Thrush? Mastitis?

jenb_99 · October 2014

Earlier in the week DD had a light day of eating and gave me what felt like a plugged duct deep in my left breast that lasted for two days, and I was pretty sure DD ended up nursing it out. But ever since then my nipple has been sore. Not just bruised, more like inflamed deep inside. By this morning it was slightly itchy with the occasional stinging sensation, and tonight the right one has joined in with the itchiness and I'm having shooting pains in both breasts now, accompanied by a bruised feeling if I press on certain areas.

But itching and shooting pains deep inside are my only thrush-specific symptoms. Otherwise my nipples feel a lot like they did in the beginning when I was still adjusting to breastfeeding. They mostly just feel chapped, with a tiny bit of redness and heat. I don't have blisters, cracking, white spots, or a rash, and DD shows no symptoms whatsoever. I also haven't taken any antibiotics lately or sat around in damp pads.

Could this be anything else besides thrush? I can't think of anything besides maybe DD's distractedness and tendency to yank my nipple when she turns her head maybe causing chapping and bruising.

If I call the OB, I already know she's going to diagnose me with thrush just based on the itching, but I wouldn't be able to get a Rx till Monday since I don't have an emergency. I've heard that OTC Lotrimin works better than the Nystatin she's likely to prescribe anyway. And if it really is thrush, I don't want to wait that long and risk having it get worse. If I go ahead and treat myself with Lotrimin at home, how quickly should I be able to tell that it's working?

P.S. If I don't see and respond to replies right away, it's because yesterday's storm made phone and internet spotty and unreliable. I'll reply as soon as I'm able! Thanks.

delatl · October 2014

It does sound like thrush. For me, what finally cleared up thrush was gentian violet. Read kellymom and she links to another source where they give advice about both gentian violet and grapefruit seed oil (which did not work for me). I tried everything but lotrimin irritated my nipples, which made it worse; nystatin just didn't seem effective; Oral diflucan which may have worked. But again, my sister kept telling me to do gentian violet and I really didn't want to because it seemed so messy. Well it wasn't exactly messy but it did stain my LO's lips. Worth the price to get rid of the thrush. Oh and I took a lot of ibuprofen for pain and kept everything dry.

bazingaa · October 2014

Does not sound like mastitis. I've had that twice....

jenb_99 · October 2014

Yeah...I don't think it's mastitis. I do wonder about other bacterial infections, though.

The info on thrush and its treatment is so vague and conflicting. Grrrr. I hate having minor medical issues over the weekend.

FlemDance · October 2014

Haven't had thrush, but have had mastitis. I don't recall the itching sensation, so it sounds like thrush to me. I hope you're able to get it taken care of ASAP! Feel better!

THD7580 · October 2014

Yep sounds exactly like thrush! LO and I had it and that's what it was exactly no other symptoms.

jenb_99 · October 2014

Double post. Stupid mobile app. See next comment.

jenb_99 · October 2014

@THD7580‌ How did you treat yourself and your LO? Did it end up going away quickly since the symptoms were mild?

@delatl How often and how long did you use the gentian violet?

THD7580 · October 2014

@jenb_99‌ they gave DS this oral medication that you painted his tongue with and it took like a month to go away. For mine I just used Monistat on my nipples after every feed. It took a couple weeks to go away. It was so painful it felt like my nipples were being ripped off even wearing a bra. Most awful pain ever! That's when I decided to be done BF. I wasn't producing enough and we had had that and I was just done. It's a long process to get rid of it. Have you looked at LO tongue? Is it white?

THD7580 · October 2014

@jenb_99‌ also my nipples were slightly white as I just remembered...

Junebug060609 · October 2014

Sounds like blanched nips to me (in the abscence of visible yeast in babies mouth, of course.

Do the nips turn whitish after she nurses? Is the pain worst when she first latches, and then in the hour after she stops nursing? Is it a burning sensation...or just the itchiness? When I was having blanching with DS, correcting his latch was the biggest help. It slowly improved from there. He'd gotten lazy and had a shallow latch.

jenb_99 · October 2014

@Junebug060609 As a matter of fact, yes, the tips do turn white after each feed, just like when she was first born and had a terrible latch. I even have a ring of blue bruising at the base of each nipple and a couple of broken blood vessels. The shooting pain only happens for the first hour after each feed. Hmm...she has been distracted and pulling off a lot. I wonder if that's it and it's not thrush after all. I really don't have that much discomfort. It's very mild and very similar to what I go through during growth spurts and periods of lazy latching. The only thing new is the itching. I just don't want to get worse if it really is thrush, so that's why I started the Lotrimin. Now I need to look up blanching...

Nikkipal82 · October 2014

I had what sounds like this, it was mild thrush. I treated my nips with nystatin, and eventually LO got a mild red and shiny diaper rash that I treated with nystatin as well. My understanding is that usually you will both need treatment with thrush.

delatl · October 2014

I followed instructions from this site and its links.
https://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=doc-UGV

I swabbed it on my nipples after the last evening feed. That way, DD didn't get as much but still some when she nursed later. The goal is to get it on your nipples and in her mouth. I did it once a day for three days. She had purple lips the whole time.

But it was already so much better by day 2-3. Faster than the other solutions.

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