« Snot-nosed brat | Main | Sometimes I frighten even myself »
01/21/2005
Whipped cream and other delights
Boy, howdy, do I love breastfeeding. No, really! How else, after all, could I get an intraductal yeast infection courtesy of the questing mouth of my hungry son?
Right. Not only do I have a yeast infection, probably caught from Charlie, whose walloping doses of NICU antibiotics are likely to blame, I have a yeast infection that has INVADED MY BREASTS. It has CREPT IN THROUGH MY NIPPLES and COLONIZED MY MILK DUCTS.
It's really no surprise. If the last three years have taught me nothing else (and they have not), I've learned that if a disturbing, unusual condition exists, sooner or later I will contract it. So maybe I should be blasé about the FUNGUS CURRENTLY SETTING UP HOUSEKEEPING INSIDE MY BREASTS.
This explains the searing pain I feel every time I pump, and the agony I endure every time my clothing brushes against my nipples, and the white patches in Charlie's mouth that I, uh, carelessly wrote off as leftover milk sludge.
Let me repeat: YEAST. THROUGH MY NIPPLES. INFILTRATED MY MILK DUCTS, TAKING HOSTAGES, DEMANDING SAFE PASSAGE TO HAVANA.
The treatment involves squirting a payload of Nystatin into the moving target of an unwilling baby's open mouth; a single tablet of Diflucan for me; and antifungal cream liberally applied to my nipples. Monistat, the fluffy white coochie cream we all know and love, moonlighting on its day job.
I am so horrified by this turn of events that I am reapplying the Monistat every ten minutes. I wrenched open the tube this afternoon and already it is half gone. So eager am I to get rid of the yeast that I'm slathering this miraculous unguent far beyond the bounds of my areolas, venturing as far east as armpit and as far south as navel.
Yeah, breastfeeding's great. I really like it a lot. Now pass me the motherfucking cream. I think I missed a spot down by my ankle.
Posted by Julie at 05:56 AM in It was the breast of times, it was the worst of times | Permalink
Comments (108)
Oh, you poor thing. This isn't like nipple thrush, is it? I had that, it was bad enough. Sounds like the same family, anyway. The family you want to piss off and never come over to visit again, that is.
Posted by: Rachelle at Jan 21, 2005 5:58:57 AM
OW!! OW OW OW!!! OWWWWWW!!
Ouchie. I feel your pain.
Posted by: Kinneret at Jan 21, 2005 6:25:05 AM
Gentian Violet. Get yourself some IMMEDIATELY. It will kill the thrush on contact. Just wash it thoroughly before the little guy latches on.
Also remember to be really anal about sterilizing your pumping horns and bottles as well as the nipples Charlie uses when he bottle feeds. Put some white vinegar in the boiling water.
Posted by: Bren at Jan 21, 2005 6:53:20 AM
An aunt of mine went thru the same thing and I remember she tried everything but both her boobs and her babe's both were all yeasty. Yuck!
Bren is right - gentian violet works! And my aunt as labelled 'she of the purple nipples' for months after the nasty yeastiness was all gone!
Hang in there mama!
Posted by: Jo at Jan 21, 2005 7:15:53 AM
Oh. Ick.
I was on antibiotics for 14 days - a cocktail of them - last year at this time.
Let's just say that I feel your pain. Diflucan & Ketoconazole creams became my saviors. Fungal infections EVERYWHERE.
FOR A LONG TIME.
Hope you & Charlie liberate yourselves from this horror.
Posted by: Boulder at Jan 21, 2005 7:48:03 AM
Oh yes! purple nipples, purple baby mouth, purple drool, purple baby clothes, purple EVERTHING!
If there was a nasty infestation my daughter could get, she got it. 28 years ago thrush was thought to be a result of poor sanitationy. In later years, she got lice, impentigo, worms (Don't read forward in your books, you'll get depressed) and my MIL thought I was the Ultimate Worst Mom Ever.
BTW, my daughter is now a 28-year-old fiesty, red-headed, social worker.
Posted by: MamaPajama at Jan 21, 2005 7:57:29 AM
LOL, I am so sorry to be laughing but honestly if you didn't want me to laugh you shouldn't write it like that.
I hope that your miracle cream works for poor you and baby.
Posted by: Angelia at Jan 21, 2005 8:08:59 AM
Not to be a Pollyanna, but at least now you know why it hurt so fucking much. And you really are building up an arsenal for when Charlie tells you a 16-year-old should be allowed to get a cock piercing.
Hope it clears up soon.
Posted by: Moxie at Jan 21, 2005 8:15:03 AM
Bless your heart.......
Posted by: Patricia at Jan 21, 2005 8:24:29 AM
Oh. My. God.
Ouch.
Posted by: Coralie at Jan 21, 2005 8:27:51 AM
Actually, thrush is quite common in infants, because the yeasties love milk and formula - not only good for making babies grow! Hope things clear up soon. :-(
Posted by: KelliAmanda at Jan 21, 2005 8:33:18 AM
Sorry, but this has me laughing (having been there, done that :-P)
It's not rare or uncommon at all though, so for once you are the status quo :-)
Posted by: wookie at Jan 21, 2005 8:43:51 AM
Yikes. Been there. Felt that.
It was painful. So much so that when the baby nursed, I would be sobbing - for like three or four days before a ped appointment. She looked in baby's mouth and said "ouch, I bet your nipples really hurt" as she looked at my chest.
When it was gone, breastfeeding seemed so easy...
Posted by: Julia R. at Jan 21, 2005 8:48:19 AM
If you don't start to feel better in 2-3 days, go back to the doctor for more Diflucan!!! This exact same thing happended to me and I wound up having be put on a lower dose diflucan pill for three weeks to really knock it out of my system. The monistat is gross, but it will really help.
Posted by: Jessica at Jan 21, 2005 8:54:52 AM
Hi, I have been thru thrush a few times with my babys. Not sure if anybody has mentioned this, but squirting the nystatin (like the directions say) does not work. It is MUCH more effective and faster to use q-tips and apply the nystatin directly to the patches of thrush in his mouth.
Posted by: Amie at Jan 21, 2005 9:20:59 AM
Oh, poor you! I'm so sorry. I had a terrible yeast breast infection with my first -- in my case thanks to IV antibiotics to fight off the glimmer of a chance of GBS infection. Gotta love antibiotics. My friend Susie suffered for weeks before getting her bottle of Gentian Violet. Love those purple pictures ;). Come to think of it, she had antibiotics too -- for purported fever. Hm. Antibiotics are evil!
The good news is ... once it's cleared up, bf and pumping will feel so much better.
Posted by: Rachel at Jan 21, 2005 9:22:23 AM
holy shit, I didn't know yeast infection of the boobies was possible. I feel faint thinking about it. Julie, Julie, Julie, you poor soul, yeast infected boobs.....ouch.
Posted by: Michele at Jan 21, 2005 9:23:21 AM
Oh ewww ow gross sorry.
Posted by: Lisa at Jan 21, 2005 9:24:25 AM
Use the BIG BABY ear qtips for applying to Charlies mouth, not the regular small ones. They are bigger and don't have as much loose cotton fiber on the ends to get in his mouth and bug him!
Posted by: VHMPrincess at Jan 21, 2005 9:35:59 AM
ACK. Coming out of lurkdom for this. Interductal yeast is the worst. I had a case that just went on and on. At this point you are past using GV....the drugs you and charlie are enjoying are a bit stronger. Once you kick it you will feel better I promise. Even if you stop nursing the pain will be gone.
One thing I would add. Boil every damn thing. Horns and tubing for your pump, bottles nipples and yes BRAS. Otherwise you risk reinfecting one of you to reinfect the other.
I have also heard grapefruit seed extract oil can help cut the interductal thrush. Thankfully mine cleared up before I went that route.
I am so sorry...but yep you are perfectly normal.
Posted by: kelly at Jan 21, 2005 9:39:10 AM
Ugh. Sucks. Sucks big rocks.
So, my advice is that once you get past this flare-up, start taking "Yeast Defense" or some other herbal anti-yeast compound. I had a similar experience, and I found that it popped back up a lot, any time I got run down or ate a lot of sugar (these things go together, I might add). The Yeast Defense (I got it at Whole Foods, but I think any health food store would have something similar) helped to keep it at bay. And I don't think there are any major pharma plants in it--just stuff to keep things at the right ph. Hang in there. You're doing great, and it WILL get easier.
Posted by: mamacate at Jan 21, 2005 9:40:12 AM
I developed the same condition when I was nursing my (now 6 year old) daughter. It was miserable and I do empathize. Mine got so bad, I had a rash that started at my nipples and went down both my arms and up my neck. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood. If it's any consolation, it got better quickly with the Diflucan and cream.
Posted by: Amanda at Jan 21, 2005 9:45:48 AM
Julie, if you read my other 496946794 posts about the Nystatin, it won't work.
If you want, you can email me for the recipe for the Grapefruit Seed Extract, or look back at my other comments for it.
It works in a day, isn't bright orange, and you can use it on your tits too.
Trust me, thrush is impossible to get rid of, and it keeps coming back, Nystatin doesn't work worth shit.
Me and my daughter play pass the thrush, and the Grapefruit Seed Extract was the only thing that helped.
Posted by: Stacey at Jan 21, 2005 9:54:57 AM
Let me get this straight...you're making bread in your breasts these days? Will it be as good as your floor cake, do ya' think?
Posted by: Deborah at Jan 21, 2005 9:55:37 AM
Gentian violet is awfully messy. I would recommend some mega-doses of probiotics (e.g. acidophilus) before you go the g.v. route. Much easier and it won't stain everything in sight. It worked for me in less than 48 hours.
Posted by: Rosemary at Jan 21, 2005 9:56:26 AM
Yeah Gentian Violet stains everything.
Make sure you boil EVERYTHING, or heat it in the microwave (nursing bra, nursing pads, EVERYTHING)
or it will come back again and again
Posted by: Stacey at Jan 21, 2005 9:57:23 AM
Good lord, Julie! That sounds awful!
Thinking of you and your breasts. Really. I am.
Posted by: Danae at Jan 21, 2005 10:02:00 AM
I thought the thrush was even worse than the Mastitis. So much harder to get rid of.
Another thing you might have to look forward to.
Ughhhhhh. I hated it.
Posted by: Stacey at Jan 21, 2005 10:04:09 AM
Umm...putting cloth in the microwave (not wet) can quickly make it burn...Not that i'm against burning your bras, you understand, but that may not be the best way to go about it... ;-)
Posted by: sweet48203 at Jan 21, 2005 10:14:31 AM
Sorry, they should be damp. :)
Posted by: Stacey at Jan 21, 2005 10:27:49 AM
My grandparents had that album. Always freaked me out as a child when I saw.
Ouch!
Sorry to hear you have this freak of nature, horrible, I may never want to stand near you, condition.
And now I'm thinking about another woman's breasts. Oh the guys in the office would be loving it right now. All the things they could be picturing if I would just share with them that I'm thinking about another woman's breasts.
Hope you and Charlie get well soon.
Rotten children.
Posted by: Scully at Jan 21, 2005 10:39:29 AM
Damn girl, I've never even heard of that! You have my sympathies...owie.
Posted by: Emily at Jan 21, 2005 10:44:25 AM
speaking of burning bras, if they have metal in them -- clasps, underwires, pretty metal threading -- they'll catch fire, wet or not. microwaving metal is not a light show you want to see, at least not in your microwave.
Posted by: RainbowW at Jan 21, 2005 10:46:26 AM
Oh my god. You do go boldly where no one has gone before, don't you?
Ouch! ouch! ouch! Hope the boobs of doom are back to normal soon (how's that for poetry?)
Posted by: Menita at Jan 21, 2005 10:55:27 AM
I had the same thing, and it is sooooo painful it would make me sob every time I nursed my son. I also got a plugged duct, which caused me to have a raging fever and diarrhea (sp?). The yeast infection should get better quickly with the medicine.
I remember how awful and painful it all was, and how hard to get it all right, just so incredibly stressful. But once I got through that beginning part, and we finally finally got things to work, it was one of the greatest things I ever did. I ended up nursing my son, no formula at all, for ten months, and then supplemented with one formula bottle a day, until he was about 14 months, and sprouted shart and painful teeth, and then was stopped. When we started out, I said 6 weeks, tops, and then I'm done.
It is so hard now, but I want to encourage you to keep trying for a while, if you can stand it, and especially to get help from those annoying lactation consultants. Once we got it going, I found it to be so healing of the scars of infertility and loss, to be able to feed my son from my defective defeated body. I'm sure right now you can't imagine that you will ever get there, and it is most definitely harder with preemies. One of my preemie twins never did get the hang of it, so I nursed one, and pumped for one. But if you can get it to work out, it can be wonderful, and so convenient. Are there any breastfeeding support groups you can go to? There was one in my neighborhood that I've been to a few times, and it was so fun. A big room full of women and their babies, all talking bout their boobs, and then some of us would go out to lunch etc. together after. I really enjoyed doing that, as much for the socialization as for the advice.
Posted by: j at Jan 21, 2005 10:55:51 AM
damn, julie! it really does seem like if it can happen to you, it will. no wonder the breastfeeding/pumping process has been so painful.
Posted by: wix at Jan 21, 2005 11:09:49 AM
Ouch! I thought that might be what was causing all the pain while pumping. I didn't realize we had a problem until my son was sporting a horrendous case of diaper rash that made him wail in pain. Pass the bad mommy crown.
I hope you are feeling better soon and that Charlie isn't affected by the thrush!
Posted by: Jenny at Jan 21, 2005 11:24:43 AM
Right there with you lady! I struggled with this for months, doing the gentian violet which kills it on contact (I'm an NICU nurse, so I already knew that Nystatin doesn't do jack squat...) I finally found info online by Dr. Jack Newman -- his recommendation is 14 days of low dose diflucan to knock it out of your ducts! He also has a recipe for an all purpose nipple cream that you can get compounded at a pharmacy with an rx from your doc. I didn't have to get that because the Diflucan did the trick. Hang in there -- it DOES get better! Here's the site I found useful: http://www.bflrc.com/newman/breastfeeding/fluconz.htm
Posted by: lori at Jan 21, 2005 11:25:18 AM
So what you're saying is I can bake a nice hot loaf of Sweet Jewish Rye between your tits?
I'll bring the butter.
Posted by: BrendaS at Jan 21, 2005 11:49:51 AM
best wishes julie!!!
Posted by: lorrie at Jan 21, 2005 11:51:28 AM
julie...
i had the same thing after my son was released from the nicu...
we were treated at a "premier teaching institution on the west coast" (tm) ... they treated me with 28 days (yes, you read that correctly, in two 14 day prescriptions) of diflucan. we were told to not just squirt, but rub the nystatin on my son's tongue with a q-tip or fingertip. we started this after the lactation gods determined it was going to disappear from my large smackeroos without plenty of help.
only after we did that, did the pain/agony/FIRE go away.
good luck. you might want to check in w/ your docs and see if they could be a bit more aggressive?
after it got better, breastfeeding became a joy, even with size H boobs. who knew? we ended up nursing for long into year 2.
if you want to talk more, let me know.
Posted by: anon, again at Jan 21, 2005 11:51:40 AM
Oh, you poor dear. That has GOT to be so painful. In addition to all the other good recommendations here, perhaps you might want to make a point of eating some yogurt every day? Live yogurt cultures are helpful in suppressing yeast. What the hell, you could slather a little on your nips too (I recommend the plain variety -- strawberry-banana might be too weird for topical application). Couldn't hurt, and exposure to live yogurt cultures might benefit Charlie too.
As if it's not challenging enough getting a preemie to breastfeed. Jeez.
Posted by: JenAtHome at Jan 21, 2005 11:57:25 AM
Oh dear. I'm so sorry. But actually I don't think it's that uncommon.
Once Charlie moves to solid food, you might find that he gets a yeast infection on his bum and boy-bit area.
Yeast. It's not just for vaginas anymore.
Posted by: Susy at Jan 21, 2005 12:11:27 PM
You DO have a knack for contracting undesireable physical conditions, don't ya? Hmmm. I can't catch this from your site, can I? Ouch. I think my boob hurts. I'm outta here.
Posted by: Kristine at Jan 21, 2005 12:12:09 PM
I am cringing at the thought of what you're going through....
I had the same thing with my son- and it took a 7 day course of diflucan to wipe it out (after an ineffective one dose)- along with lotrimin on my nipples between feeds, and some other pink stuff for the boy.
Diflucan is extremely expensive, and drs are reluctant to prescribe more than one tab because insurance doesn't like paying for it. I insisted, and my OB wrote the scrip.
Feel better soon!
Posted by: Lisa at Jan 21, 2005 12:39:50 PM
Now I can't get Spanish Fly out of my head. Perhaps a dose of Diflucan....
Posted by: mollie at Jan 21, 2005 12:46:18 PM
Ooowee that sounds so painful! I hope it heals fast!
Posted by: Carrie Jo at Jan 21, 2005 12:59:15 PM
I wonder if they could give you something safer? The physician's ref. for Diflucan is kind of scary...
• Diflucan passes into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. For this reason, Diflucan should not be taken by nursing mothers.
It's all so tough; I wish you the best of luck in getting rid of this and months of painfree b-feeding.
Posted by: anon2 at Jan 21, 2005 1:00:43 PM
Yeah, I was wondering about the Diflucan myself. I asked my doctor for it and she refused to give it to me until I supplemented with formula while it went through.
Posted by: Stacey at Jan 21, 2005 1:08:24 PM
Seriously. Gentian violet. Doctors don't prescribe it as much anymore because it turns your nipples and the kid's mouth purple, and a lot of people hate that.
But it WORKS.
Signed, had thrush and shared it with the baby.
Posted by: Jonquil at Jan 21, 2005 1:09:48 PM
