Mastitis (BTDT Moms) - please describe yours...

[bethie]

Ok this is my second case and by now it should be better; however, I have a migraine that has lasted 3 days... my boob still feels like its bruised and hurts with two palpable knots... I feel nauseous... no fever (sometimes low grade). I called the doc back yesterday b/c I am so scared of abscess.... maybe the first case I had wasn't so bad?

Can you please describe your mastitis? Maybe my first case was more inflammatory in nature and THIS is the real thing. I used to say I'd rather have mastitis than thrush, but I wholeheartedly change my mind at this time... This is HORRIBLE.

Should I bother the doc on call this weekend? I'm on an appropriate dose of Augmentin for this... unless it's MRSA. :

[gabysmom617]

I think, from the time my kid was born till when he was about 2 years old, I must have gotten mastitis at least 15 times. Sometimes as soon as one case left me, another one hit me with a ton of bricks.

I'd wake up in the morning with a vague pain on the underside of my breast. And I'm like, : here we go!! I knew it was coming. Usually by the evening, I had a red swollen spot under that breast, I was getting low grade fever and feeling kinda crappy. Usually by bed time, I had full on fever complete with unbearable chills. My progressions was always rapid. Nursing on the side would hurt, especially usually towards the end when it was starting to clear up. I usually took a whole week to get better.

I had that happen one day after I <get this> tried on a bra in the fitting room. Yep, five mins. Didn't even end up buying a bra at all that day. Yet, I still got mastitis from trying it on.

So some one here tells me to start trying raw garlic, and I have to say it has made all the difference in the world for me. I never had cloves, but my husband always kept raw minced garlic in a jar in the fridge. I'd take half a spoonful of minced raw garlic (has to be raw, cooked don't work) and swallow it down without chewing with a mouthful of chocolate soy milk. (Nasty, right? Well, not exactly. Not nearly as bad as it sounds....)

I would take it about every hour or two (depending on how bad I was) that I was awake. My symptoms would start to clear up by the second day. By the third day, I was completely fine (kinda feeling a bit crappy, but not bedridden for a week like before) and able to function.

Now I recommend raw garlic to everyone. I took it at every bout of mastitis I got, and they never lasted a whole week anymore, usually only about 3 days.

Alternatively you can take a clove of raw garlic (cut up onto swallowable pill sized peices) every hour to two hours, or you can take garlic pills.

I found that if I got on a daily regime of acidophilus (because I had some underlying thrush issues that I believe was causing it to recur) then I didn't get mastitis...I got it a lot whenever I'd stop taking my acidophilus though.

Also, I got fitted by a very good professional for a bra; and she corrected the crap they told me at motherhood that I wore, told me my real size, hooked me up with a goddess nursing bra, and I never had mastitis again.

Some cheapo nursing bras are just regular bras with cutouts for nursing. The really good quality nursing bras are actually made to take into account all the weird places a nursing mom can have a little milk duct hiding (in the arm pit? Some where under the boob on the ribs?) and makes the bras to accomodate them without cutting them off.

Anyhow, that's the knowledge I've accumulated over the past 3 years where my breasts are concerned. Sigh. My kid has about weaned....I hesitate to say he's weaned completely in the hopes that his interest will spark once my next kid arrives in Oct/nov sometime, though...but I impart my experiences to you.

[sandbmom]

I just got over mastitis last week. It developed it into abscess and I had it drained.. yea I do not rec it...it sucks.

Mine came very suddenly. I was fine and with in an hour I felt like crap. It started with a headache and crabby, then worse, a lot worse, then my breast got red and swollen then got a huge lump in it. not fun

[marimara]

I had a painful lump in my r breast for a few days, it became reddish in the area, then a few days later I had a temp of 104 and felt like I had the flu. Went to ER, (it was 10pm) and they said it was mastitis. Had antibiotics for 2 weeks. Got better, have suffered bouts of clogged ducts but thankfully no mastitis again. Whenever I got clogged I would go in the hot bath and massage and hand express till I was empty. Had to do it that way or it would go full blown. Hope you fell better...

[RachelGS]

I did have MRSA mastitis, which was pretty horrible. But in the course of trying absolutely everything out there, I came across the best fix there is, which is high-dose vitamin C. Worked better than IV antibiotics for me, no kidding. Phytolacca is helpful, too, and lecithin to keep your ducts clear. Do everything you can to boost your immune system. Drink a ton of water.

I'm sorry you're sick. Mastitis really is so awful. :