Help desperately needed for SIL- Mastitis

[FairyLightsForever]

My poor SIL was diagnosed with Mastitis a week ago. She had already been sore for a couple of weeks and had had a temperature, vomiting, etc in the week running up to diagnosis.

She was finally diagnosed after her DS threw up blood after feeding and they rushed him to A&E only to find that the blood was from her. She was given antibiotics by the hospital to survive the weekend and has been on Amoxicillin since Monday.

The temperature, vomiting, ect are gone, but her breast is still incredibly inflamed and painful. She is going back to the Doctor tonight as her antibiotics run out on Sunday.

She is using cabbage leaves and hot packs and alternating between cradle and rugby hold to feed her DS. She's also alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen for the pain. I don't think that she's managing to massage because it hurts so much.

Sorry that this is long, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. TIA

info

Some info from LLL

I don't have any experience but hope the above helps :)

I'm no expert but have some experience

Most important is to feed, feed, feed, and then feed some more. She needs to empty the breast and the most effective way is the baby. How old is her DS? Can she stay in bed with him, just rest and feed?

Keep taking the antibiotics, 14 days, not 7. Flucloxacillin is supposed to be more effective than amoxicillin.

Get her latch checked - the blood is a sign that her nipples are cracked and that there is therefore something wrong with the positioning. Germs then get into the breast and cause mastitis. She should NOT wean (very often doctors advise this when they see mastitis). It will cause more problems.

Hope she gets well soon, poor thing, it's awful, I've been there.

If she cannot feed the baby on the worse side empty the breast with a pump suggested to me by a doctor I had constant bouts last two years due to stress.

The last time was November and I lay in a really hot bath and massaged the milk out it flows out with the heat of the water. Keep massaging until it feels less lumpy. I was away so had no tabletc etc it did help.

Her DS is 5 months old and has had no problems with feeding before. She has said that her nipples are the one bit of the breast that is not sore. She's doing brilliantly, keeping up the feeding and LO is happy to keep feeding, which is good.

She probably needs a long course of antibiotics from the Doctors (at least 14 days worth) in order to properly clear out the infection.

I would second and third the suggestion to feed feed feed.

Hot flannels on the affected breast and using the shower nozzle on massage when she's in the shower to keep things soft. If she can massage then that will help as well.

Make sure she also checks for any milk blisters on the end of her nipples just in case info here. I had one and this led to mastitus for myself.

Oh and give her some chocolate and frequent cups of tea.

at chocolate and frequent cups of tea, unfortunately we live at oposite ends of the country, so I don't feel like i can help much

Bumping for the evening crowd.

if the infection was there for so long then a longer course of ABs are to be expected.

ALthough not for mastitis I have a infection once that was so painful I couldn't sleep for more than 3 mins at time before I got ABs. At that stage it takes a lot longer to recover and for the drugs to take effect.