mild flu like symptoms, am I being paranoid?

[StealthPolarBear]

OK I have had a bit of a snotty cold all day (came on this morning). I now feel all shivery and my head is full of cold iykwim.
I also had a sore breast, ut it was a bit full and I just assumed that was it. But, I've fed, it's nowhere near full and still feels a bit sore Definitely not mastitis is it - it's not major pain, not swollen and there aren't any red patches.
Just want to check before I go to bed and wake up in the middle of the night, worse, when no-one;s around!

snotty bump

btw it hurts when I do that
any advice?

OK off to watch TV and force DH to breathe my germs
If I do have mastitis he'll no doubt get it in both breasts!

I'd go get it checked. I had mastitis which was noticed by the community midwife when I went to see her about a bad latch and cracked nipples. I had a red patch no bigger than a 10pence and she got me antibiotics straight away. I had no other symptoms and wouldn't have noticed myself.

Cabbage leaves, get baby to feed with chin next to sore bit.
Not worth not getting checked though. Hope it's not mastitis.

Check temp, watch for redness, I had a wobbly red line across the top of my boob.

If you do get red bits get to doc ASAP as you do not want an abcess.

Hope you are feeling ok

It sounds rather like the beginning of mastitis if my very distant memories are correct, even if you have a cold too. You can hopefully stop it in it's tracks though.
The flu feelings go as quickly as they come and you don't have to have visible red bits.
Can you get LO to feed on that side and/or massage the sore bit out? Maybe DH could help
Then again, perhaps he may be busy with man flu...

ohhhhhhhhhhhh
thanks
will swap sides with DD tonight so I'm mainly feeding from that side
def no red bits and it's no worse but no better either
docs in the morning, where no doubt they'll tell me I've knocked it or my bras too tight

I give it 10 hours for DH's manflu to start
or maybe 8 since that's getting up time

Sounds like masititis to me. Had the same thing last month.

oh no
should I be doing something now, or in the morning

Just keep feeding from the affected side, get checked by GP tomorrow.

Alternate hot and cold compresses should help.

Oh and take paracetamol, and rest as much as you can.

the ever-helpful Dr Sears' page on mastitis
Hot compresses helped me when I had literally a bright red triangle on one breast.

sounds like the duct may be blocked,nd this can make you feel fluey even before it becomes full-blown mastitis.the best thing is to feed for as long as possible,try placing a wrung out flannel thats been dipped in hot water over the breast before or during feeding.Take ibuprofen as it can help with the inflammation.Hopefully a good long feed will shift any blockage,try varying postion too,with your baby's chin pointing to the sore area if possible.

Thank you
so paracetamol
hot compress
lots of feeding
and GP in the morning if still the same
thanks

You sound a bit like me last night, although i had temperature. Am on flucloxacillin now.
Have you taken your temp?

Ibuprofen is good as well for pain/temp

Hey Stealth!

This might sound silly, but I just thought I'd let you know that I had a really full feeling breast that didn't seem to empty properly when I fed from it, but no pain or redness. I tried to massage it while I fed and also in the bath, which didn't seem to help, but then read something that said that it could be one of the little holes (not sure of the correct term, but the holes where the milk actually come out) that is blocked, rather than a duct. So I got a muslin cloth and gently wiped it across the end of my nipple a few times, and hey presto it worked!! I could fully empty the breast and it was such a relief!! It has happened a couple of times and this has worked every time.

Might be worth a try...

ibuprofen is better than paracetamol,you need an anti-inflamatory rather than a painkiller as it dampens the inflammatory reaction that can lead to swelling and mastitis.(backed up milk leaks into your blood stream and gets attacked by your immune system leading to more inflammation,swelling,and more backed up milk)If you had diclofenac after birth you can take that,as that is also an anti-inflam.Take it for 3 days.

morning!
thanks for the advice everyone
LadyEm, I don't think that's a problem but for the sake of a wipe with a muslin it's worth doing thanks!
I feel loads better today - in general and also the pain has gone down a lot. If I have a good poke in exactly the right place it hurts a tiny bit, but accidental knocks don't hurt any more like they did.

DO I still need to see GP?

bump

i had mastitis 4 times. The first time i was very poorly with it and had high temp, pus out of the nipple etc. It was underneath my breast so i needed a mirror to see the redness.

Thanks to that experience ( which was truly awful!) i caught the others early on before i felt too ill. I still needed antibiotics but it didn't get as bad as the first time. They all occurred on the top of my breast so i could spot the tell-tale signs and start massaging the breast.

Mine all occurred within a few weeks of starting to feed and so once my boobs had got used to the amount i needed to produce i didn't suffer again.

good luck

SPB,

this might sound really silly, but it does help. If your breasts are hot and tender, try stuffing your bra with cold cabbage leaves, so that they kind of wrap the sore bits.

I bf'd for 17 years and had mastitis a fair few times, some a lot worse that others. The first bout put me in hospital for a week and it took more than a month to recover. Fully set in mastitis needs an antibiotic to clear it, as well as continued feeding from the infected side, even though it hurts. It was my HV that told me about the cabbage leaves thing, years ago and it really does work to soothe the pain a bit and take out the heat and inflammation. You have to change the leaves a few times a day.

If it gets worse again or your temperature returns, you must see you GP and get an anti biotic.

ooh i did do the cabbage leave thing when engorgede with DS and was impressed. That's the thing though, no engorgement really, just a bit of deep pain. Doesn't feel worse when I feed her.
Wondering whether to see the GP. Unless I call in 20 mins I won't get an appointment today. It does feel better but is it likely to sort itself out completely without ABs?