Painful nipple thrush help

[greenlady]

So I've only gone and got thrush and my nipples are pink and burning and I get a deep pain on latching and after breastfeeding. I have been to the GP and got prescription canesten for my nips and nystatin for LOs mouth, which I have been using since Friday night, so only 2 days.

I can see immediately the little white spots in her mouth have gone and she's not so fractious on the breast, but I still have the breast pain . I am obviously going to see out the week on nystatin and just keep slapping on the canesten, just wondered if anyone had any other advice on what worked for them? My mum suggests washing clothes with a bit of white vinegar, and also I've read about gentian violet?

Also, how long does it take for the pain to go away???

 

[summer rain]

Hi

I had thrush with all of mine because of antibiotics either I or they were on late in pregnancy or in the post-natal time period. I'd persist with using the nystatin, its good it has got rid of it in your baby's mouth a lot of people find it doesn't work so well and it can recur so keep an eye out for that. There is something called daktarin oral gel which you can ask your doctor about. You need to wash your bras or any other clothing that has come direct into contact with the thrush on as hot a wash as possible and using vinegar will certainly help. Also if you use any bottles, teats, dummies or anything else of that nature you need to boil them for 20 minutes in a large stainless steel pan of water, just to ensure the thrush has been killed, any expressed breast milk from when you've had the thrush will need to be discarded even if its been frozen as the thrush can lie dormant and recur this way. I have heard bicarbonate of soda works well to get rid of the thrush on the nipples; make a thick paste with water and liberally put on the area. Gentian violet isn't available in the UK for that purpose (the only purpose its available for is marking the hides of sheep and for lab purposes, so obviously not 'food grade'!), and it has been banned in some countries due to concerns about carcinogenicity.

Sophie

 

[greenlady]

Thanks! I'm sitting here with bicarb soda paste on my nipples! It does sting them a bit!
I really hope it goes soon. The doctor has only given me enough nystatin for her for a week, do you think I should go back and ask for more?

 

[dacosta]

hi there; have a look at this link https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/BfN_Thrush_leaflet_Feb_2009.pdf

if it's a severe case ie with deep breast pain you may need to take something like fluconazole which is what i used but i had a bit of a fight to get it prescribed. some doctors dont like to use it as its not licensed in the uk but dont let that worry you. its used in the usa and the small amount that your lo will get from the breast milk is smaller than the recommended dose they'd ever need. have a read and ask your doc/midwife about it.

dont use too much lanolin either as thrush loves moist places and lanolin will keep your nips moist. i was smothering the stuff on as my nipples hurt so much but i think i made it worse.

 

[dacosta]

just wanted to add that i didnt follow the nystatin instructions to the letter as its very gloopy and my lo was tiny at the time; sometimes its better to use nystatin little and often ie every feed rather than a lot infrequently. if that makes sense.

 

[Leesie]

Hi Greenlady

Thrush can be very stubborn so even medications, oral gels etc... might not work straight away.

The best advice I got from a lactation specialist was to cut out sugar (esp. chocolate) - not easy, but worked wonders and made a difference really quickly!!! Also - eat lots of probiotic yoghurt (or get a probiotic from the pharmacy).

good luck!!

 

[ellie]

i washed my nipples in vinegar and water after every feed (nice!), switched to disposable breast pads and changed them often, washed all cloths, bedding, bras etc, took extra probiotics. I did use a bit of the daktarin cream I had prescribed but Lo wouldnt take the nystatin he would just spit it all out. Seemed to have worked well, think its pretty much gone now (it came on about a week ago). i did read about cutting out sugar, i have cut down a bit but failed to do so altogether hope it gets better soon.

 

[greenlady]

Yeah I read somewhere sugar was a problem, thanks I'll try that! There's no choclate left in the house now so it should be easy. and i might get some acidophillus tablets aswell.

Thanks dacosta, its horrible stuff isn't it? she has a big yellow stain on her cardie right now where I just gave her some. Yeah I don't think they'll be willing to give me something not usually prescribed so i'll print that leaflet many thanks for that!

Even if it's stubborn does it go away eventually??? even if treatments don't work that well?

 

[BeccaMichelle]

Yeah I read somewhere sugar was a problem, thanks I'll try that! There's no choclate left in the house now so it should be easy. and i might get some acidophillus tablets aswell.

Thanks dacosta, its horrible stuff isn't it? she has a big yellow stain on her cardie right now where I just gave her some. Yeah I don't think they'll be willing to give me something not usually prescribed so i'll print that leaflet many thanks for that!

Even if it's stubborn does it go away eventually??? even if treatments don't work that well?

Get the tablets!!! I had thrush and the tablets worked wonders. I got the chewable strawberry ones from Holland and Barrets. They were a God send. Seemed to clear up in less than a week. Good luck!

 

[greenlady]

Yeah I read somewhere sugar was a problem, thanks I'll try that! There's no choclate left in the house now so it should be easy. and i might get some acidophillus tablets aswell.

Thanks dacosta, its horrible stuff isn't it? she has a big yellow stain on her cardie right now where I just gave her some. Yeah I don't think they'll be willing to give me something not usually prescribed so i'll print that leaflet many thanks for that!

Even if it's stubborn does it go away eventually??? even if treatments don't work that well?

Get the tablets!!! I had thrush and the tablets worked wonders. I got the chewable strawberry ones from Holland and Barrets. They were a God send. Seemed to clear up in less than a week. Good luck!

You mean the acidophillus ones? Ooh I'll go get some tomorrow!

 

[BeccaMichelle]

Yes those are the ones! These are the ones I picked up.

I had thrush for a week or so before I figured out what it was. I had a painful nipple fissure on one side so I thought that's what was causing the pain. It hurt at the start of feedings and when I got the blood flowing like climbing stairs. Eventually I talked to my health visitor and she got me a prescription for the nystatin for baby and the cream for me. It was so hard, it seemed like every time I put the cream on she wanted to feed again and I had to make her wait while I got the nipple clean for her. Then you're supposed to do her mouth after the feed but if she fell asleep I didn't want to wake her up and bother her with the nasty smelling (so must taste horrible as well) stuff. I started the Acidophilus a day after I started the medication from the doc so I can't say it did it all by itself but I can say I was REALLY bad about getting her or me the medication... maybe only put it in her mouth a half dozen times. I used the cream more because it really did seem to help with the burning. I know the instructions say that you should keep up with the treatment even after the symptoms have gone.. I didn't so I was really lucky that the thrush didn't come back. I did try to cut down on the sweets I was gobbling! (It's amazing how hungry you get when you're breastfeeding!! I'm hungrier now than when I was pregnant!)

but yeah, to get the amount of biotics in the acidophilus tabs you'd have to eat a ridiculous amount of yogurt. Hope it helps!! Thrush was horrible!!

 

[greenlady]

That's great thanks so much. I had the same, a big crack (which has been there almost since the beginning) on my left nipple, and so I thought it was just that continuing to hurt plus I had painful let down at the beginning. But then I realised it was more painful than it should be and because I took the anitbiotics someone mentioned I would be susceptible to thrush.

I have the same problem, applying the cream then leaving wiping it off all the time. And I've been giving her the nystatin before feeding so she doesn't puke it up, but it makes her latch really slippery! Also she has nappy rash from it shall I do anything extra for this or will it clear when the thrush does? I have just been using bepanthen or sudocrem.

Thanks for your help I'm getting some of those tablets tomorrow for sure!

 

[BeccaMichelle]

I'm not sure about the nappy rash side. Jess never developed the symptoms so I didn't have to deal with her side so much just my own pain. I'll go look up the threads I posted in at the time though as a lot of other people had some good advice at the time.

I was told to give the nystatin after a feed though. Apparently it needs to sit in the mouth on the affected areas and if you give it right before a feed she'll just swallow it.

 

[BeccaMichelle]

https://www.babyandbump.com/breastfeeding/293990-thrush-back.html
https://www.babyandbump.com/baby-club/291351-oral-thrush-6-week-old.html
https://www.babyandbump.com/breastfeeding/290211-nipple-fissure-crack-advice-needed-2.html

Those are helpful threads and there's a link to a pdf on thrush in the last one. It might have some info on the nappy side of things. Hope it clears up soon!!

 

[greenlady]

Thanks a lot. I guess the best I can do is just try everything and hope the combinations works! I'm going to run out of nystatin before it clears up so I might make another appointment to see the doc anyway and take that PDF with me. As I say I can't see it in her mouth at all anymore but my boobs still really hurt

thanks for all your help and advice!

 

[dacosta]

it does go away but it is very stubborn. i had it for over 3 weeks and it was a living hell; i was in tears at every feed but i wasn't diagnosed for about 2 weeks with it (MW kept saying my latch was wrong). fluconazole was a life saver for me.

 

[greenlady]

I just managed to get fluconazole from my GP!!! so fingers crossed that will sort it out. You said there was no danger to the baby with that is there??

 

[Leesie]

I'm quite paranoid about stuff like this so I asked doctor, pharmacist and lactation specialist whether fluconazole is safe while breastfeeding - all said it's perfectly fine.

 

[greenlady]

I'm quite paranoid about stuff like this so I asked doctor, pharmacist and lactation specialist whether fluconazole is safe while breastfeeding - all said it's perfectly fine.

Thanks this really puts my mind at rest - I am a bit paranoid about medications as well

 

[mrscupcake]

I Also have thrush and i also use caneston and White vinegar in warm water. But the best thing I use is medela nipple shields! I couldn't live without them! I certainly couldn't carry on BF without them! Only trouble is, it's difficult for LO to latch on without them later on, but I'm just Going to use them through out, LO is thriving so it's nt a problem!