Is this thrush?

[SarahScot]

My nipples feel bruised, even more so when 7 wk DD is feeding,, but they look normal. She has a whiteish tongue. Not on her gums or anything though.

Is this thrush do you think? My HV is worse than useless so don't want to ask her.

If her tongue just has a white coating then it's probably milk residue - nipple thrush is more likely itchy than a bruised feeling, and they'll look pink and shiney.

nipple thrush feels like shards of glass are being pushed through your nipple as baby latches on and suckles. That is when the thrush has colonised the milk ducts though so fairly late stage.

Look at the roof of your babies mouth. Look for white spots on her palatte. If you see any she has thrush. I found it was easiest to get a good look when i was changing her. If it is thrush you will probably have noticed that she is reluctant to latch on and pulls off alot during the feed.

Dactarin Oral Gel will sort out babies mouth. You can get it at most chemists over the counter. If your LO is under 4 months, don't tell the chemist (if they ask). The gel is quite thick and it is considered a choking risk in babies under 4 months. I honestly don't know why. It is thick but not that thick and you dont squirt it in to babies mouth, you rub it on their tongue and the roof of their mouth.

Also, if it is in your babies mouth it can also turn up in her nappy. Nappy thrush is awful and very painful for LO. Canastan is good but not 100% effective. You can tell it is nappy thrush if the irritation spreads into the folds of babies skin and has satellite spots, unconnected to the main irritation. Your GP can prescribe Timodine cream which is pretty good if canasten doesnt work.

I think one of the signs of thrush over nipple damage is that with thrush you get a shooting pain which continues (or even starts) after the feed.

Another symptom of thrush though is that damaged nipples do not heal... so it can be hard to tell.

Have you had your baby's latch checked?

Me and my baby had thrush, for us it was evident on baby's Tongue,a thick White coating. He also had thrush nappy rash which was red spots on an inflamed skin. For me, I had absolutely horrendous pain in breasts (deep duct thrush) during and after feed, it was mostly shooting sharp pains during feed but burning and throbbing after feeding. I also had shooting pain through nipples during feed. I think how easily you can treat depends if the thrush is just in nipples or also in deep ducts. Nipples you can treat with canasten cream but do washit off well before next feeding. Deep duct thrush is treated with fluconazole, an oral tablet which not all doctors will prescribe. You can google it, or look on the national breastfeeding network site(something like that). Baby can have nystatin on Tongue and canasten on bottom I think. I also bought a supplement called Acidophilus to take myself, it is a probiotic that can combat thrush. Good luck and take pain killers while feeding if need be.

Here's the Breastfeeding Network's info.

If you think it sounds like you have thrush, I'd print off this PDF and take it to the doctor with you. Many GPs don't seem to know anything about breastfeeding and it took me 4 trips to the GP to get any medication for myself (he prescribed for DS straight away). In the end he prescribed on the evidence of this information sheet.