mastitis please god help me

[upsetandang]

I have a couple of lumps in my breast and it hurts when baby feeds literally to the point I'm yelping out in pain.
I have a fever and a headache
its so bad in crying my eyes out

this is day 2 only.
I'm going to be home alone with 3 young children and crawling baby tomorrow.
please has anyone got better and sorted it out themselves?
DH called 111 earlier and they have called back but because of a temperature (coronavirus) they have to go through hoops and whatnot to do anything so I'm still waiting for another call.

its gotten loads worse despite a baby and young toddler feeding on it pretty much constantly.
I've looked all over the Internet but I don't know what else to try?

[Velvetpeel]

How are you OP?

[MalorieSnooty]

Hope you're okay OP. Like I said down thread, I was seriously ill with mastitis and needed IV antibiotics. Please go to A&E if you can't get an appointment.

[Kissthepastrychef]

I'm sure you probably have loads of advice here but antibiotics for the medium term, I did find cabbage seemed to help (maybe it was all in the mind) and changing position to the rugby ball position really helped.

It was so bad I cried over various friends, one of whom gave me a great bit of advice. Don't look at the big picture, just get through the next feed. Don't think about the feed after that, just this one. When you've finished that you can stop. I took it literally one at a time and finally finished feeding at 3.5yo

Honestly I was ready to throw it all in when I had mastitis

[Missmonkeypenny]

[quote upsetandang]@LintonTravelTavern
I've taken a turn for the worse early this morning, ill be asking for an emergency appointment[/quote]
Definitely get seen if it still hasn't cleared. A friend of mine ended up with sepsis due to mastitis and was very poorly

[upsetandang]

I did want to ask dh but he's rather squeamish
I took a screenshot of the replies to show him.

I had 3 lumps
2 have come out but one is still in there

I've had blocked ducts before but never lasted more than 2 days

[upsetandang]

@LintonTravelTavern
I've taken a turn for the worse early this morning, ill be asking for an emergency appointment

[Missmonkeypenny]

I managed to stop a blocked duct turning into mastitis recently, here's what I did.

• pour some comfortable hot water on a nappy, tip out the excess after it's absorbed and pop it on your boob. Stays hot longer that way.
• fill a haakaa with warm water and salt( enough to cover nipple), attach to boob and leave on for 10 mins
• breast compressions towards nipple whilst feeding
• point baby's chin towards the blockage
• if you have one, I found a vibrator better than a toothbrush as it was, um, more powerful. Used it for 20m on high, pressing down hard on the blockage

Some people recommend getting a very willing DH to suck the blockage out but i wasnt brave enough to try that one!

[Thehollyandtheirony]

Glad you are feeling better.
If you are prone to getting blocked ducts, I really recommend Silverette cups. They are pricy but they work like magic. I had a recurring blocked duct for months and then started wearing the silver cup daily and it hasn’t bothered me since.

[Wishbub]

I was given some advice when I had painful blocked ducts (never got to the point of mastitis)... its to have a partner (or yourself, if you can) suck really hard to remove the blockage. It seems really weird, but it does work, and honestly you're in so much pain that you'll try anything. Hope you're all OK now OP.

[LintonTravelTavern]

I would get to the G.P tomorrow OP, mine came back worse.

[upsetandang]

Thank you everyone, I tried the hot bath and toothbrush and dangle feed and eventually managed to get one of the blockages to shift,

hot water bottle when feeding aswell. I feel loads better today, still a bit ill but not a dead mass on the sofa unable to go to the toilet like the last few days t

I was offered an appointment at 9 ish last night but I was still so ill I had to refuse, there was no way I could get there on my own with baby (patients only) in the state I was in, I barely managed a bath after 3 days.

Definitely saving the link for future reference

I've had blocked ducts and ill feelings loads, but nothing that wiped me out this bad for days, maybe one or 2 days. very thankful over the worst of it now.

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

Hope you're ok today OP, a little worried about you as I know how quickly mastitis can turn

[Brefugee]

there are breastfeeding safe antibiotics.

[Oooohbehave]

Antibiotics OP. Also just be aware that if you are on them whilst breastfeeding your baby might get thrush, mine did but it cleared almost overnight once I finished the course. for you it's horrible.

[PurpleH]

It may also pass very quickly (the blockage). Mine suddenly went after a couple of days and was soft again after a few rounds of hot showers and feeding

[PurpleH]

If you get time have a nice hot shower and get a flannel and gently massage the breast. This will offer some relief and might unblock too. Be sure to GENTLY massage or it will feel worse. Use a cold compress when not feeding (cold flannel tucked down your top to relieve pain). This might help while you wait hopefully for antibiotics from the doc

[rainonarainyday]

Press hard with your finger tips on the outside edge of lump hard, when the pain lessens ( might take a few minutes) push toward the nipple. Press again on the edge of lump repeating the ideally once you down all of them feed. Will
Prob need to do a few times. It sounds like blocked ducts. This is the only way I got rid of mine after days of trying everything.

[IronNeonClasp]

Savoy Cabbage !!! Dark green leaves AMAZING

[bluebellscorner]

I’m so sorry to hear you are in pain, mastitis is terrible. I had it with all of mine and also once years after I had finished breastfeeding!

• antibiotics
  
• cabbage
  
• warm showers, baths, compresses
  
• keep breastfeeding! It really helps!
  
• I bought some sort of breastfeeding nipple compresses from boots, they really saved the day
  

Good luck!

[everybodyknowsus]

Mastitis is fucking awful. I fainted on my health visitor.

Lots of good advice on this thread. Hope you're on the mend soon, OP

[Brefugee]

I was advised to put cabbage leaves in the fridge and then in my bra - and also to spread Quark (very soft ultra light cream cheese) on my breasts if they started to get red and warm.

But when it was really bad it was antibiotics and they worked very quickly.
I had to massage my breast while feeding, stroking towards the nipple - going all round the breast - to prevent it happening again

[WellQualifiedToRepresentTheLBC]

Op from your updates I think you might have an abscess already. If your unable to wear clothing due to your breast hurting too much, then that isnt a blockage I don't think. And a few days of fever already etc... it probably isn't a blockage anymore and trying to drain it will not clear it up, if it has already made an abscess then interfering with it will just make it worse, i think (not a hcp just had loads of mastitis).

I am not in the UK but I was sent to A&E, when I was a lot less bad than you currently sound tbh. Really hope you get medical attention today. I would present at a&e at this point tbh.

[MalorieSnooty]

OP if you start shivering get yourself to A&E. I needed IV antibiotics for mastitis when DS2 was small, the level of infection was really high and oral antibiotics weren't touching it.

[Macadamia20]

Please make sure you get the medical attention you need. I had this 6 years ago, I couldn’t get out of bed with the fever and effects. I ended up in hospital with an abscess and sepsis. I hope you start to feel better soon.

[MsJudgemental]

Antibiotics sorted me out straightaway.