Thrush :'(

[Maaaaaac]

Any tips on dealing with pain? It hurts most about 20 mins after a feed but with two hourly feeds pain relief is only doing so much. Going to docs this evening but its agony! Im in tears feeding my lb_

 

[kumber]

It'll get better with treatment - make sure you get 7 days, not 5, and be aware that it can and often does come back. You and bubs need to be treated at the same time too

 

[Maaaaaac]

Doc gave me the daktarin oral gel to use but just on my nipples, didn't give baby anything :/ ill give it a go and mske another appointment if its not helping.

 

[kumber]

Just treating you won't help, it drives me crackers when GPs do this. Not your fault of course. You need something for bubs, it's usually nystatin. If only one of you is treated it'll just keep passing between you both. I would make another appointment and tell them you want nystatin so both of you can be treated together, otherwise you won't get rid of it.

 

[Rose83]

How you doing with this? I had thrush really badly with my first and ended up switching to exclusively pumping. Once I was pumping exclusively they gave me daktacort which is basically daktarin but with a steroid and you can't have that if baby is feeding from you. It did work slightly better. But the main thing I would recommend was a tip a mum at a baby group gave me and it's to ask the GP to prescribe a type of wound dressing called ActiForm Cool. Basically it's like a clear jelly pad that you can cut to nipple size and wear inside your bra and it helps to heal your nipples. I wasn't even aware that my nipples were that damaged until I started using this and it started making the pain and discomfort disappear. They are super expensive though so a GP is likely to be hesitant to prescribe it so when I asked for it I just went in with how desperate I was to try anything that might help and that I had this recommended by another mum and fortunately they agreed to try. I would say ask for the largest size they'll prescribe because you can just cut a little square (or circle) off when you need it.

Also coconut oil is supposed to destroy thrush and is safe for baby to come in contact with so slap some of that on your nipples too x

 

[Maaaaaac]

Thank you very much kumber! I was talking to the HV too about the lack of GP knowledge, I was really lucky that it did clear up. Followed advice on kelly mom not what the GP said and sorted it rightly. So relieved, it was dreadful.

Thank you Rose, I'll def keep that in mind if it ever comes back, hopefully not though! Coconut oil is absolutely amazig i use it for just about everything.

 

[kumber]

Glad you got it all sorted and that you've a HV that listened to you

 

[cornishfairy]

Hi, we're dealing with thrush at the moment. I've been in agony (partly due I think to not getting the latch quite right at the start and them being damaged anyway) and have been pumping exclusively for the last 3 days. I pumped exclusively for 13 months for my first son who wouldn't latch so if I end up doing that again I know what to expect but I'd like to give bf another go if possible. Did you find once you were healed your little one still knew what to do? I had a little go earlier but he just kept falling asleep (he's a very sleepy baby!)
I've also got a massive oversupply of milk at the moment so until it calms down I think bf will be a challenge as we end up in a soaking wet mess regardless of how much I try and contain it all so think a pumping/bfing combo will be needed until my boobs settle down if I'm ever going to be able to feed anywhere but at home. x

 

[kumber]

Yes it's easier for them to latch once you've healed. Are you caking them in lanolin? Pumping will keep your supply high so I don't recommend it. A lot of people told me to pump off the letdown but that just wasn't doable on my own when I had a screaming baby.

My supply calmed down between 12 and 14 weeks, I was far less of a drenched mess by that point. But I hear you, it's not ideal