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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

is this thrush?

26 replies

janx · 08/01/2008 09:57

I have very painful boobs and my let down is really painful. I get stabbing pains in my breast sometimes after feeds and sometimes during feeds. I went to a breast feeding support group yesterday and the midwife suggested it might be thrush. My ds (5 weeks) does not appear to have any white spots in his mouth - but is very windy and fretful at times. This is my second baby - so I know its not cracked nipple pain or engorgemnt pain...

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kekouan · 08/01/2008 10:02

I had thrush and it was a stabbing pains into the middle of the breast, starting at the nipple. Pretty bloody painful!

MW gave me a prescription for canesten, and some drops for DS. He also needed canesten for his bum as the thrush had gone through

get it checked out - I think I left it too long and it took a while to go..

Original poster
janx · 08/01/2008 10:09

oh thanks - how long did it go on for? It really is uncomfortable. Am going to the doctors today - so hope to get it sorted

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eidsvold · 08/01/2008 10:11

I found it toe curling pain - sore nipples were sore but thrush was burning toe curling pain. I found that daktarin oral gel was best - put on your nipples - just a little after each feed and the pain went very quickly. The doc prescribed the oral gel for my nipples and dd2 had some drops for her mouth.

Bramshott · 08/01/2008 10:16

Good info here: www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/leaflets-and-publications.html

Hope you get it sorted. I am slightly ambivalent about this as DD1 and I were treated for thrush for 4 months, and then told that no, it probably wasn't thrush With DD2, I suspected that I had it again as I had all the same symptoms, but it wasn't, it was just breastfeeding establishing / settling down. I found the leaflet on the BFN site very useful.

eidsvold · 08/01/2008 10:23

i am with you bramshott - I did not have any pain with letdown or that but it was when dd2 latched on and started to feed - My eyes would water and my toes would curl. Dd2 also had thrush in her mouth so it was pretty certain that is what it was. At other times it can be painful BUT it was not like that pain - easy to identify once you have had it.

kekouan · 08/01/2008 12:02

hmm, took a week to go. The drops that DS had were called Nystan (smells like marzipan - ugh).

Hope you get it sorted. I found it so painful... I'd already stopped breastfeeding but the thrust made boobs so painful that it stopped me expressing as well!

anyway...

emiliosmum · 08/01/2008 12:37

I had thrush and the pain was exactly like you describe it - I saw a doctor who prescribed homeopathic remedies as he did not want to give antibiotics(because of them passing onto the baby)and the daktarin gel/cream wasn't working as the thrush had gone too deep into the breast. one of the homeopathic remedies was belladonna! but i can't remember the name of the other one,sorry.anyway - the symptoms gradually subsided and after a few weeks had gone altogether.

emiliosmum · 08/01/2008 12:47

also the other advice that might help is to avoid sugary things,bread and alcohol and eat lots of natural yoghurt.

Original poster
janx · 08/01/2008 14:25

Thanks for all advice - I just fed ds and I was in tears it hurt so much - am off to doctors soon. Have stopped eating choc and trying to cut down bread (two things I love!) l

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sandy06 · 08/01/2008 16:35

i too have been in agony with bfeeding with both sons, second son now 10 weeks and pain is going. Stabbing pain in nipples, then in breast too. First time round they said it might be thrush (but no one knew for certain) and gave me oral pills and gel for baby, but pain was same second time and I just tried to get on with it with nipple shields and expressing to relieve assualt on nipples. Seems to have work and am now coming out the other side. Anyone who says breastfeeding shoudln't be painful is wrong!

Trimum2 · 08/01/2008 17:50

i was in agony first time around with this. second time I recognised symptoms more quickly and acted faster (which I think is key). If the nystatin / daktarin doesn't work quickly.. then you should push for fluconozole tabs from doctor. It was the only thing that worked for me unfortunately. By the way, I was also told with daktarin gel.. to use it after every feed not 4 times per day as on the packet. hope you get cleared up soon. this thrush thing is just the worst.

Original poster
janx · 08/01/2008 17:59

Just been to the doctor - bloody waste of time. He instisted it couldn't be thrush and told me to take parcetomol. Kept telling me it was the pain of my milk coming in - even though I kept telling him that I knew what the pain of engorgement was - not sure what to do now

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ziggyf · 08/01/2008 18:43

hi janx

might be worth trying your health visitor - i saw mine today after weeks of pain and she has prescribed some stuff for me and my lo. I've also bought some fluconazole tablets on her advice.

HTH
ziggy xx

Original poster
janx · 08/01/2008 19:12

Thanks Ziggy will try that - didn't realize you could buy the tablets over the counter

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emiliosmum · 08/01/2008 22:52

could you ask to see a different doc for a 2nd opinion maybe.

moocowme · 09/01/2008 10:26

yes you can buy tablets over the counter. about £12 at boots but you can get a generic one for £5 at tesco.

in the UK 50mg? per day is the recomended dose (over the counter is 150) but the astralian college of whatnot says that 150 every second day is the way to go. you may need several days worth.

if its thrush you should feel a bit difference after about 3 days. your lo will also need treatment. and you can get daktarin for your nipples over the counter as well.

kekouan · 09/01/2008 10:33

I would see another doctor or your HV - if your LO gets it badly in his mouth it could affect feeding...

Bloody doctors... ask for a female one next time maybe :-p

skidaddle · 09/01/2008 15:29

janx - i have the same symptoms and my hv told me to print off the leaflet from the bfn (linked to above) and take it to my gp and demand fluconzole. he gave it to me and i'm only on day 2 but already feel better. creams prescribed previously had no effect. would highly recommend doing the same

Original poster
janx · 10/01/2008 09:37

Going to ring the health visitor - our female doctor has just left the surgery....really annoys me when docts don't listen to you properly.

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Original poster
janx · 10/01/2008 09:37

Going to ring the health visitor - our female doctor has just left the surgery....really annoys me when docts don't listen to you properly.

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Original poster
janx · 28/01/2008 21:10

Hi
Me again - a few weeks down the line and still having problems. Have been using darkatin cream on my nipples and a gel for my ds mouth - and the stabbing pain seems to have lessened. However my nipples are incredibly sore and am wondering if the cream is aggrevating it. Have had my latch checked and been told it is fine - but I don't think it is - hurts while he feeds and feels like he is rubbing sand paper over it. Am so fed up - I feel like giving up .
Wondering would I be better off with a oral table for the thrush (if indeed it is still thrush) - I feel so confused about what it is - I know it shouldn't feel like this as I happily fed my dd for a year and really enjoyed it.

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curvymummy · 29/01/2008 15:17

Hi Janx
Well done for getting this far and still BF. I really feel for you, I have recently been there!
I happily fed dd1 for 14 months, no problem, but have had all sorts of problems with dd2 (now 13weeks).
I had a badly cracked nipple, which despite changing position and getting latch checked simply refused to heal, it was so painful,...then got thrush in both breasts, exactly the pain you describe in your fisrt post - figure it got in through the crack, then transferred. I was prescribed the nystatin drops and cream for nipples, it had no impact. Went back to the docs and was prescribed the fluconozole, 200mg first day, 100mg every day thereafter for 2 weeks. Also daktarin cream for me, and daktarin oral gel for dd2. Shooting pains came back when i finished teh course so I got another 2 weeks of fluconozole, I also expressed for a week (dd2 now 6 weeks old so could take a bottle). The crack healed and dd2 resumed bf on that side. I continued to use the creams for another 2 weeks after I finished the pills, although the stabbing pains had gone, my nips were still sore. I stopped using all creams, including lansinoh. They took a while to settle down, think the tissue was delicate after the assult from all those creams and potions!
Now at 13 weeks all is fine.
I didnt like taking all those pills and using all the creams etc, but I would have given up bf if I hadnt. Thrush is miserable and very stubborn. I have never felt pain like it (and I had both my dd using only a little G&A).
I still take grapefruit seed extract (citricidal) and garlic and good bacteria everyday. I hope that is keeping the thrush at bay.
I dont know if my story helps, but I hope it gives you some hope that things will improve. The nuisance with thrush is that there is no test for it, you can only go with what you feel. Are you sure your latch is good? If so I woudl recommend getting the fluconozole.

curvymummy · 29/01/2008 15:17

sorry, that was long!!!

dundeemarmalade · 29/01/2008 16:12

just to add that i found the only way to get the oral anti-fungal tablets was to print off the pdf from the breastfeeding network and actually take it in to show my gp. don't let them fob you off with cream on nips if the pain is deep within your breast. daktarin oral gel is NOT designed to penetrate into the skin. that's the whole chuffing point of it, innit?

Original poster
janx · 29/01/2008 21:14

curvymummy - thank you for your post - it really helps to hear that there are mums out there who have got thrrough it. I phoned the la leche league helpline today and ended up sobbing down the phone - it really has been getting me down. I bought some fluconzole today - but the dose it a lot less than yours....I guess I will have to go back to the doctor if this doesn't work. I am going to get someone to look at my latch again because I don't think it is right either...
dundee marmalade - will print off the leaflet..why are so many doctors ignorant of this awful problem? When i first went to the doctors and said the midwife thought it might be thrush - he actually said - what would she know she is not a doctor

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