Bad mastitis… should I give up?

[Spencer2]

I’m feeling really really low. I ended up in hospital for the day on Friday because mastitis caused very high fever and I truly felt horrendous.

I’ve ben feeding baby for four weeks and it was going ok until mastitis hit. I have antibiotics and been doing hot compress but so far neither are working. I can feel one large lump and a couple of small ones in the breast. The areola has a lot of red inflammation which almost look like sores and the nipple itself feels like sharp/burning pains whenever baby latches. It literally brings tears to my eyes!

I don’t want to give up but I am in so much pain I don’t know what to do.

I would take some paracetamol, if you haven't already and give one of the BFing Helplines a call.

Whether you decide to continue or not, you need more specialist support than an anonymous forum can offer

Dont give up! Baby is best at helping efficiently drain milk and without that your mastitis will be worse. Was baby with you in hospital? Did you see a lactation consultant? Get on Facebook group Breastfeeding Yummy Mummies (or something similar name-wise) as they have many trained people who have really helpful guidance...like using a comb to help clear lumps and dangle feeding baby.

Mastitis is awful but you need to keep Being and get proper guidance to help prevent it...watch out for thrush (oral in baby mouth) though now due to the antibiotics...it can be a cycle...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/155310094529238

Have you spoken to a lactation consultant? The protocol for mastitis has changed now, try ice instead of heat (not direct ice obviously). It sounds like baby needs help with getting an optimal latch, a bad latch causing blocked ducts leading to mastitis might be helped quite easily by a lactation consultant seeing your baby feed and checking it out.

When I had mastitis I was recommended to place clean cabbage leaves inside a loose fitting bra and the relief was amazing
the leaf will soften and should help lessen some of the swelling within 30 min
Hope this helps

Have you got lansinoh cream for sore nipples? it really helps to dry gently after feeding and keep some on before & after each feed.

it helps to ensure baby is latching correctly- not letting baby do any pulling on end of nipple but actually encouraging baby to be feeding on as large section of breast as possible, so waiting until baby’s mouth is as wide open as possible before quickly placing baby as close to breast as possible

with cabbage in bra , you can cut a slit in middle of cabbage leaf to avoid sore nipple being covered by the leaf

Stopping suddenly is likely to make it worse. But honestly I know when you feel this horrendous it seems like the best thing to do.

As someone else has said, the advice now is to apply cool/ice to the breast to try and reduce the inflammation. Lots of massage can only add to the problem too. Check out some of the advice from La Leche League https://www.laleche.org.uk/mastitis/ or ring the National Breastfeeding Helpline for advice. Also see if the hospital can get you to see their infant feeding team or lactation consultant, whatever they call them, so you can get any issues with latch/positioning etc sorted.

Go back to hospital if pain too intense and rash/sores worsens , it is excruciatingly painful and not worth suffering alone when you may need more help , such as thrush treatment for nipple and baby’s mouth

Take care, you have my sympathy 💐

Definitely the cabbage leaves and try to keep going with the feeding as it will make it worse to suddenly stop. If you haven’t already, paracetamol will help with the pain too. As others have said, try to speak to a specialist, the links above look good! In my area we also have FAB (Families and Babies) for breastfeeding support and they are great.

I've been there, it's awful, you have my sympathies. As others have said the guidance has changed now, I found this out after my third or fourth bout of mastitis last year and as soon as I stopped with all the regularly recommended methods of heat, massage, feed til empty etc it helped a lot. Basically the more guidance is around reducing inflammation. Try to feed from the opposite side first to reduce milk supply slightly in the engorged side, take ibuprofen to reduce inflammation and help with pain. Use ice rather than heat. Since doing that none of my clogged ducts have developed into mastitis.

Only you can decide whether you want to continue. If you can get through this I promise it does get easier, but for me it was probably a good 8 weeks before I could feed pain free. But I had lots of antibiotics early post partum which led to thrush and contributed to a lot of the pain. Keep an eye out for thrush in babies mouth. At the same time, the pressure to just "put up with" the agony was a lot to deal with. I found it easier to think of it day by day rather than I will feed for x weeks / months.

Lots of people warn you off nipple shields but if it weren't for those and pumping I genuinely don't think I'd have stuck with it. Shields will help take some of the pain away but aren't a long term solution.

You need the correct antibiotics. I had mastitis constantly with my second baby, I’d take the antibiotics and it would clear and then immediately come back. Finally I spoke to a lactation consultant who said I needed a different antibiotic and to take it for two weeks. I was on the verge of giving up feeding as I felt so terrible and I also had a 2 year old.
Anyway, the antibiotics worked and I continued to feed for another year with no recurrence.

Go back to hospital. If you have red hot lumps they could be abscesses and will need urgent attention.

When I had mastitis two lots of ABs didn't help and I ended up in hospital for an urgent op to have the abscess excised under GA.
That was the end of my breastfeeding. Didn't even try with no 2.

Same for me. I was determined to persevere but stopping BF was the best thing for me and my baby.

Good luck OP

i think you need to get someone to have a look at it and check babies mouth. Thrush was way more painful than mastitis for me and took a while to get diagnosed. Like broken glass and worst when latching and letdown. It was quickly solved with medication

ouch! hope you're ok.

get a hot shower on the painful bits and gentle brushing with a wide tooth comb to loosen any blockages.

That was the only thing that did it for me

good luck

I remember the pain. While I had mastitis I remember being told to use a breast pump for the infected breast and throw away the milk. Interestingly the milk was separated so clearly was affected by the mastitis. I think at the time alternative advice was to keep the baby breastfeeding.

Anyway this led me to naturally mix feeding and gradually back to fully breastfeeding. The mixed feeding gave me the chance to recover and continue with breast. Just an option to consider.

I do think you have to do what is best for you. I know technically breastfeeding is best for baby (and I bf all mine) but fundamentally a healthy and painfree mother is probably more important.

Good luck.

You need the correct antibiotics. I had mastitis constantly with my second baby, I’d take the antibiotics and it would clear and then immediately come back. Finally I spoke to a lactation consultant who said I needed a different antibiotic and to take it for two weeks.

This.

Did they take a sample of milk to send to the lab? They're supposed to prescribe a general antibiotic initially and then a targeted one once the milk culture is back (takes a few days).

Er, get that baby on formula,
pronto.

I had mastitis exactly as you describe. It was like someone pressing crushed glass into my breasts. Actual toe curling agony. Awful cracked nipples, even the nurse recoiled.

It's no failure if you don't breastfeed. Just not worth it at all

If mastitis is persisting, please press your GP for a breast scan in case you have an abscess. I did, and left it too long, despite seeing all sorts of people, including a lactation consultant and two GPs. It was excruciating.

I mixed fed after that (the breast with the abscess had no supply left). I felt quite bitter that the people who had me dicking about with cabbage leaves and massage had led me into a really serious medical situation by encouraging me to persevere. But tbh the mixed feeding was ok - EBF is not essential and not always the right thing.

If you want to continue breastfeeding I suggest supplementing with soya lecithin. It can help to reduce blockages. https://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/breastfeeding/lecithin-supplements-plugged-ducts-breastfeeding

But no harm in switching to formula either, breastfeeding was the most surprisingly painful part of having a child for me, I had a c-section and that pain was nothing in comparison!

I had excruciating mastitis with my 2nd and gave up bf very quickly - the relief was immense. Don’t feel you have to bf if you are suffering - it totally isn’t worth it.

Hope you feel better soon x

Don't give up! Breastfeeding is so good for your baby and you're clearly a determined lady to have got this far!

Loads of good advice here already. Do try dangle feeding to enable baby to effectively drain the breast. You should also take medication to treat thrush now too before it takes hold from having antibiotics.

Join a breastfeeding support group as soon as you can. They have seen me through the challenging times. I'm now tandem feeding.

Do make sure you have the right antibiotics! I first got some from ooh doctor due to a mess up at my go. They didn’t work. When I spoke to my own go again they said oh you need some other antibiotics not what I was given. Within 24h of starting those the pain was gone and never returned. I went from cannot get out of bed to taking care of kids on my own next day with no issues (dh would have cancelled if I wasn’t ok) so make sure you’re getting the right treatment. And don’t worry about asking more than once.