what should breast be like after mastitis? *trying not to panic*

[atlantafemme]

Hello folks,

I developed mastitis a little over three weeks ago. I had a fever, chills, and body aches for two days before realizing my breast was also a little red and mildly sore. I'm nursing my second baby and never experienced mastitis or any plugged ducts with my first. (He nursed for 13 months. My second son was 3 months when this mastitis hit.)

My midwife prescribed me antibiotics and rest, warm compresses, etc. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of an interstate move so I couldn't rest and rarely got to massage or do compresses. I continued to nurse as frequently as my little guy would go for it though and took my antibiotics for 10 days. The fever, chills and body aches went away within 24 hours of starting the antibiotics but the redness and mild soreness in my breast remained past the end of the course. I took baths and applied warm heat for a couple of days after the pills were gone because we were finally a bit settled in our new house. The redness seems gone now but my breast still feels lumpy, and weirdly numb in the area that was affected. It also seems like my little one is fussier when he nurses on that side. Plus when I look in the mirror, the lumpiness in the affected area seems visible to me.

I guess my main question is--what is my breast supposed to feel like a few weeks after mastitis? Is it supposed to be back to normal? Should I expect it to feel or look weird?  Is it not fully resolved because I didn't do enough massage, etc?

I have a bad habit of panicking over every symptom and googling myself to death. So, of course I've read that if mastitis doesn't clear up with antibiotics completely, I should be screened for Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  We moved for my partner to start a new job so I won't have insurance until Oct 1, otherwise I would have already made an appointment to see someone.

Thanks for any insight. 

[Marissamom]

I've always been pretty fast at resolving plugged ducts, but it sounds like you may have a plugged duct that still hasn't resolved. have you been able to do the warm compresses and massage yet? I would try doing that for a few days, and see if it's still like that. 

[atlantafemme]

Thanks for your response! I've been doing some massage but should probably do more warm compresses. The thing that puzzles me is that the area doesn't really hurt and everything I read about plugged ducts suggests that these are pretty painful. I can only detect a little soreness when I poke and prod. Nursing has never been painful since the onset of mastitis. (By contrast, I had two milks blisters with my first son and that was excruciating!) Anyone else have minimally sore plugged ducts or mastitis?

[Jennah_Gole]

Yesterday at 4am I woke up with really bad chills for over an hour I couldn't get warm and I couldn't even move from my bed to get some pain meds.  I ended up taking ponstan thats the only kind of pain med I had available.  I had flu like symptoms.  I ended up throwing up because the I took the ponstan on an empty stomach.  Three hours later, I started feeling better and noticed that the entire top part of my breast was really red.  I went in the shower and massaged and massaged and massaged.  I did hot compresses on it.  I had a really high fever yesterday and this morning it was a low grade fever.  I checked again this afternoon and I don't have a fever anymore. 

The area is still red and i haven't seen a doctor yet.  I can feel a significant lump in there but the fever is gone.  I thought if it was mastitis then the fever would continue.

So Atlantafemme did your fever continue?  maybe mine is just a really bad plugged duct?  Im not sure what to do at this point except continue the compresses and feeding the baby alot on it.

The hospital that would see me for this on insurance is 45 minutes away :(  I can't imagine having to drag myself there less than two weeks postpartum.

[atlantafemme]

Ugh-- so sorry to hear you're experiencing this. My fever started on a Thursday afternoon and lasted through Sunday, 24 hours after I started the antibiotics. It would come on strong, give me bad chills and aches, go down once I took ibuprofen and come roaring back once that wore off. Mastitis can resolve without antibiotics and from what I've read if the fever only lasts around 24 hours or so, docs don't usually prescribe anything but what you're doing. You can read more on kellymom.com for ways to relieve plugged ducts. Good luck!

[lsmama]

I've had mastitis 3X - twice this summer with baby #2. The most recent time I had 104 fever, bad flulike symptoms and bad pain.  The antibiotics worked like a charm and I felt better pretty fast.  Baby did not seem to like the taste of the milk on that side which added insult to injury.  I know they say that you don't need antibiotics, but there is no way I could have skipped it.  I was terribly sick and did not want to risk an absess.  Feel better!!

[atlantafemme]

Ismama-- how long after your bouts did your affected breast feel totally back to normal?

[homemademom]

You can have plugged ducts without mastitis as you know, so it does sound like the infection was cleared, but not the plugged ducts. I would work really hard on getting those out so you don't end up with another case of mastitis.  I would take very warm showers and start massaging from behind the lumps toward my nipple, kind of like kneading a toothpaste tube.  I would also nurse, nurse, nurse and if your baby won't take that side, pump.  When I had mastitis it was SO painful, but the warm compresses and massages along with nursing did eventually work. You just have to keep at it. Also, taking soy lecithin is supposed to help with plugged ducts. I took it, along with garlic capsules and grapefruit seed extract (anti-bacterial) to help avoid further infection.  Good luck.

[atlantafemme]

Well, I saw an OBGYN today who told me that my lumpiness is just left over scar tissue and inflammation from the trauma of the mastitis. He said it can take a long time for the breast to feel 'normal' again and often some lumpiness can be permanent. I'm always skeptical of MDs, especially when it comes to my lady parts, but what he said made sense. Anyone have any thoughts on this? 

[lsmama]

Glad to hear you got someone to allay your fears about cancer and hope that the lumpiness goes away soon.

@homemade - what dosage did you take of the garlic, grapeseed, and lecithin?

[homemademom]

Originally Posted by lsmama 

@homemade - what dosage did you take of the garlic, grapeseed, and lecithin?

I'm so sorry, I don't remember! It was with my first baby, over 10 years ago.  I bet kellymom.org would have some advice.