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For any woman who has had mastitis you know that it is the absolute worst thing in the world to have. It feels like you are dying and that your body is rebelling against you. But while feeling like dying you still have to take care of a little baby. It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Harder than pregnancy, harder than labor, harder than breastfeeding.
With my daughter I had zero issues. I had a clogged milk duct one time and that was it! With my son I got a yeast infection a couple weeks after he was born and then I had mastitis 3 times in one month. Yes, you read that right. 3 times! It was horrible. The first time I got it I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. I thought it was just a clogged duct (which it started as) but it quickly became much, much worse. So bad that I had to go to the ER with a fever of 105.5 F.
I did not really know what the symptoms of mastitis were so when I was getting worse I was not 100% positive what was going on. I had a cousin that went through it and asked her. She is probably the reason I even realized what was happening. Without her I probably would not have gotten the help when I needed it and my infection would have gotten much worse.
I went to the Doctor and received the antibiotics that I needed. Overcame it the first time. Then a couple of weeks later I started to feel the symptoms again! Went right back to the Doctor and got on the antibiotics ASAP. Started to feel better and it happened again! I had to figure something out because I could not go through it again. After researching tips and tricks I figured out things that worked and has since prevented me from receiving mastitis again.
- Symptoms
First you need to know what the general symptoms and signs are of mastitis. Mastitis generally begins with a clogged milk duct. So if you feel a soreness/pinch in your breast you have a clogged duct. Put some warm compresses on your breast like these ones. This will prevent you from it getting any worse. Mastitis is an infection of the area around the milk ducts. Symptoms I had were:
- Redness on breast
- Swollen breast (different than engorgement)
- Chills
- Fever
- Super tender
I felt so sick that I could not even move from the couch. My husband had to bring me my baby when I needed to feed him because it hurt to move. Breastfeeding will hurt when you have a clogged duct/ mastitis. I asked my Doctor if I should stop breastfeeding and she said it would actually make it worse. So endure through the pain, it helps with the infection.
- What to do
The very first thing you need to do is go to the Doctor. It is an infection and will not go away on its own. If you wait too long it can enter your bloodstream and cause horrible problems. To the point where you would have to be hospitalized. Go to your Doctor and get the antibiotics. Even with the antibiotics you will not feel better for 3 or 4 days. It takes awhile for the medicine to get in you and start being effective.
Along with antibiotics rotate between Ibuprofen and Tylenol every 4 hours. This is a trick to keep your fever down. My dad works at a hospital and this is what they do for people. Because there are different ingredients in each one your body will consistently be getting the help it needs before the one medicine wears off. I stopped doing this one day and only did one medicine every 6 hours and that was when my fever spiked to 105.5 and I had to go to the ER. Trust me, rotate between the two and take it every 4 hours. This will keep your fever down which will prevent the chills and fever from returning.
- Preventing future infections
Once I got over Mastitis for the 3rd time I had to do something to keep it from coming back. So I researched on how to prevent it. These have done wonders for me and I am still using them today to prevent infections from returning.
- Sunflower Lecithin. This is a natural vitamin that actually thins out the breast milk. One reason women get mastitis is because their milk is thick which causes clogged milk ducts which leads to mastitis. This was a game changer. Once I started I didn’t even get a clogged milk duct. There was just one day that I forgot to take it and I got a clogged duct! So it really works.
- Vitamin C. Taking vitamin C gives your body the extra boost it needs to fight infections. I take it with the Lecithin and it is just an extra kick for my body to fight infections (have not been sick at all since taking it).
- Warm compresses. I mentioned these earlier but they are the best! Use them the second you feel a clogged duct to prevent it from getting worse. I use them while I breastfeed/ pump to help loosen up the clogged duct.
- Massaging your breast in a warm shower. This was a tip my Doctor told me to do. After you feed your baby in the morning hop in the shower and massage your breast under the warm water. This helps clear up clogged ducts and also helps keep everything flowing well.
- Breastfeeding in different positions. Feeding your baby in different positions allows the milk to be completely drained from the breast. I think this is why I never had problems with my first. I consistently breastfed her in different positions.
I have not had to deal with Mastitis since I have started doing these things. They have made all the difference for me.
Dealing with mastitis is the worst! If you have had it you know all too well how awful it is. But with tips and tools I hope to help those that have had it to overcome it and also to prevent it from happening again. Keep feeding your baby and enduring through. I promise you will get through it and feel better.
