I have got mastitis. It really, really hurts and I feel like uber poo. Come and talk to me please.

[theSuburbanDryad]

I think it's mastitis, anyway. My left boob feels like it's on fire and there are red lines running down it. And I'm all achey and feverish and feel like shit.

I'm doing the cold compress thing and I'm taking paracetamol, but MIL keeps wanting to get the dr out. If I do let her get him out (and she's being really fab, really, really lovely - she just hates seeing me so ill as do I, for that matter) what will he do? Will he just give me anti-b's or is there something else I should be doing?

i think you should let the doc come out

for you

But what will he doooooooooo, Scorpio??

IL's family GP is also family friend (IL's are v well connected Surreyites) and very old school. I am concerned he will give me some sort of shit advice and I will have to punch him in the face. Or he will say something utterly absurd and then MIL will assume I'll do what he says and then I will lose all her sympathy if I don't.

If he's not going to give me banana flavoured penicillin then I don't want to know.

I'm sure he will let you have whateve you want, lol.

Seriously though, i think they give you anti-b's, i have never had it (touch wood) so don't reallllly know, just wanted to keep you company.

When you ring him, ask for meds or i don't need you iyswim.

red lines definitely warrant a gp visit, and antibiotics i think

He will give you antibiotics. I have had to call the doctor out twice with mastitis and was worreid I was wasting his time but he said it was absolutely the right thing to do. I aked the midwives in hospital htis time round as well and they said mastitis is treated as an emergency and not to hesitate to call the out of hours doctor. Good job really as mastitis makes me absolutely delerious

Will they be banana flavoured, HCTG?

I am a bit limited on anti-b's i think, because i am bf-ing and early pg. I don't want to endanger my pg Isn't it possible that some anti-b's can cause mc or did I make that up in my feverbrain?

If you have a fever, he will probably prescribe you flucoxacillin (better for you and baby than banana flavoured penicillin - less likely to cause thrush). This will reduce the risk of it turning into an abscess that needs incision and drainage.

Hopefully he will tell you to keep feeding from the affected boob. He will probably not know to tell you that there is an excellent page on kellymom.com with recommendations of what to do for mastitis. Including combing your breast... weird but it works!

All this is based on when I went to GP for mastitis 3 months ago.

About 20% of bf mums get mastitis at some point, so it's common enough that even old skool GPs know what to do.

I've been doing the combing Sally! MIL looked at me like this:

So, the general consensus is that I should get MIL to call the GP. Buggrit.

Doc will know what to do regrading the unborn baby too - and congrats

really important to try and keep cool because you are pg

oh sorry I mean flucloxacillin not flucoxacillin!!

he will look up in his little book about which anti-b is safe for you in early preg. most of them are.

I felt ok for a bit and then i felt shite again.

The laptop is making me hot but i can't lose my MN!!!

Are you a GP sally? I promise not to punch you in the face.

Well good luck with GP and drink lots of water to help with temp and sweating, etc

Hope you feel better soon. Mastitis is horrible. Try and get lots of rest! Good thing you are at MIL's not the other way round, so you won't be tempted to do too much housework!!!

Oh Gos, I had this with DS1.
It was terrible.
Do you feel fluey?
My eyes were burning my temp was so high.

I got a touch of it this time round but managed to sort it out by hot bath, hot flannel on breast and massaging each individual line I could feel in my breast. It hurt, but was better than full blown mastitis, which would need anti-b's.

Here is the BfN leaflet, print it off to show the docs and make sure you get the right drugs if they give you any.

lol no I am not a GP!

Go to the doctor. Get the ABs. I had this nine years ago and remember like yesterday how awful it was. Poor you.

ouch, poor you
hope you get sorted quickly subby!

oh. you have my sympathy. i had mastitis twice this time last year. I felt like POO!

the fluclox really did the trick and so did lots of feeding/expressing from "dodgy" breast.(it did hurt but was worth it) Try to keep it"empty"(I know you can't "empty" a breast,but feed,feed feed or express!) hot flannels are good too.

and if you've got help on hand,rest all you can between feeds.

Get thee to a doctor, before it gets any worse. Much sympathy coming your way. Mastitis is just awful.

Well, i went to the out of hours doc.

I said, "I have mastitis and I need some antibiotics."

She said, "How do you know that?"

I said, "I just know a bit about breastfeeding."

She said, "Let me examine your breast." Much painful poking and prodding of breast. "You need some antibiotics."

No shit, Sherlock.

I did laugh in her face when she said I'd need to wean before the new baby gets here though.

hope it gets better

lol at weaning comment

poor you

I had this seven times with ds2, all red lines and shivers for days then I had a hideous one on New years eve and I went delirious and the doctor said it had begun to get septic. I haven't had it since then thank god.

Make sure you really rest up.

If it's bad just get antibiotics.

I had it 3 times in three weeks!! Took antibiotics twice which cleared it up but left dd with an exploding arse). By the third time I could spot it coming and combed (with an afro comb) the red bit from the outside towards the nipple. Looked f***g ridiculous but totally worked.