Icy cold and shivery with breastfeeding

[Jemimapuddleduk]

Hi, I was after some advice. I have been bf''ing my 3 week old daughter and it is generally going really well. I have started expressing this week (3floz a day) as i seem to have a good supply. I am storing this in the freezer to introduce at a later date. This week my baby has also started to feed for longer (sometimes half an hour) and is cluster feeding in the late afternoon. The shivering and feeling cold has started this week. Has anyone had a similar situation, what did you do to help?

I got shivery and feverish with mastitis. Do you have a sore breast?

Yes. Could be the onset of mastitis, or it could be your body adapting to producing extra milk. I took paracetamol and rested in bed for 2 days and it passed. However, if your breast is sore/lumpy and red it could be mastitis. You need anti biopics to get rid of this.

Antibiotics

Sounds like mastitis - keep on feeding/expressing and get to a GP for antibiotics asap.

Call your GP surgery as sounds like mastitis. Good surgeries will fit you in immdiately or first thing tomorrow. You will need antibiotics.

Thank you for your replies. Can you get mastitis without any redness or pain? My boobs feel fine and aren't lumpy at all. Will call the doctors tomorrow for an appointment. I am still not driving after emergency c section so logistics are all a bit difficult!

When I had mastitis, it was accompanied by sore boobs. If you are unsure, best to ask the doctor. I was told the most important thing was to carry on breast feeding as stopping would make the mastitis worse.

Yes don't stop breastfeeding! I had mastitis with that "shivery" why-am-I-breastfeeding-under-2-duvets-and-wearing-a-woolly-hat feeling.

It can get worse very quickly and the cure is antibiotics so get thee to docs as soon as you can. If you can't drive due to emergency c-section they may come to you. (Just saying as got told off for actually turning up at doctors surgery for my ear infection when DS was 1 day old, they said they would have come to me!)

if no soreness in boobs, could it be an infection somewhere else - eg in your c section scar? either way it sounds like a fever so needs checking out by dr and probably antibiotics.

dr may be willing to prescribe without seeing you.

could you have another infection - cs for example?

x posts!

I would go to bed with baby (assuming no other children) and do nothing but sleep, feed baby and watch tv/read etc, don't over exert yourself and housework and visitors can wait (unless they are likely to be helpful and cook dinner, throw the Hoover around etc.
I had mastitis with one of mine and it was shivers etc, luckily dh was still off and so could look after eldest etc.

Thanks everyone. I have got a phone consultation with doctor tomorrow and if I need anti biotics my husband can pick them up on the way home from work. I am 3 and a bit weeks post c section and its been healed a while so don't think it's that.
Dosed myself up on paracetomol and ibuprofen, feeling better but now hot and sweaty!
Will continue feeding and expressing as normal

Glad you're feeling better. I would check your temp when paracetamol/ibuprofen worn off, if it is high I would get seen sooner - more at risk of wound infection/mastitis.

Also, sorry to be a pain but I think ibuprofen not allowed when BF. I think diclofenac/voltarol they gave me after C/S is OK though and does same thing. But I may be out of date so check!

Congratulations anyway!!

I always felt shivery and cold when over tired and exhausted.

I have also had mastitis though, although strangely I didn't feel shivery with that, just excruciating pain and hot.

Anyway, I hope you feel better soon Jemima and the GP can help.

A doctor needs to see you. Phone the community midwives for advice and if necessary get your dh to stay at home and take you to the doctor tomorrow. Phone OOH for advice in the meantime. Does sound like some sort of infection. With dd I didn't have much of a red patch and it was tucked right underneath but I recognised the symptoms from the awful episode with DS.

Sounds like breastfeeding is going really well and that you are doing a great job. well done!

Don't mean to butt but how is your c-section wound? And your calves? And discharge? Any foul smell?

It's doesn't sound at all like mastitis as you would definitely have sore breasts. Could be a wound infection, or some placenta/membrane that got left behind. Or (quite unlikely a DVT). It could also just be hormonal shifts. Are you sweating a lot?

I had mastitis 11 times and each time I got a temperature/shivery then hot and sweaty when I took paracetamol/ibuprofen and each time the shivers etc happened before any breast pain or swelling.

I think it's definitely worth speaking to your GP, which you're obviously going to do, but it won't hurt to use self help measures for mastitis in the meantime.

You can take ibuprofen while breastfeeding, you're only not allowed it while pregnant becuase of small risk of heart defects. I found applying ibuprofen gel directly to the sore boob far more effective than taking pills.

I would phone OOH and get address of 24hr pharmacy ready if you are given antibiotics.

I had mastitis without redness or swelling and it was by far the most ill I ever felt and it happened really quickly. I had a temp of nearly 40C. I could not look after my baby I got so ill ( DH fed expressed milk for a day).

11 times? Crumbs Midori once was enough, my God it hurt.

Thanks everyone for your support and advice. Got a GP app this early eve and it is indeed mastitis. I have anti biotics. I hope that will sort it out and that it is a one off occurrence. 11 times just sounds excruciating.

Oh that's wonderful and even better that it was caught early thanks to mn.

Get better soon.

Good luck, get well soon.