[Caittune]

I think we have thrush here. Bleh! I have some Grapefruitseed extract, but it has oil of oregano in it so I wasn't sure if it was ok to use. All the stuff I've read say nothing about oil of oregano. ETA, just read on Kellymom. Oil of Oregano is NOT recommended.

I'm also wondering if anyone has had any success with tea tree oil? I know it is supposed to be an antifungal. Or am I crazy to even think of this?

I'm heading out to the walk in when DD wakes up to see if I can get a scrip for APNO. If nothing else, I think it will help with the pain that I'm having.

 

[quirkylayne]

Read up on the threads here.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ghlight=thrush

A few pages back is info about APNO.

Here is what I do-

Limit sugar and dairy
Probiotics, I use acidophilus, with meals
Grapefruit Seed Extract, I take 250 4x a day until symptoms are gone, then 2x a day
Make wipes for your nips, use after every feeding. 1 part vinegar, 4 parts water. I make a bunch out by cutting paper towels in 1/4 pieces and keep them in a plastic ziploc for easy use. This will bring great relief your nips.
Wash hands often, with hot water and soap, after every bathroom and diaper change.

Vinegar wipes will be especially helpful with pain. Yes, you need to wash everything in the hottest water possible, change breast pads often, only use bath towels once, etc. And if you are using lansinoh, it can harbor yeast.

http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/oregano_oil.html

I do not recommend that breastfeeding mothers use oil of oregano to treat thrush...

Oil of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is sometimes suggested for treatment of thrush (candida/yeast). The recommendations I have seen for the use of oil of oregano for thrush treatment include topical use of the oil on baby's feet and mother's nipples and internal use of the oil by the mother.

There is nothing in the professional lactation literature thus far about oil of oregano, and little information elsewhere. There has been some discussion about it on Lactnet (an email discussion group for lactation professionals). Most agreed that without more substantive information it was not good practice to recommend it at this point.

In-vitro studies have indicated that oil of oregano has antifungal and antimicrobial properties, however these effects have not yet been studied in humans.

 

[Caittune]

Hmm I cross edited! Thanks for the link.

 

[Caittune]

Oh my goodness, I have never been so absolutely shocked/angry. Well...not recently anyway. I just got home from the doctor. He didn't look at my nipple and refused to treat me for anything. His solution to the problem was to wean DD immediately preferably by putting something that tastes bad on my nipples.

:

Can you say... NO! DD is only 16 months it is absolutely ridiculous (to me) to think of weaning her now. What, at the first sign of a problem I should just give up? I don't think so. DH was with me, and told him on no uncertain terms that weaning was not an option. He continued to press, and I just gathered up our things and left. I was just so upset, I was speechless.

So since we wasted so much time waiting for the doctor the stores were closed so I now have to go tomorrow to try and get some grapefruitseed extract and some probiotics for DD. *sigh* I am so glad this isn't my regular doctor. He is a friend of my DH's father though...so that is going to be awkward.

Oh yes, he also said babies her age don't get thrush...

 

[ilovebabymarty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caittune Oh my goodness, I have never been so absolutely shocked/angry. Well...not recently anyway. I just got home from the doctor. He didn't look at my nipple and refused to treat me for anything. His solution to the problem was to wean DD immediately preferably by putting something that tastes bad on my nipples. : Can you say... NO! DD is only 16 months it is absolutely ridiculous (to me) to think of weaning her now. What, at the first sign of a problem I should just give up? I don't think so. DH was with me, and told him on no uncertain terms that weaning was not an option. He continued to press, and I just gathered up our things and left. I was just so upset, I was speechless. So since we wasted so much time waiting for the doctor the stores were closed so I now have to go tomorrow to try and get some grapefruitseed extract and some probiotics for DD. *sigh* I am so glad this isn't my regular doctor. He is a friend of my DH's father though...so that is going to be awkward. Oh yes, he also said babies her age don't get thrush...

I know how you feel. I've been fighting thrush for 10 weeks now. My son's pediatrician told me to either wean or EP and give him bottles. DS has not taken a bottle yet-he is 12 weeks now. I told her that it is hard for me to give him bottles because he just screams. She basically could not get it how hard it is to do that. She just gave me that weird look that I do not know what I am doing. I guess if people do not EBF themselves they have know idea how exclusive the relationship/bond between a mother and a child is. Just hang in there. I hope you get through it. Olga

 

[RootSnort]

: That's the STUPIDEST thing I've heard in a while!
See another doctor, and start the herbal suggestions asap. EVERY living being of any age can get thrush. That is NOT a reason to wean!

 

[Caittune]

I woke up still

: about this this morning. I was given a recipe for what I'm calling my otc apno on another board, and it seems to be helping. I am going to head to the health food store later today to get some probiotics and other stuff.

I don't remember if I mentioned this but this has been going through my head. If it is thrush...even if I weaned it would still be there! *sigh* anyway, it is spurring me on to look for another doctor, because I fear I would get the same treatment from my regular doctor as well.

 

[quirkylayne]

That makes me so mad for you!

It is unusual for a child over 6 months to get thrush but not unheard of. I mean, what if you had it first and passed it on to her? Thrush will eventually clear on its own if the body's immune system is working correctly, so that may have been what he was thinking with the weaning. I'm just mentioning it, I'm totally with you on that being a bad idea. I hope you are able to find a supportive doctor.

 

[purplerascal]

Poor you and what a silly doctor!! It might not even be thrush; it might be a staph infection instead, in which case antibiotics and an antibiotic/antifungal ointment will be what you need (mupirocin is the ointment my doctor - a breastfeeding specialist - recommends).

I'd tried *everything* to get rid of what I thought was thrush (from when my baby was about 9 months till now, when he's 16.5 months), including several courses of diflucan (including crying down the phone to the doctor on weekend duty who refused to prescribe anything because I was breastfeeding! Doh! I needed help *because I was breastfeeding*!!). Then I finally made it to a lactation specialist doctor and her awesome crew of nurses and consultants, who immediately diagnosed an infection.

They should look up close at the nipples with an otoscope to see what's up. The symptoms aren't so different from thrush - painful nipples (during and after feeding), red and a little crusty sometimes (ick), and tending to be very dry between feeds; also sometimes pain that radiates back up into the breasts (this is usually referred pain from damaged nerves in the nipple, apparently). It can be on one side or both.

Infected nipples are more easily traumatised, too, so they are susceptible to tiny cracks and can thus take a long time to heal properly. The sooner you get onto it the better! For me, antibiotics kicked the infection itself, but the accumulated nipple trauma was so bad that I had to take several days' break from active nursing to get any real relief from the pain. It still hurts, even though there's no active infection.

Apologies for the long lecture - I just wanted to share the knowledge, just in case! And even if what you have is in fact thrush, maybe this info will help someone else who finds their way to this thread.

Is there a breastfeeding resources group in your area that might have more up to date knowledge on the subject of both thrush and nipple/breast infections?

Best of luck, hang in there, and I don't blame you if you never visit that ignorant doctor again!

 

[Funny Face]

I had terrible thrush that dd and I fought off and on. So sorry mama, I know it's painful! This may not help but this is what I did. I rotated positions when nursing which helped her not to aggrivate the same tender spot constantly. I used acidophilus, wetting my nipple and then covering it with the powder before dd nursed so that she got it in her mouth and I got it on my nipple. I sunned my nipples through a window several times a day (as far as I know the neighbors never saw

) and when it was really bad I used monostat on them after nursing and made sure to wipe them well before nursing again. It worked for me. Hth a little!

 

[Caittune]

Hmm Purplerascal, that is actually kind of interesting about the staph infection. I am almost wondering if that is a more likely culprit than the thrush. I mean DD and I are both generally healthy, and like a PP mentioned, babies older than 6 months don't often get thrush.

I also (thank goodness) have never had a vaginal yeast infection as far as I know, so I don't know that I am terribly prone to them.

That being said, DD was on a course of antibiotics about 3 weeks ago for a UTI, which is the only reason I thought that there was a possibility of thrush.

See I'm not a doctor, and gee wouldn't it have been nice to see one, rather than trying to self diagnose over the interweb?

:

:

 

[CathMac]

I'm guessing that you've looked for the white coat on DC's tongue, inside of cheeks, etc. However, it's possible that it's really well hidden in a nook or cranny. For instance, with DD2 I thought hers had cleared up but tiny patches were lingering in the triangular skin tag on the inside corner of her mouth.

I strongly recommend Dr. Jack Newman's yeast protocol. His advice is to use Grapefruit Seed **Citricidal** (and not "Citrus Paradisi"). I saw more improvement when I switched to the GSE Citricidal.

Wash everything in hot water and bleach or vinegar. Especially anything DC puts in his mouth. Change your bra daily or even more frequently. I recommend swabbing with a vinegar water rinse after nursing or pumping and wiping dry.

Also, watch for a yeasty type rash, it can travel through the gut and to the bottom. I kept a small squirt bottle of GSE diluted with distilled water (the Newman protocol will give you the correct ratio) at the changing station. Instead of using commercial wipes I used the Viva "select a size" paper towels and squirted them with the GSE solution. Viva is super soft, like a heavy duty tissue.

Good luck. ~Cath

 

[speairson]

You poor thing! I believe my dd and I have thrush as well, although I'm not sure. I got my hands on some gentian violet and while extremely messy seems to be working. I also used vinegar wipes on my nipples, which helped a lot with the pain and lanolin which also helped the pain. I have heard not to use lanolin when thrush is suspected, but my nipples are so sore and dry and cracked I had to.