1st time w/mastitis, concerned about...

[mamatoady]

Here's what's going on and my questions

A few weeks ago I noticed my left breast starting to hurt on the side, but it didn't seem to affect my milk supply and didn't hurt when my almost 8 month old nursed. Gradually I noticed feeling engorged at bedtime on that side and was actually happy because I never feel like I've got enough milk and didn't even feel engorged after his birth. Then last Saturday I woke up at 2 am with chills so bad my body hurt. My left breast was also severely pained. I wrapped up with extra blankets and clothes and was still freezing to the bone. I decided to try to sleep in the living room and started to pass out, also felt like puking so I grabbed a bowl and phone quickly and sat on the floor. I still felt like passing out and I'm here alone with my kids (who were awake) so I called 911. On the phone I puked,but never passed out fully. They got here and I was sort of ok, chills subsiding for a couple minutes. They left, I cozied with ds in the rocker and went back to sleep, as best I could. I woke up sweating and hotter than heck, stood up to get rid of some blankets and puked my guts out again. NExt day I talked to LLL leader and she said Mastitis.

I wasn't able to make the trip to the ER on Sunday because I was too sick, so I waited until Monday and went to my doctor--just down the street. She puts me on an antibiotic.

here's my concerns...
1. woke up today with really bad mouth pain, but doesn't appear to be thrush. My tongue hurts and my gums hurt. Feels like I injested really hot liquid and burned myself. I can't eat food that needs to be chewed. Doc said to come in tomorrow morning, don't take more of the antibiotic. What would they put me on? She said penicillin can cause wacky symptoms. Aren't all antibiotics penicillin? If they put me on something else is there anything I should be aware of before I take it? I like to be a little on the cautious side, though not 100% opposed to taking prescription drugs.

2. I feel like my infected side is completely losing it's milk--either the milk itself or ds's access to it. When I try to hand express I barely get anything. I do nurse him on that side as frequently as possible. Am I at risk for completely losing my milk on that side? What can I do to avoid that if it's a possibility? My breast pain/engorgement/rock-like feelings HAVE decreased mildly since I started the antibiotic. Ds was weighed and has not gained anything in 2 weeks. He nurses frequently and sleeps a lot-neither of which are in character for him. side note, he's newly teething.

FYI--when I hand expressed on sunday, I got some white milk and some yellow. When I hand expressed yesterday and today I got some white milk and some clear.

can anyway address these, especially number 1?

sarah

[RootSnort]

No, there are different classes of antibiotics, and you can often tell what "family" they are in by their generic names. Penicillin and it's family members (ampicillin, amoxicillin, piperacillin) all end in cillin. The cephalosporins (cephalexin, cefuroxime, cefdinir, etc) are similar to the penicillins, but less than 10% of people who react badly to penicillins will also react badly to cephalosporins. Then there's some totally unrelated classes of antibiotics: Bactrim (a sulfa drug), the macrolides (erythromycin, azithromycin, clarifthromycin), clindamycin (off on it's lonesome), and others.

Some antibiotics are safe for nursing, some are not, and with some, it's recommended to wait a few hours after taking them. Your doctor should have a nice reference book to determine what's best to give you. If he does not, your state poison control or local hospital pharmacy should have references and be able to help them make a safe and effective decision.

I had almost weekly plugged ducts, and two bouts of mastitis my first three months of nursing. On two occasions, I noted a drastic decrease in output from one breast, but I got it all back with time. In one case, it took a few weeks, but you can get it back. I would also talk to a lactation consultant. Mine had me do things like heat before pumping or nursing, puming or nursing from different positions, and lots of fluids. She had many, many suggestions, so many I had to write them down, but I've forgotten where. Your LC is an amazing resource!

I hope that you feel well soon!

[MamabearTo4]

I'm thinking that your mouth pain COULD be thrush, but without any other symptoms! Do you have a diaper rash, by chance? jk That mouth pain could be what our poor babes feel when they get thrush...

I'm so sorry that you've gone through this! I'm just coming off a bout with it (my 2nd time) and it is awful! Poor thing.

[GooeyRN]

It does sound like mastitis, I had it 5 months ago. It is no fun. There are many different antibiotics for it. I took Levaquin, since I have multiple allergies. I felt much better within 24 hours. My fever at its worst was 103.6 after taking both tylenol and motrin. : I lost most of my milk in the side that had mastitis. But I am an EPer, so that may be different. I hope that you feel better soon.

[papschmitty]

I've had mastitis 8 times so believe me, I feel your pain! Dicloxacillin usually works best for me but that would be off limits to you if you have a penicillin allergy. Like a previous poster said, there are many different classes of antibiotics so you should be able to find something else that will work. I also got phytolacca from my naturopath. You start taking it at the first hint of an infection. I get really sick with little or no warning so I usually still have to go on antibiotics but I have been able to successfully kick the infection twice with phytolacca alone. Good luck, I hope your boob is on the mend soon!