting chills, your fever gets higher, you get achy, vomiting/nausea, etc call asap.   

And yeah, I'd try to avoid the antibiotics.  That's what started the thrust/nipple yeast with us that took 4+ months to get rid of

Good luck and feel better!!!  

Soyager

Jam Vitamin C into your system as much as you can. Here's the link to kellymom's natural remedies.

I had no idea about natural remedies when I got it (2 wks PP). I just assumed antibiotics were the only solution (me, natural health girl, didn't question the antibiotics...). My symptoms were much like Butler described: felt fine, just a little soreness, then all of a sudden, fever, chills and uncontrollable shaking; I didn't know what it was--just though it was PP hormones. I think I was past the point of remedies, though...

Temp76535187505890

mrs.a.butler:

the symptoms of mastitis go from 0-100 in the blink of an eye.  I've had it more often than I can count.  The first time my boob just kept hurting and finally realized it was mastitis when I saw the red lines.  Nothing else.  And then a few hours later I started feeling achy.

 

Yep.  Both times I've had it knocked me on my ass within about half a day.  I felt like I had the worst case of flu ever.  I could barely care for myself let alone the kids. 

papagena

Ditto the knocking on the ass.  I got it this time around when C was a week or so old.  I'd get right on calling them back if the pumping doesn't work.  I have heard that several cloves of raw garlic (mincing it and eating it) can help.  I hope it passes quickly - once I was on the antibiotics, though, I felt immensely better.

barnwife

I know this post is from yesterday, but...

I'm sorry you don't feel well. I've had mastitis various times (5, I think). I've only taken antibiotics once because I hate them.  Nurse, nurse, pump. nurse, massage, nurse, apply heat. I also like to run a hot bath and massage/express in the bath.

I also sweat by eating garlic. Mince a clove and make garlic toast.

Feel better!