I have had very very sore nipples when feeding, like razor blades are being cut over them during breastfeeds. Afterwards (also after pumping) my full breasts have feel zaps shooting through them, a very deep aching feeling that makes me wince.
Alongside this, my 4 week old baby has had a very sore, red nappy rash for around a week and has started with white spots in mouth & very gassy. I’ve started to express my milk and feed him via bottle as it’s too hard to physically breastfeed. I’m upset as we were doing so well with BF and I’m scared that this is the end of the road for us - I REALLY don’t want it to be :(
I went to the GP this morning & after listing my symptoms, did have to push for a course of fluconazole (as well as the ointments for me and baby) as from hearing of others past experiences & lots of research, topical creams only help so much and eventually many struggling mums end up getting the antibiotics which helps the thrush to go.
However, I have only been prescribed 150mg and it is a single tablet. No course & a very small dose. Im very reluctant to believe one dose is going to do much and I’m just very desperate to get the right dose and frequency in me so that I can get back to establishing proper BF again. I spoke to my breast feeding councillor who agreed that the women she has seen deal with thrush usually get a longer prescription of antibiotics and not just the one off dose. I rang my community midwives but she told me she doesn’t deal with post partum women so doesn’t have any advice. I’ve tried to ring my HV but somebody is only going to ring back tomorrow.
In the meantime, I rang back my GP and explained this and asked if I could have a longer/stronger amount of this antibiotic to avoid this never ending circle of the thrush just not clearing up. My GP rang back and said she was happy to prescribe but could not find anything anywhere under guidelines on how much to give & after speaking to another GP, he told her that he would rule out antibiotics altogether and just use the creams. We both have checked guidelines etc and can not find any straight answers, it seems that many mums struggling with thrush on this medication have had varied doses.
Does anyone have a clear answer or any advice on how much they had and the duration and where this information was gathered from if possible? I’m at the point I feel like just buying it OTC but I also want to make sure I’m following a guide too. NHS Scotland says 150mg initially and then 100mg for 10 days & the BFN have taken down their page but many people have said they advised 200-400mg on their page.
I feel like I’m doing the health professionals job for them and on top of dealing with this pain, pumping non stop, worrying about my decreased supply and looking after my newborn I’m getting stressed.
Does anyone have any advice? Thank you!