Short term relief for suspected thrush

[cocoachannel]

Hi all

DD is 4 weeks and I am EBF. I've never been 100% comfortable with feeding though my midwife thought positioning etc looked good when she observed. I now have pink, very sore nipples. The pain in particularly bad at let down then for about an hour after feeding.

I will book a GP appt in the morning, but given it's such a busy surgery can't imagine I'll get an appt until next week.

Does anybody have any advice for short term help. I am very close to giving DD at least one FF for some relief. I am devastated and becoming depressed that I am finding feeding so very hard

Thank you.

Grapefruit seed extract tablets are great and can get them from amazon.

Probiotic tablets - Holland and Barrets

Can get Daktarin oral gel from pharmacy (no blobs in mouth, spread THINLY) but you might want to speak to dr first.

Keep nipples dry

Latch issues can be similar - what shape after a feed are your nipples? If mishapen, check latch again (might need to be deeper, sometimes helps as their mouths grow).

Google Dr Jack Newman.

Hope you get better soon x

Hello - You must be pushy and demand an urgent appointment tomorrow, or at least ask them to let you collect a prescription for fluconazole. See this link and make sure you get the tablets

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/BfN_Thrush_leaflet_Feb_2009.pdf

My advice is to make sure both you and your DD are treated ASAP. But you can overcome thrush, I had a bad case of thrush at 4 weeks which almost made me throw in the towel, but the tablets did the trick and I am still happily feeding DD at 6 months. If you finish the course of tablets and still don't feel 100% right get some more, I needed 2 weeks to clear my thrush.

The things I do now to prevent a re-occurance are actimel 2x per day, lansinoh as often as I can, and change breastpads after every feed. You can try canesten cream on your nipples now if you have some at home, but personally I found that this just irritated my skin more (but I am quite sensitive like that...)

I hope that helps - getting the tablets made all the difference to me, and I hope it will for you too.

Agree that you should push for urgent appointment-try crying on the phone, that often helps! Well done for carrying on feeding through it, I know from experience its not easy, to put it mildly. I hope you have someone to support you and encourage you. On a practical level, have you tried soothing them by rubbing them with ice cubes after feeds, and then blowing them dry (well, it worked for me!). Good luck.

Thank you all for your advice. Happily DH is extremely supportive. Will call the GP first thing and be persistent!

Ditto pushing for an appt, say it's about feeding a 4 week old baby & definitely take the leaflet & demand the tablets.

Been there got the T Shirt. It's awful, be strong with the Dr's.

Air to the nipples as much as possible too.

Good luck.

Oh yes I forgot - bag of frozen peas on the boobs after feeding helped a bit too. And I second the boobs out and airing as much as poss. Good luck

I agree with getting an Emergency appointment.

If you can't get seen tomorrow, you can get a loading dose of flucanazole OTC (Canesten oral) but this needs to be followed with 10-14 days of a lower dose to work.

Probiotics and grapefruit seed extract will help, as will being scrupulous about hygiene - hot wash or chuck bras if you've been wearing them without pads, change disposable pads frequently, etc.

I found washing my nipples with a dilute white vinegar solution also helpful. I stopped after my HV said it would make my nipples more sore and got worse again!

Definitely get an emergency appt.

Agree with Japhrimel re OTC flucanazole but don't mention you are bfing. I did and they wouldn't sell it to me as it is not licensed for bf mums.