How do you know if you have mastitis?

[Neenztwinz]

I have woken up this morning with a very engorged right breast (DT1's breast - he'd last fed from it at 7.45pm last night, which is not unusual). I didn't feel quite right in myself, like I was still tired but couldn't get back to sleep. I fed DT1 as normal but the breast still feels tender. I have a shivery feeling up my back and legs, which I thought was just the cold, but after a cup of tea to warm me up I still feel it. I wonder is it mastitis? There are no lumps in the breast and I have expressed from it too this morning to clear it but it is sore to touch and I feel really rough. I feel like I want to be sick when I stand up. I feel much better when I lie down.

Sounds like I felt when I had it too, sorry! Get to the doctor as antibiotics clear it quickly. If you leave it it can get much much worse.

Hope you're better soon x

Flu-ey symptoms, a tender breast often with a red area, pain with feeding from that side.

It sounds like you might be starting with it.

Try having a hot bath or shower and massaging the tender area out towards the nipple to try clearing the duct. Keep feeding from that side even if it's painful to do so and have lo in different positions to clear different areas effectively.

Get taking parcetamol and if there's no improvement see a Dr today so that you don't end up dealing with the whole out-of-hours-drs that is usually a bit of a nightmare.

Hope you feel better soon

As others say, it's got to be worth getting the prescription for antibiotics, while trying painkillers/massaging etc for a few hours - at least you've then got the anti-b if you decide it is mastitis late this evening.

Thanks for all your messages. I have seen the doc and got anti-bs. Paracetemol and feeding/massaging the breast made me feel tons better almost straight away. I think I have caught it early cos I feel fine now and have had lots of help and rallying round from the in-laws, bless them.

Use ibruprofen, it works much better as an anti-inflammatory than paracetomol - I had a nasty bout of mastitis this week and have managed to avoid ABs so far by using ibruprofen, which was much more effective even than co-dydamol (sp?). Apparently it is the anti-inflammatory properties of the ABs rather than the anti-bacterial action that is effective for mastitis.

Am not anti-ABs per se, jsut that my baby is so young (a week old), I didn't want to take them if it was possible to clear it without them.

Make sure you stay in bed and feed, feed, feed, plus express if necessary until the swelling is better. Hoep you feel better soon, mastitis is awful.