A bout of mastitis
There’s a bitch from hell and her name is Mastitis. And she brought along her friend, Sore Nipples.
It struck suddenly on Monday night, and I woke up early Tuesday morning with a throbbing left breast. I prayed fervently it wasn’t mastitis, but had a sneaky suspicion in my heart that it was as I’d earlier had a blocked milk duct that I was unable to remove PLUS Elena spent a happy 1.5 hours suckling earlier in the evening which caused that part of my nipple to crack.
As I breastfeed her during the night feeds, I decided to give her my right breast to suckle to avoid the pain. Didn’t help, as when she suckled, I could feel the let down sensation on the left breast and it hurt!
During the next feed, I thought…what the hell, let her have the left breast since I need to drain it anyways to prevent further engorgement. Holy cow…worst decision of my life I swear. The sore nipple due to the blocked milk duct, coupled with the swelling caused the pain to increase tenfold the minute she latched on. I would describe it as having someone poke a hot pin into your nipple every few seconds. I had to grit my teeth in order not to cry out loud, all the while thinking…just a few more minutes, just a few more minutes. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I tried to insert my little finger into the side of Elena’s mouth to break the suction…but you know what my barracuda baby did? She latched on even harder and sucked more vigorously!!! OMG, I thought I was going to scream from the pain, no kidding!
Later in the morning, I decided to try expressing the milk out instead of letting her suckle, thinking that since the breast pump wouldn’t be in contact with my nipple, it would hurt less. Or so I thought. Even though I’d set the pump on the lowest setting, the pain was so bad I actually cried and had to dig my nails into my thighs. I know, sounds so dramatic, right? But it was really really bad.
My dad brought me to the clinic after that, and the doctor confirmed that it was, indeed, mastitis as I was running a fever and my breast was hot to the touch. Luckily, an abscess hadn’t formed yet, so she just sent me home with a course of antibiotics (both oral and a cream to apply) and some painkillers.
My mum took over all the feeds during the day and hubby did the night feeds so I could rest and recover. It’s been two days now, and the pain is almost gone. There’s still abit of engorgement, but at least there’s no more throbbing pain like Monday night. I’ve been diligently applying hot compresses and expressing every 3 hours (did not put Elena back on the breast as my nipple is still sore)…hopefully, everything will resolve itself in a day or so!
Comment by Brenda on 19 February 2009 @ 1:25 pm
while reading it, i can feel the pain. hope the bitch go away and dont come back. take more rest babe.
Comment by Siew on 19 February 2009 @ 3:42 pm
Ouch! That must hurt terribly. I have been asking around for you, some told me a compress of cabbage slices are very effective.
Comment by Lora on 20 February 2009 @ 4:52 pm
Oh dear, I can feel the pain too.
Your milk must be very sweet :oops:. or else, Elena wouldn’t suckle it so hard.
Comment by giddy tigress on 21 February 2009 @ 7:42 am
My heart goes out to you, my dear…hope you will recover soon!
Comment by Mei on 23 February 2009 @ 2:44 am
Apparently this is quite common and something that worries me. I read that it can be prevented by ensuring that breastmilk is completely drained from the breast after feeding. If not, then the baby should suckle on that particular breast in the next feeding session.
One of HB’s friend’s partner had this and she couldn’t breastfeed her baby after that which resulted in weight loss for her baby and lots of sleepless nights for her.
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Comment by ML on 23 February 2009 @ 2:30 pm
I can feel your pain. Must take more rest and dun stress yourself.
Do ensure you are better after taking the antibiotics.
For my case, I developed into abcess and need to go thru incision to drain it out. I was rather unfortunate that the doc I saw gave me a “weak” antibiotic and by the time I realise, it was too late.
Good luck to you !
Comment by sooyin on 23 February 2009 @ 7:03 pm
Brenda: Thanks!
Siew: Thanks for the tip on the cabbage leaves…=)
Lora: LOL…I never thought of it like that before!G
Giddy Tigress: Thank you!
Mei: I think it’s more likely to occur if you have a blocked milk duct of cracked nipples coz that’s where the infection gains entry if I’m not wrong. Don’t worry, just ensure that you drain your breasts by expressing if baby doesn’t do a complete job, and keep an eye out for blocked ducts and engorgement…recently, I’ve found that a hard boiled egg or hot steamed rice wrapped in a hankie works really well when I need to massage any engorged areas on my breasts.
ML: Oh dear, it must’ve been a horrible ordeal for you! How did you realize that it had developed into an abscess?
Comment by ML on 25 February 2009 @ 4:38 pm
I didnt really trust the Dr and went to seek 2nd opinion from a lactation consultant. From pressing on the breast tissues, she knew it was abscess. From there, I went to see a surgeon and confirmed with ultra sound. Incisions done within 20 mins. The pain is killing, definately a few times worst than giving birth. Daily dressing was horrible, there are pus, milk and blood.. and the nurse need to drain the puss out. Terrible ! 6 weeks of dressings and antibiotics + one more incision to drain the remaining pus !
Comment by sooyin on 15 March 2009 @ 10:53 am
ML: Wow…luckily you went for a 2nd opinion! I guess at times, you really have to trust your gut instincts…you know your body best! I’m glad that ordeal is over for you, it really sounds traumatic!