Any mastitis experts around?

[L2016]

Hello,
DS is 16 weeks and I seem to have experienced nearly every breastfeeding issue possible! Latest one is mastitis and I need some advice from mastitis veterans.
I got mastitis in my right boob 4 weeks ago when DS was 12 weeks old - came on really suddenly, high temp, felt awful, really fluey, lumps and really tender underneath right boob. GP gave me 10 days of antibiotics which seemed to help initially. However 3 days after finishing the course, it felt like the mastitis was creeping back - there was a really sore, tender, lumpy ridge under my right boob and it ached (but no fever). Had it scanned in hospital, doctor there said it was probably lingering mastitis and prescribed another 2 weeks of antibiotics. I now have 3 days left of this course of antibiotics, but there hasn't been any change to the sore part under my boob. I feel fine, and the boob only hurts when I touch it, so my question is: is the mastitis still there or is it normal for the affected area to stay lumpy and sore like this? What should I do?
Thanks!

No, that's not normal. I would check with your GP about an abcess and if they pooh-pooh you ask for a 2nd opinion.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Breast-abscess/Pages/Introduction.aspx

which antibiotics have they given you?

And just check whether your bras/feeding position etc are causing any pressure on this area and adding to blocked ducts.

Definately go back to the GP to make sure it isn't an abcess... and agree with Japh, dont be fobbed off. This needs sorting asap.

should have explained,

A&E gave me amoxicillin which didn't work and I ended up with an abscess. You need Flucloxicillin (excuse spellings they may not be correct)

Talk to a breastfeeding counsellor. If the midwives/health visitors dont know a local authority one, then go to la leche league meeting. You are right to talk to someone who knows. Not being funny, but my experience is that the doctors dont usually know all that much (fair play, there are more things to know about as a doctor).

I had mastitis 4 times. Its horrid. I used to feel it coming on if I wasn;t drinking enough. And by enough I mean 4 litres a day. I managed to avert it a good few times by drinking gallons. The thing that shifted teh bad mastitis every time was to try and feed wtih the baby lying on its back and you kneeling over on all fours. Crazy looking and not very relaxing, but it really does work. That, and very gentle massage with a hairbrush (coated tips, not a metal scratchy thing) in the shower with the warm water running on my back.

Check the latch/try new position too, and feed from that side often and well (espec the night time feed)

Good luck , I hope you get some help soon. (P.S. Im not an expert, just a mum thats been there)

Hi all, thanks for the replies. I am on my second course of Co-Amoxiclav (Augmentin). I was referred to a specialist breast clinic after the first course of anti-bs, and they did an ultrasound to check the breast, but there was no sign of anything unusual apparently (i.e. the lumpy ridge was not an abcess - back then anyway!) However, the lumpy ridge hasn't improved since then. It's still sore - I notice it when I am lying on my back, if I touch it, it is painful, but if am vertical, it's not so bad (probably because it's underneath and kind of in the boob). I have spoken to various bf counsellors but not much help really, they don't seem to know what to do. I have tried bf in all sorts of positions, including the dangle over the baby one, and I only wear soft bras with no seams and sleep without a bra.
I guess I will have to go to the doctor again, but I'm not sure what they can do, other than prescribe a different anti-b? Annoyingly I have just moved from UK to Channel Islands and have to pay to see a GP over here!
I am feeding as frequently as possible - every 2 or 3 hours in the day and having to set an alarm to feed every 4 hours at night as DS is happy to sleep for 6 hours, but I was advised not to go longer than this without until mastitis clears - which it's not! So annoying - I'm having to wake DS to eat when we'd both rather be asleep.

I'd get it rescanned as it hasn't improved tbh.

I'm worried for you now!

Co-amoxiclav is the British Approved Name for the combination antibiotic containing amoxicillin trihydrate, a β-lactam antibiotic, with potassium clavulanate, a β-lactamase inhibitor. This combination results in an antibiotic with an increased spectrum of action and restored efficacy against amoxicillin-resistant bacteria that produce β-lactamase. WIKIPEDIA

I THINK THIS IS THE WRONG ONE!!!! Please please please go and get flucloxicillin. You will end up with an abscess. This is what happened to me
I can't explain why it is wrong because i am not a doctor, can anyone else comment who knows what they're talking about????

trying to find something to back me up.....

bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/monograph/1084/treatment/step-by-step.html

www.brandt.id.au/mastitis.html

www.thewomens.org.au/mastitislactational

Stick with it L2016 - get to the GP again and ask them what else they can do (and not just more antibiotics - ask if they can check for infection before prescribing more - would it maybe show up in the milk, if you expressed a bit?). It's so difficult at the time, but it will seem like a distant memory once you eventually get over it. And I agree with japh - get rescanned to double check

BTW, get some probiotics from the health shop too. You really don't want to get thrush on the back of all the antibiotics (I had that for 4 months and it was terrible)

Hi,
supadupapupascupa, sorry to hear about your experience and thanks for the links. I am a bit worried after reading about abcesses on MN, that was why I had a scan 2 weeks ago. As I understand it, Co-Amoxiclav is effective against staph and strep which are the most common infections in mastitis, although I don't know why the GP didn't prescribe flucloxacillin originally. Most GPs seem to know nothing about boob problems unfortunately. I am going to see the GP again if there is no change by Friday (when my anti-b's run out).
PotPourri, the hospital did a blood test and it didn't show up any raging infections in my bloodstream, but my boob still doesn't feel "right" so I'll go back for a 4th opinion later this week if no change. Meanwhile I'm dangle feeding away!
Thanks!

Oh, and I am taking probiotics - had thrush already and don't want it back!

Sorry to hear you are having a bad time. I had mastitis that would not shift - had 4 courses of antibiotics and the redness and clumpy milk was still there even after that. I didn't have a lump or abcess, but the only thing that cleared it eventually was expressing in a warm bath or shower regularly, using a wide toothed comb towards the nipple.

Definitely perservere with the GPs - even my supposedly 'interested in women's health' GP was quite dismissive when I told her it had still not cleared totally.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Please, please get it scanned again. I also had recurrent mastitis and a lump which wouldn't shift. I knew something was wrong but GP wouldnt take me seriously and kept prescribing the same antibiotics despite my weeping out of pain during my many appointments. In the end I had to see a breast surgeon privately and it turned out I had three abscesses which I had to get drained. I was so traumatized by the pain of "feeding through it" that I couldnt bear the thought of the aspiration and ended up having it done general sedation. I was in so much agony I ended up giving up breastfeeding DD2 at four weeks and am still devasted about it 3 weeks later. Anyway, I think abscesses can develop quite quickly so please do insist on another scan.

Egyptianprincess, it makes me so mad that GPs are so ill-informed about a relatively common illness. I think they underestimate the mental/emotional toll it takes, in addition to how physically debilitating it is at a time when you really cannot afford to be debilitated. I was also repeatedly prescribed the same antibiotics by the 4 different doctors I saw.