Hi everyone,
This is my first post--I've been looking at the thrush support thread but haven't seen anything addressing my questions. Just to give a little background, I am a first-time mom and my daughter is 8 weeks old. We had a very hard time nursing because of high palate, tongue sucking in utero, etc. I had very bad cracks/scabbing on my nipples. The LC in the hospital told me to try soothies and lanolin, which helped with the scabbing but I was still in severe pain.
We were diagnosed with thrush by another LC when baby was 2 weeks old (she said my nipples were unusually pink) and were both treated with nystatin for about 2 weeks. The LC also gave me a nipple shield to use while the thrush was being treated and while baby was learning to suck correctly. Her mouth cleared up and my nipples also seemed to return to their normal color (medium brown). Unfortunately, the nipple shield caused my nipples to crack because the nipples were going "through" the holes in the nipple shield, if that makes sense. I stopped using the shields after 10 days.
Nursing was still pretty painful so I figured I might still have thrush. I also had the classic shooting pains in my breasts and extremely painful letdown. We started using topical GSE on my nipples and in her mouth. I also started taking GSE capsules. The shooting and letdown pains eased, but my nipples were still cracked and around this time my areolas became swollen and shiny. I got a prescription for APNO from my OB and started using that around week 5.
At my 6-week post-partum visit, the OB examined my breasts/nipples and said aside from the cracks on the tips of my nipples, there was no sign of thrush or infection. I pointed out that my nipples/part of my areola were a lot redder than the outer circle of areola (the part with montgomery's glands.) She said the redness was due to increased blood flow to the nipple area and she thought the cracks/pain was due to a poor latch. Naively, I believed her and stopped using GSE/APNO.
The next day, I saw a third LC who said our latch was perfect and again brought up thrush because she felt that my nipples/areola looked really red. She suggested applying Monistat to see if they felt any better. I also started back up on GSE capsules because the burning/shooting pains were coming back. It's been about 6 days since I started Monistat. Although the GSE has helped the burning/shooting pain and the Monistat also provided some relief, my nipples/areola are still red. On top of all this, I noticed that when I rinse my nipples with salt water after each feed, the tips are turning white. I assume this is vasospasm, but I don't think this started till just a few days ago.
If you made it this far, here are my questions:
1) Is it normal for the nipple and areola to be two different colors due to increased bloodflow? The outer circle of areola (where montgomery's glands are) is brown, while the inner areola and nipple are still red. Also the part of the areola that is red is also kind of raised and puffy looking.
2) Is it normal for the tip of the nipple to look bumpy or should the skin be smooth? I have both tiny little red bumps and larger bumps on my nipples next to where the cracks are.
3) Is it normal for the areolae to swell with breastfeeding? My nipples/breasts are small to begin with so it is freaking me out that the nipples are now so huge.
4) Is the vasospasm just due to cold or is it possibly a result of thrush?
5) Can topical GSE cause nipple/areola puffiness to worsen?
6) Is it ok to use Monistat for more than 7 days?
7) Is it ok to use APNO for more than 3 weeks?
8) Finally, I haven't really been wiping off any of the ointments/creams I've been using before each feed. I noticed today that the skin on baby's face is getting lighter than the rest of her body. Is this normal for baby's to change skin color, or could this be caused by ingesting monistat or the hydrocortisone in APNO? This is freaking me out the most because when she was born, she had my husband's darker complexion, and now all of a sudden her face looks very pale while the rest of her body is still kind of dark.
I'm trying to set up another appointment with an LC but I'd appreciate any advice anyone has in the meantime. I have thought daily about quitting breastfeeding because it has been so difficult but as a med student, I know that breastfeeding is the best thing I can do for my baby and would hate to quit now, especially if we are on the verge of overcoming all our issues. Please help!
This is my first post--I've been looking at the thrush support thread but haven't seen anything addressing my questions. Just to give a little background, I am a first-time mom and my daughter is 8 weeks old. We had a very hard time nursing because of high palate, tongue sucking in utero, etc. I had very bad cracks/scabbing on my nipples. The LC in the hospital told me to try soothies and lanolin, which helped with the scabbing but I was still in severe pain.
We were diagnosed with thrush by another LC when baby was 2 weeks old (she said my nipples were unusually pink) and were both treated with nystatin for about 2 weeks. The LC also gave me a nipple shield to use while the thrush was being treated and while baby was learning to suck correctly. Her mouth cleared up and my nipples also seemed to return to their normal color (medium brown). Unfortunately, the nipple shield caused my nipples to crack because the nipples were going "through" the holes in the nipple shield, if that makes sense. I stopped using the shields after 10 days.
Nursing was still pretty painful so I figured I might still have thrush. I also had the classic shooting pains in my breasts and extremely painful letdown. We started using topical GSE on my nipples and in her mouth. I also started taking GSE capsules. The shooting and letdown pains eased, but my nipples were still cracked and around this time my areolas became swollen and shiny. I got a prescription for APNO from my OB and started using that around week 5.
At my 6-week post-partum visit, the OB examined my breasts/nipples and said aside from the cracks on the tips of my nipples, there was no sign of thrush or infection. I pointed out that my nipples/part of my areola were a lot redder than the outer circle of areola (the part with montgomery's glands.) She said the redness was due to increased blood flow to the nipple area and she thought the cracks/pain was due to a poor latch. Naively, I believed her and stopped using GSE/APNO.
The next day, I saw a third LC who said our latch was perfect and again brought up thrush because she felt that my nipples/areola looked really red. She suggested applying Monistat to see if they felt any better. I also started back up on GSE capsules because the burning/shooting pains were coming back. It's been about 6 days since I started Monistat. Although the GSE has helped the burning/shooting pain and the Monistat also provided some relief, my nipples/areola are still red. On top of all this, I noticed that when I rinse my nipples with salt water after each feed, the tips are turning white. I assume this is vasospasm, but I don't think this started till just a few days ago.
If you made it this far, here are my questions:
1) Is it normal for the nipple and areola to be two different colors due to increased bloodflow? The outer circle of areola (where montgomery's glands are) is brown, while the inner areola and nipple are still red. Also the part of the areola that is red is also kind of raised and puffy looking.
2) Is it normal for the tip of the nipple to look bumpy or should the skin be smooth? I have both tiny little red bumps and larger bumps on my nipples next to where the cracks are.
3) Is it normal for the areolae to swell with breastfeeding? My nipples/breasts are small to begin with so it is freaking me out that the nipples are now so huge.
4) Is the vasospasm just due to cold or is it possibly a result of thrush?
5) Can topical GSE cause nipple/areola puffiness to worsen?
6) Is it ok to use Monistat for more than 7 days?
7) Is it ok to use APNO for more than 3 weeks?
8) Finally, I haven't really been wiping off any of the ointments/creams I've been using before each feed. I noticed today that the skin on baby's face is getting lighter than the rest of her body. Is this normal for baby's to change skin color, or could this be caused by ingesting monistat or the hydrocortisone in APNO? This is freaking me out the most because when she was born, she had my husband's darker complexion, and now all of a sudden her face looks very pale while the rest of her body is still kind of dark.
I'm trying to set up another appointment with an LC but I'd appreciate any advice anyone has in the meantime. I have thought daily about quitting breastfeeding because it has been so difficult but as a med student, I know that breastfeeding is the best thing I can do for my baby and would hate to quit now, especially if we are on the verge of overcoming all our issues. Please help!
