Mastitis - help please 8)

[thelilbump]

Hi girls.

well i think I may have got mastitis after much investigation. Yesterday one of my boobs got really sore and stingy and about half an hour later i came over quite ill. I was boiling (tho oh said i was freezing) and felt like i was going to be sick. I had to feed Millie and decided to put her on the sore breast to see if it would ease it which it did and i started to feel better. Then the next time i fed her on that breast i came over all sickly again. This morning theres some red blotching to my breast. My oh's mum said it sounded like classic symptoms of mastitis (which i'd never even heard of) and i've just looked it up on the nhs website and it seems to match.

Has anyone had this? Should i go the doctors or just try to express to see if that'll force the blocked duct open (i've got an electric modela pump, quite powerful )? It says on the nhs website about being 2 forms, the later one being a bacterial infection but how can you tell if it's infected or not? Also what causes the blocked duct? Is it from her not latching on properly? I've always thought she was doing it correctly though she takes less of the areola now.

Any ideas at all girls? Thanks x

 

[Samantha675]

Hun blocks are just one of those things. I would get in the shower and massage the knot and try to break it up I have found the heat from the shower helps me. Get you LO to nurse on that side as often as possible to pass the blockage. IF you get a fever, call the doc as mastitis can make you very sick! I also load up on vit C.

 

[Lauz_1601]

get to the docs hun, esp as youve been feeling hot, I was getting fever and chills and my temp went up to almost 39, then I got the blotching like you and next thing it was a huge red patch.....the doc will check to make sure you havent got any absess' from it and presrcibe you some antibiotics, I felt much better the day after. But like you I felt generally unwell, fever and chills, felt sickly and tired aswell. xx

 

[Sarah88]

I've had it. Keep making sure to drain the breast well and often. And try to make sure the part thats sore goes where the bottom of her mouth is as then it'll drain more.
Hope u feel better soon

 

[thelilbump]

Thanks girls. Well i've been feeding her more on that side and massaging at the same time. It seems to have gone down a lot and isn't as red or sore now, maybe i just caught in time. I have 1 lump still tho that i can't seem to budge gonna keep at it. If it starts up again then i will go to the doctors. It's pretty horrible the fever n chill isn't it?

I'm surprised they didn't warn us about mastitis in breastfeeding class or at hospital.

 

[Ames]

Hope you feel better soon. I came down with this all of a sudden on saturday night (literally within a half hour) .. felt like I had awful flu minus the cold. spent all day yesterday feeling totally rubbish but feeding and expressing off that side as much as possible. Feeling tons better today, boobs still a bit sore and lumpy tho, hoping it clears up if i continue with what I've been doing.
anyone know how long it usually takes to settle down?

thankyou

 

[Ragirl]

You are doing the right thing. If it lasts too long and becomes an infection- you have to go to the doc. But *usually* you will have a day, maybe 2, before it gets to that point. I got this almost once a month with my first. It usually happens on the side you produce more from. In addition to what you are doing, here are the 2 things that always worked for me- in 14 months of nursing and almost 14 plugged ducts/infections, it never once got so bad I needed meds: 1) nurse/pump more often. It really has nothing to do with the babies latch, it just happens. If you are nursing, nurse from different positions. In particular, have the baby nurse so that his/her chin is facing the reddened area or plugged duct. For example- mine was always the same area, on the top of my breast. This meant I had to lay my son on the ground, and then lean over him, with my head facing his legs/his head toward my belly, and have him nurse that way (BTW- it looked like a horribly awful position and I always prayed no one would catch me...but it worked). Second, take mega doses of Vit C (1000mg-1500mg/day). Although you don't want to do this for an extended time (too much for too long can be toxic), I only ever had to do it for one or two days. Be aware, this can give you and baby loose stools, though I never get that reaction. Glad to hear things are getting better.