Oh no, it seems I have Mastitis :(

Yesterday my left breast started to feel a little bit tender around the nipple. It took me aback a bit, because once out of the first trimester my breasts have not been tender or sore at all. Since then it has progressed to the whole left breast being almost unbearably sore. It feels very deeply bruised, sensitive and tender. Every now and then I'll get a shooting pain. I have also felt very under the weather today and for the past couple of days - fatigued, now energy, achy, a bit of a runny nose. I spoke to my Doula this evening and she said it sounds very much like mastitis. It's rare for someone to get mastitis when pregnant and not BFing, bit apparently it can happen. I have been producing a lot of colostrum, leaking everywhere, able to squirt etc, and over the past week it hasn't really been leaking like it has in the past. I've been massaging my left boob in the shower, it's so painful, and I could only get one or two small droplets of colostrum from it when I tried and that was agony. I've made an appointment to see my doctor tomorrow, and I'm keeping an eye on my temperature...anything else I can do? I've asked DH to pick up a cabbage from the supermarket lol!

Omg you poor thing! I had no idea you could get it when pg!
Have you got a pump? I wonder if it's worth trying to express to empty it a bit?

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Omg you poor thing! I had no idea you could get it when pg!
Have you got a pump? I wonder if it's worth trying to express to empty it a bit?

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Neither did I! But apparently so :( I hope it's not, actually whatever it is I hope my GP can help me, it's so painful.

I was reading a few factsheets about mastitis before baby, apparently they do not recommend pumping. I've been told not to express or anything until after the doctor tomorrow.

Ow ow ow.

Can you take antibiotics?

Yep. Well, if they're pregnancy safe. I assume they would be because of BFing women who are also pregnant? In the mean time I just need to massage in the shower and use a cold compress.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you should put cabbage on them, you use cabbage when you want to dry up your milk?
I've never had mastitis but ouch it sounds painful!! Maybe try a heat pack? Or even an ice pack?
I hope it gets better soon... :(


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Oh no! You poor thing. Hope you feel better soon. Why do they say not to pump/express?

Cabbage is great for inflammation of the breast, which can happen with mastitis or when weaning etc.

Poor you pz. Mastitis is awful!

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Cabbage is great for inflammation of the breast, which can happen with mastitis or when weaning etc.

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No way!! See you learn something new everyday!! :D



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No idea on the not pumping :( I wanted to get DH on it after a shower to see if thy helps :lol: My temp has gone up from 36.6 to 37 over the last 2 hours, I feel very achy :( Thank you all for the advice and sympathy.

Oh you poor thing, definitely be getting yourself to the doc tomorrow! Plenty of massage with a hot flannel on beforehand or in the hot shower like you have been doing. Then a cool one after to soothe. You want to get the duct/s unblocked - don't leave it like I did and end up in hossy with an abscess in your boob! My doc also sent me off for ultrasound therapy on my boob, not sure what the go is during pregnancy though?

Shower, massage, shower, massage, shower! Don't worry about the water use - it's for medicinal use!
The cabbage should be find as long as you're not leaving it on for hours at a time. Take the leaves off when they lose their firmness and have become warm, take a break, then put them on later. You shouldn't need to apply them much to reduce inflammation.
They CAN be used to dry up supply, as well - so it's more about moderation ;)
I've had these symptoms more times than I care to think about, and I've managed to stave off the full blown affair to never have to be on AB's...but then, I also had a small succubus to help me out, too, and it might be a bit more drawn out pre-baby.
Definitely commiserations from me! xxx

hope all is ok. But a temp of 37 is normal and not even in the fever range so I wouldn't be concerned about that.

At this stage I wouldn't be too worried about drying up your milk. It will come back when it's needed.
I hope you feel better soon.

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hope all is ok. But a temp of 37 is normal and not even in the fever range so I wouldn't be concerned about that.

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I know, but my body temp never really goes over 36.5, it's now 37.3. Eh, time for bed and Panadol I think. DH forgot the cabbage, so I'm using a bag of peas. And eating said peas out of a hole I poked in the bag :rofl: Dulls the pain :)

Does it present differently pre-birth? mastitis is generally very rapid in onset. one minute you're fine, the next you're doubled over with a raging fever.
Anyway, hope you can get it sorted and feel better soon.

Do cabbage leaves dry up your milk? how does that work?

LOL at the peas!

The one time I've nearly had it, it came on fairly quickly. Was a bit sore through the day, and by night I had the shivers and was almost in tears with the pain in my boob. We managed to feed our way through it tho and was better by morning.

Be gentle with the massaging, I've heard that can damage the milk ducts. I believe it's more a gentle stroking to get things moving along. I usually did this whilst feeding to help clear it while bub sucked. Still trying to understand how you would clear mastitis without feeding or expressing! Isla will be here shortly to help you out ;)

Apparently it's best not to express with antenatal mastitis because you're not technically producing milk yet so the ducts aren't ready :dunno: I got DH on it after a hot shower and some hot and cold rotation to ease it a bit, because it's too painful to do manually :lol: Temp is still climbing and I'm starting to feel jittery, about to go to bed.

:grouphug: for all the support, didn't think I'd be in this section for a few more weeks at least. Will update what the doctor says tomorrow. Xx

Oh no! You poor thing! I've never heard of antenatal mastitis! Hope it gets sorted asap. Mastitis is horrible :(

I've also never heard of cabbage leaves drying your milk up! I thought cabbage was just used on engorged breasts to help with inflammation?

When I had mastitis, I started shaking before I got a temp and it climbed slowly until it hit about 37.5 and then it spiked to 39. I hope you get a good night sleep PZ. Take panadol if your temp is out of control or you start shaking uncontrollably. If at any point you are worried about the baby, don't hesitate to get checked out at the hospital.

I hope your body can fight it naturally overnight otherwise I hope the doctor can give you something to help tomorrow. Good luck and get well soon :hug:

Hopefully you never have it again!

I can attest to cabbage leaves effecting supply. I had terrible mastitis a little while ago and I'd read to use cabbage leaves. I left them in 24/7 (replacing them often cause they felt great!) my supply dropped so much DS lost weight and we had to comp him. When I told the gp I'd been using leaves he told me they reduce supply and should be used sparingly!! I later read to use them for no more than 20 minutes at a time! Wish I'd known!!
Good luck PZ it's very painful!

Oh no you poor thing! I hope you can get it cleared up before bubs arrives :hug:

Hope you are feeling better today. Mastitis is awful, but probably easier when you have a baby to help the process.

Hope you had a good rest and that the fever didn't put you in labour! Thinking of you.

What a night! I've only just woken up now. So my temp kept rising, I usually try to sweat fevers out but last night I just couldn't take it, temp got to 38.3 and I decided nup, need some drugs :rofl: DH was awesome, we pretty much constantly rotated a hot flannel and the bag of peas for most of the night. Today my temp is back to normal (but I'm keeping my eye on it) and my boob had some dried up milk on it, which is awesome because it hasn't leaked in a while. Although I slept through my doctors appointment :doh: But I'm just going to keep doing hot and cold, and hopefully it will resolve on it's own. It's still very sore, but no where near as bad as last night.

Oh you poor thing, it's horrible isn't it! I think it would be best to see a dr. I had mastitis when bub was 10 days old and it cleared up pretty quickly after starting antibiotics. The doc also told me if I hadn't seen improvement by the next morning I'd have to go in for iv antibiotics because of risk of the infection going into my blood. Until then I never knew mastitis was such a big deal, always just thought it was sore boobies :redface: I know draining the breast is what helps too so I'd be worried it wouldn't clear up as quick considering you can't do this.
Good luck Hun, I hope you feel better soon xx


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Yeah I'm angry at myself for missing the doctors :( I'm hoping things stay okay, otherwise I'll have to go to the hospy or a walk in clinic I guess. Blergh.

Ouchies ! You poor thing :hug:

Maybe ask Barb what she thinks ?

I hope the nasties go away !
xoxo

A friend of mine got mastitis while pregnant. She also got it several months after weaning her last child. She's apparently quite prone to it. I don't know quite how she did it, but the advice she got was to use a bed sheet to create a sling for her breasts to try to encourage them to drain back into the body. If you can figure anything from that?

BW

Aw Hun I was just stalking you to see where you were up to in your pg, so sorry to hear you have this crazy thing! I hope it clears up super quickly so you can enjoy the last few weeks of pre-baby, and have a normal, pleasant beginning to breastfeeding.
Wishing you all the best :hug:

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How are you feeling today ?

:hug:

xoxo

Aw thank you for asking! :) :hug: I'm feeling substantially better today! There is nearly no tenderness or pain on my boob, my temp is normal, I feel wayyyy less like I've been run over by a train. Pretty much thanks to DH I reckon, he's been very insistent with making sure we do hot flannel/cold peas onto my boob multiple times a day, and light massage in the shower. I hope it never comes back, it was awful! :pray:

Yay ! Glad you are feeling a better than what you were !

Your DH is a gem :clap:

:crossfingers: that it doesn't decide to come back !
xoxo