Mastitis

[Lockdowntherabbithole]

Hi,

I think I have mastitis. Last night I started shivering and burning up. My temperature was 38.9 but came down to 37.7 with paracetamol. I have a lump in my right breast that’s very painful. I woke up to a temp of 37.7 but it’s gone up to 38.1.

I’m waiting on a call back from my doctor. However, aside from regular feeding and pumping, are there any quick “fixes” that have worked for you?

I should add I had mastitis over three years ago and ended up developing sepsis so I clearly didn’t act quick enough then. My baby is 7 months old.

You poor thing, make sure you get antibiotics as soon as you can and until then feed/express as much as you can on that side

Poor you, that sounds miserable. Hope the Dr calls you back soon.

As you say, the first thing is to keep the milk flowing. You could try warm heat before a feed (e.g. flannel or disposable nappy in hand hot water) and cool between feeds. Sometimes people massage from behind any lump towards the nipple, by hand or with the wrong end of an electric toothbrush. Or use a blunt wide toothed comb.
www.laleche.org.uk/mastitis/

From 9.30 you could give the National Breastfeeding Helpline a call
www.nationalbreastfeedinghelpline.org.uk/

You poor thing. Mastitis is horrid. Definitely good advice above. You could also Google LA Leche League and Mastitis. They have brilliant information.

If you are up to it a warm bath or shower with the water over your breast while you gently stroke down towards the nipple or try to hand express can work really well. Drink plenty of fluids.

Thanks everyone I really appreciate all the advice. I had a shower and tried to hand express earlier. My antibiotics will be ready for 12 and DH will collect them for me. I feel so achey and it hurt just to dry myself. I just desperately don’t want to be admitted to hospital again.
Going to try and nap with babe at lunchtime and then maybe have a hot bath.

I found hot compress and hand expressing helped to clear the blocked ducts for me - one weird tip I found that does work well was to soak a disposable nappy with hot water - heat lasts longer than a wet cloth or similar. If you're able to take it, I found ibuprofen helped reduce inflammation too, the slow release tablets that you get that you take every 12 hours were the best. It's awful, really hope you're feeling better soon and the antibiotics do their job without you needing hospital

Take ibuprofen if you have no contraindications. It works well to reduce inflammation in mastitis.

Thanks everyone. For some reason I didn’t think you could take ibuprofen when breastfeeding. I’ll definitely be taking some.

I had a bath earlier, tried hand expressing and it’s really slow to come out. Going to try expressing with the electric pump soon. I hate this feeling. I have a 3.5 year old and a 7 month old 😫

Found making a fist and using the flat part against the breast and rolling so the knuckles are sort of doing the massaging

Try feeding on that side holding baby in a different position i.e. rugby ball rather than cross body. Also, warm flannels on your breast and keep massaging towards the nipple to work the lump out. Hope the antibiotics start working for you soon.

Make sure you get the correct antibiotics too. A trained dr gave me amoxicillin despite my protests and I ended up with an abscess. You need flucloxicillin (not sure of spelling)

Start antibiotics ASAP, it’s remarkable how fast they make you feel better.

Keep feeding baby of the breast with mastitis and as they feed massage the lump towards to nipple.

Ouch!! That sounds really painful
I know it might sound really gross and painful but I’ve read on baby forums that getting your DH to suck as hard as possible can really help because he’ll have a stronger suck than a baby or a pump.
Hope you feel better soon

@Thisisjaaam

Yes!!! I did this 4.5 years ago! Remember it too well!!!

Use the handle of an electric toothbrush (switched on!) and massage towards the nipple to work the lump down before a feed or after a shower. It sounds very odd but it was a tip from my midwife and worked every time I had a blockage/mastitis. It’s truly awful so hope you feel better soon!

Antibiotics are the only thing that will help the mastitis but to clear the blockage put a hot flannel over the area for a while then I used a vibrator to massage the area. It's painful as hell but it works

Hi everyone, I’ve managed to take a days worth of antibiotics since DH picked them up. My temperature seems more stable now and I’ve taken ibuprofen. I’ve been feeding baby from that side mostly and expressed once he went down. Hardly anything is coming out when I pump. I ended up hand expressing what I could.

I’ve been using the fist technique someone suggested. My poor boob is so agony but hopefully it helps. As for DH helping out- I can guarantee he would never do it 😂🙈 m

Just checked the antibiotics and they’re flucloxacillin. Hope they kick in soon and get me feeling more normal. I’m meant to have my Covid vaccine tomorrow but not sure if they’ll let me. I’ll need to call in the morning.

It might require some odd positions, but I was advised to feed with baby’s chin at the side where the blockage was, as them moving their chin to feed can help to move the blockage

Have you checked your nipple for a bleb? It’s like a blocked pore/little white blister which basically means the milk is backing up and can’t come free. I had one and it led to mastitis. I ended up picking it in the shower out of desperation (probably not what I was meant to do) and loads of stringy milk came out followed by a hush so it definitely helped.

Morning,
The lump is hard and swollen this morning. I did check for a bleb and couldn’t see one. I’d looked at pictures of them online and they looked like a white spot/blister. Do they always look this obvious? Can they be a red colour?

Did you feed over night?

I really feel for you, I had mastitis so many times it’s a bitch.

Also, whilst you’re on antibiotics I would try and avoid alcohol; sugar and yeast and eat a shit load of live yoghurt as I got nipple thrush from the antibiotics which is also a bitch.

@Lockdowntherabbithole

Morning, The lump is hard and swollen this morning. I did check for a bleb and couldn’t see one. I’d looked at pictures of them online and they looked like a white spot/blister. Do they always look this obvious? Can they be a red colour?

Ouch! Mine was a tiny white spot but it was far more obvious if I tried to hand express, it kind of rose up to the surface then if that makes sense? You might not have one, but they do stop the milk escape and cause it to back up.

I know it’s horrible but do keep feeding on that side and the antibiotics will kick in. I remember when I had mastitis which started over night and I genuinely have never felt so ill in my whole life before!

I did feed overnight but I think it’s more of a comfort suck as opposed to a big gulping feed if that makes sense.

I can’t have normal yogurt as he’s got a dairy and soya allergy (just to add to the complexity!)

He’s doing a bit of groaning and pulling at that side which tells me things are slow moving! I’m going to examine whether there’s a bleb when I go in the shower.

The last time I had it, it came on so fast and I passed out in the shower. I ended up on a drip. This came on Monday, about 3pm I bleached my roots and said to my husband I felt light headed (I thought from the fumes) but maybe in hindsight it was things starting. Then about 7.30 I was feeding my baby and putting him down and I was freezing to the point my teeth chattered, then boiling, and the pain was so sore. Today I’ve lost the fluey feeling thankfully- which seemed to be the hardest bit. I’m going to try and rest as much as I can today and keep on top of pain relief and antibiotics.

@Lockdowntherabbithole

Hi everyone, I’ve managed to take a days worth of antibiotics since DH picked them up. My temperature seems more stable now and I’ve taken ibuprofen. I’ve been feeding baby from that side mostly and expressed once he went down. Hardly anything is coming out when I pump. I ended up hand expressing what I could.

I’ve been using the fist technique someone suggested. My poor boob is so agony but hopefully it helps. As for DH helping out- I can guarantee he would never do it 😂🙈 m

Just checked the antibiotics and they’re flucloxacillin. Hope they kick in soon and get me feeling more normal. I’m meant to have my Covid vaccine tomorrow but not sure if they’ll let me. I’ll need to call in the morning.

It normally takes 48 hours for antibiotics to kick in.

Just wanted to come by and say I'm sorry you're going through this!

I also found that when I had it, I was incredibly tearful and felt really low. A lovely Mumsnetter told me that that was actually probably part of the infection and normal, so if you're feeling the same, don't worry!! You're not overreacting - it's horrid! I think as women there is also something incredibly distressing about having a lump in your boob, even if you know it's BF related.

I found that the antibiotics cleared the infection in a couple of days, but the lump took a little longer to pass - so don't worry if it doesn't disappear immediately.

And also, I would maybe focus more on ice packs on the boob if heat isn't working for you. Not sure if I'm wired differently, but heat always used to make my breast lumps/blockages worse and ice helped them work through. Just something to try.

All the best! Hope you feel better soon xx