Bloody, bloody, bloody GP and his crap advice about thrush and breastfeeding

[sazlocks]

Sorry for ranting title but am a bit wound up. My friend has an 11 day old DS and is doing great with breastfeeding. DS is putting on weight well. I saw her when he was 7 days old and she mentioned that feeding was painful. I asked if someone had checked her latch and she said they had and it was fine. A few days on and the HV has said that DS has oral thrush. She went to see the GP yesterday and he prescribed some oral treatment for her DS but said she didn't need any treatment. He said that in the whole of his career (which spans some 40 years) he had never prescribed treatment for thrush for a mother in this situation and that if she was finding feeding that painful she should just stop. His rationale being that having a new baby was supposed to be a joyful time.
She doesn't want to stop feeding so I have sent her some La Leche info and some Breastfeeding Network Info and suggested she needs to get a second opinion as I believe she needs to be treated as well. I have suggested she rings one of the helplines and gets to see the out of hours service GP tomorrow. Her boobs are painful all the time and she is trying to look after a boisterous toddler as well as a newborn.
Is there anything else I need to suggest ?

She can buy Daktarin cream over the counter without a prescription to treat herself. And tell her to get a new GP!

My GP told me that "sometimes breastfeeding hurts." She got a tart email from the local nhs bf counsellor for that :-)...

She may need to bring the BfN Thrush info with her to convinces similarly untrained doctors. Can be downloaded here

I'm sure the LLL info will cover it, but to banish the thrush you need to hot wash towels, bedding, bras and change breast pads regularly - as well as using the creams. I also tool Acidophilus (sp?) capsules to thoroughly get rid of thrush.

My GP failed to diagnose my thrush and was put straight by that rarity - a good HV.

Has the baby been checked for a tongue tie?
Even though the latch might look right, the baby could still have a tongue tie- get it checked by a Lactation Consultant (not a GP / Paed as they say that TT's have no bearing on b/f which is utter crap!)

LLL gave me great advice for my thrush and Dd's too.

Pads of cotton wool soaked in vinegar and water solution; wipe nipples after each feed. Then rub in thrush cream. Clean bra's every day.

For baby, I was told to make up a very weak solution of bi carbonate of soda and use it on baby's thrush spots in her mouth 3 or 4 times a day with a cotton bud.
This type of treatment is a bit contraversial as it's essentially salt, but you use such a weak solution of it that it's fine.

I found this helped very quickly and I've had this type of thrush more than a dozen times in the three years I've been bfing Dd.

These tips are really helpful thanks - I am going to cut and paste and send her a link so she can see what you all advised.

I'm trying to get rid of thrush at the moment and it's a killer. Has anyone tried taking the grapefruit seed extract tablets? The dosage suggested on the internet is much higher than on the label and that makes me nervous... 750mg is what Dr Jack Newman says, but the bottle says 200-300mg a day, and seek advice if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. I can trust Dr Jack, no?

Her diet is really important to controlling thrush. It thrives on sugary, processed food - and causes the cravings. Bread, sugary foods, mushrooms, fruit, vinegar and pickled foods feed it. Craving them can indicate an imbalance and ditching them will hopefully help get it back under control, together with medication to clear it from both mother and baby. Not treating them both is just daft IMO.