cracked nipple

[Rachog]

Please help!

Ds and I are being treated for thrush, it has caused a big crack round the base of my right nipple and a small but deep crack on the base at the other side of the same nipple.

I am only feeding ds from the other breast as it is too painful but have been expressing to maintain supply.

I have been using the antifungal cream after each "feed" but have now noticed another crack.

Should I just leave that side alone to give it chance to heal? Should I alternate using anti fungal cream and lanisoh to help healing or any other ideas.

Have you tried nipple shields just for a short period of time, to get you through the worst of it and give your nipples a break?

ds hates them, we tried them while we were waiting for his tounge tie to be snipped and he just refused to latch on. most of the cracks are getting much better now and we are managing to feed on both sides again now so fingers crossed we are on the mend, just the mastitis to get through now.

Thanks for your suggestion

Best of luck with it, and well done for persevering!

thanks, I wish I hadn't started but we have come this far I'm not giving up now!

Oh my god Rachog! I feel even more for you now! Thrush then mastitis. Truly awful - it happened to me too. The killer for me was that the thrush came back as I was taking antibiotics. I dont want to say it but be prepared. Apparently cracks are a common cause/invitation (?) to thrush so try hard to get those healed and you might be okay. And if it does cone back... Well I will go again. It's not that comforting when you are in the middle of this he'll but it really won't last forever.
When I was sobbing in the doctors for the millionth time when I realised I had mastitis, my wonderful doctor said " the next 24 hours are going to shit but it won't get any worse than this. You are at the lowest right now". It made me feel better and she was right. It was shit!!
I too wished I never started BF this time round. And I feed my first baby for over a year!! I was (am?) a committed breastfeeder. This time I've been tested to my limits. I know that if I could have given up without going through the hell of expressing and engorgement I definately would have. At the moment I feel that boob pain and misery have dominated my lovely newborn weeks. Nature is very clever. You can't just stop.

As you've said you've come this far. It can't get any worse. Keep going.

Good good luck

Also it sounds like your doctor is a compete arse. As if you need anyone else making things difficult for you. Can you see someone else? Have you given him/her the leaflet that was mentioned in a previous post? I had to do this when I had thrush the first time round. At least you can buy the right treatment. My current doc is amazing but I'm in Sydney and she won't give me the stronger drugs and I'm taking nystatin which isn't as effective. I dont have the leaflet to persuade her. I'm back there later so I'm going to ask (beg) for the fluconazole.
Fingers crossed

Ps. Had my first painfree feed earlier on my "good" boob. It really reminded me about what it should feel like.

Hi ecat how did you get on at the doctors? I hope you got the medication!

I did show the leaflet to the doctor but because the fluconazole is not licensed for breastfeeding mothers she refused to give it to me. It was a previous doctor that gave me the low dose.

Well after a horrible start to the day, baby vomited blood, much panic before I realised it was mine! I decided enough is enough and we are going to bottles. latched him on because as you say, you can't just stop dead.... and had a perfect feed. no pain, and from my sore bleeding side too! next feed went well from the slightly less sore side. Infact the most pain whilst feeding we have had all day is a bit ouch at initial latch, nothing to make it unbearable. I find as the day goes on it starts to hurt more but there have been no tears. maybe we have beaten the thrush!

The mastitis is still there but i had a hot shower an massaged out the main lump so hopefully things are getting better there too. I feel like we have turned a corner, just need to sort these cracks now!!

I hope things are looking better for you soon too. Its such a rollercoaster, I keep remembering that off the 9 weeks we have made it through, some of them have been great (we started off eith tongue tie!)

Just a post of solidarity. We've both had thrush recently (ds is 12mo) and the pain from the bleeding crack on my left nipple had me sobbing even between feeds due to anticipation. It then turned into a blocked duct and then mastitis. And I ended up so run down that I ended up with a nasty virus, turned fluey and then developed acute bronchitis.

Thrush is one of the most miserable bits of bfing I've been through. Mastitis I've had but it was always acute, treatable and soon forgotten. The thrush rumbled on and on and on. I became fanatical about daktarin oragel for ds after every single feed and daktarin cream for me after every feed as well and a couple of times throughout the night too (even if ds was asleep). It took a few days of being religious about it, but please God, it's gone.

Well done for persevering. It's just awful.

I'm glad you have seen the back of it now, it is soul destroying some days. I thought we had cracked it but a new deep crack suggests otherwise so we will carry on with the cream!

Thanks for your post, nice to know there are survivors