Working moms and Mastitis

[lp75]

Mastitis, round three... Just when I thought I was getting better, I was hit with another case of mastitis on Monday. Even worse than the case I had 3 weeks ago - much more painful. I am doing pretty much everything I've heard to do, (lecithin, vitamin c, warm compresses, cool compresses etc etc.) I am on dicloxicillan and tylenol with codeine for the pain. I am going to see a lactation consultant today - I hope she can help out... I am going to try to have my milk cultured also.

Anyway, I wanted to know if any of you are working moms who deal or have had to deal with mastitis? This is the second time I've had an absence from work in the last three weeks and I'm very worried about the impact this could have on my job... I would love to say that I could give up working, but I can't. If it comes down to my job or breastfeeding, the job wins and it's tearing me up.

Any tips from working moms would be so appreciated.

Also I was wondering if anyone had ever tried weaning from the "bad" breast and just exclusively feeding from the unaffected breast? I"m willing to try anything at this point. I just don't have the luxury of a lot of time to figure this out with multiple rounds of antibiotics, testing etc. etc.

-Lisa

[Ellien C]

Gosh, all I can give you is sympathy right now. I never had mastitis. I'm really sorry for everything your going through. That's so stressful to be missing work and having nursing difficulties.

Have you looked on the Kelly mom website?

[jdmeyer]

And for it's next appearance...MASTITIS!

Oh yes, once, twice, 3x a lady....not just a song you know. I am a WM, with a 4x experience. Just tell them what is happening, and that you're taking measures to correct it. They have to be a little flexible. Consider this...do you really think they's treat someone with cancer or some other condition differently? Don't take Mastitis lightly, but be serious about it's treatment & prevention.

First: Lessen it's causes when possible. (Stress, missed feedings/pumpings, lack of sleep, lack of fluids, eating poorly)

Second: Prevention. Start eating yogurt. It will boost your system, & break down yeast which is a culprit. Increase fluids (tea, Gatorade, water), eat well.

Third: When you feel it come on (after the 1st time, you will most likely be warned from here on out), begin taking Advil for the pain & swelling every 4 to 6 hrs. Taking Lecithin gel capsules helps also. It breaks down the Lactic Acid in your muscles.

Fourth: Nurse on the affected side first, & as often as Little One allows. Take a shower (or apply hot rag) before nursing or pumping to break up the lump & ease pain.

Other tips:
Try not to lay on the "weakened" side when you sleep AMAP, and go braless at home to let your breast rest from being held captive.

Cabbage leaves put on the swelling will also help, but only do this for a 20 min. interval between feedings. It tends to lessen your supply. Your supply will be weakened anyway until it recovers however.

Also, begin eating oatmeal & yogurt (as above) every day when you can. Yogurt will keep you balanced, as I said, & oatmeal will keep your supply up.

As said before, I have had this 4x's, & it works. You have to take care of yourself, that's the bottom line. Rest, drink fluids, eat, nurse. Do not let work interfere with pumping!! Keep your schedule, your body depends upon it. You will persevere....my little one is now 20 mo.!

[RachelGS]

I'm not sure I realized when we were PM-ing that you're working. One consideration is whether you're pumping and how much and with what pump. There was a big study that I read which concluded that mastitis is a lot more prevalent in women who pump. The reason for this is most likely that the breast isn't being adequately drained. If you're pumping while you're working, consider asking your docs to write you a prescription for a hospital grade pump. Insurance will sometimes cover it under that circumstance; they did mine. If you're not pumping while you're away from your baby, you should be. Milk stasis is a huge factor in recurrent mastitis. Also be sure that you're really cleaning your pump parts. If you happen to carry staph, as I did (and as many people do), it will just keep reinfecting you if you keep introducing it to your breasts. You can ask your doc for a nasal swab to see if you're a MRSA carrier. If you are, that raises suspicion that you have staph in your ducts.

The other thing since you relapsed so quickly after discontinuing antibiotics is to really push for that culture or for a consult with a breastfeeding-friendly infectious disease specialist. My guess is that you're going through something like I did, where the wrong antibiotic suppresses the infection without actually knocking it out, and then it comes roaring back. I went through that over and over before I found someone who could trace 1) what the bug was, and 2) how to treat it. If you aren't sure that your doctors know what to do here, call the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and ask them for a list of providers in your state. I did that, and it's how I finally landed some help after being sick for half a year.

And no kidding, get that serious vitamin C dosage going. For everything I've been through and everything I've tried, it's the single most helpful thing I've done.

[GooeyRN]

I had mastitis several times, and it sucks having to go to work with it! I had a good supply (over-supply, actually) and decided to let the left side dry up completely. I still had enough milk from my right breast, and did not get mastitis again. However, I got pregnant shortly after and my milk completely dried up.

[lp75]

Thanks everyone for your help and support - it means a lot to me... So the latest update: I went to the lactation consultant today and she just basically went over things that I had already been told. I then went to my Dr. and he called the infectious disease specialist in the hospital who directed him to switch me from dicloxacillin to clindamycin. (in fact isn't that what you took too Rachel?)

Anyway, as far as work goes, I meet with 3 clients per day. What I was doing was sometimes pumping in between clients and sometimes coming home to nurse Riley. I think that coming home was the problem. Because his hungry times didn't always correspond to me being there, or sometimes they did but I had to leave before he was finished.

So I think I will just go back to pumping in between clients (this works out to pumping about every 2 1/2 hours or so.) The pump I have is the Medela Pump in Style Advanced. This pump gets as much out of me as a hospital grade one - I used the hospital grade Medela Symphony at one point. After reading up on this on Kelly Mom and reading all of your responses I know there are areas I need to improve - such as eating healthier, drinking more water and sleeping more. I'm one of those "go go go" types so this will be hard for me. But believe me it will be worth it if I don't have to go through this again!

Thanks again - this is really an amazing group here!

-Lisa

PS: Rachel - how do you recommend cleaning the pump parts? I've basically been hand washing them, but I've never cleaned the tubing because I was told not to... Maybe I need to start sterilizing them?