BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Breastfeeding Thrush of the Breasts

My daughter has been plagued with thrush (yeast) in her breasts since her c-section a month ago. We figure this resulted from the antibiotics given while she was in surgery and post-op. She is on her third Diflucan Rx plus applies Nystatin and/or Monistat to her breasts several times a day. The bleeding has stopped, and she is still able to breastfeed; but the pain can be pretty significant at times.

The pediatrician has checked the baby and says the baby is free of thrush in the mouth. Also, the baby IS latching on correctly as confirmed by a lactation specialist.

Would love to hear from anyone else who has worked through this problem successfully. Thanks.

OHHHH I am so sorry to hear about this!! I breast feed both my boys (about 20 yrs ago) and the younger boy got thrush~but I don't reckon I did!!! I went to drug store and got some over the counter stuff~Im too old to remember the name of it but it was called Violet "something" and it was just as purple as could be and I would rub it in sone mouth-a day or two and it was gone! Doctor said that I needed to make sure I had properly swabbed away any milk that had leaked out because it could "spoil' and become "contaninated!!! i wish I could be of more help but it might be worth talking to doctor again or if you have one of those online "Ask A Nurse" type program.
There are also some good sites online dealing with breastfeeding!
I would suggest that you wiped/washed your breast before each feeding with some peroxide (or rubbing alcohol) on a cottton swab~its just the bacteria that the leakage leaves behind!

[Breastfeeding Editor Note: I have to interject.. DoeEyes, while your advice is well-meaning and I am sure written with the best of intentions, nursing mothers should not put rubbing alcohol on the breast. It is incredibly drying and will compound problems, and more importantly, can be toxic to babies, especially young ones. I don't usually edit posts, but for safety sake, wanted to include my comment here. Please pardon my intrusion.]

I REALLY hope you find something that helps ans helps FAST!!
God Bless you and Your lil Bundle of Joy!
DJ

Oh, Cela.. I feel for your daughter. A couple thoughts/suggestions:

1) Given that the baby has no thrush in the mouth, and that none of the traditional treatments seem to be working, I am wondering if the lactation consultant confirmed that it IS in fact thrush? I was treated for thrush for several months, as diagnosed by my well-meaning pediatrician, and it turned out it was dermatitis from a nipple shield and pumping. What I needed was not nystatin but a topical steroid to heal up. Your daughter might want to consider "Jack Newman's Nipple Ointment" if she can get someone to write the prescriptions (search that term on the internet for the ingredients). It's sort of a "kill-all" that is also used for persistent diaper rashes in babies that doesn't care WHAT is causing the problem, but more to ELIMINATE it. It uses two anti-fungals (thrush), a topical antibiotic and a steroid. Contrary to what you'll read, you don't actually need a compounding pharmacy, but need prescriptions for the non-OTC meds and you can combine in a sterile container and mix yourself.

-- The purple stuff that DoeEyes referred to is called Gentian Violet. It can be tough to find sometimes, but may be as close as the pharmacy next door. It's usually kept over by the iodine in the same sort of container. I've heard lately that there are some issues with whether it is still being recommended for thrush and I haven't gotten into this to figure out why, but I've been personally told by an LC that if GV doesn't kill it, it isn't thrush. I used it for several weeks and it isn't as awful as people make it out to be. If you do get it, look for 1%,not 2%, as both are sold. I know that good neighbor pharmacy products has a formulation of it, so if you can find an affiliated pharmacy near you (independent pharmacies, usually), you can see if they carry it.

-- Never put rubbing alcohol on a breast. It is toxic to the baby and drying to the skin.. it will increase the problems. I wouldn't recommend peroxide either. To my knowledge, breastmilk on breast or in a baby's mouth will not become contaminated. Breastmilk is actually a natural antibacterial.

-- Search "Jack Newman Thrush" for lots more good info. In my experience, he is the definitive expert on thrush in breastfeeding women.

If your daughter wants to email me through my bio page at breastfeeding.bellaonline.com, with more specific info, I'd be happy to see if I can provide more resources or insight. Thrush is the worst... she is a champ and deserves a medal for perservering! Good for her and good for her baby!

I went through thrush with my last baby. I had several medical issues after his birth, and being on so many medications made me ripe for it, and since he was gettin everything via me - he was ripe for it, too! After nursing everytime, I would just wash my nipples with mold soap (like baby soap) and warm water, and apply the gentian violet. And I was actually able to find the geb=nitan violet at my local Walmart! But I did have to ask the pharmacist where it was, because they put it in a really strange place - like with the foot products or something wierd like that (because no one really knew what it was for I guess)

I also got some of those nipple "shields" those are the little plastic things you wear in addition to nursing pads. They help keep the nipple out of the moisture. But you need to dry them frequently.

The very best thing you can do (now that it's December of course) is to go topless as much as possible. People have heart attacks when I say this. But a thrush infection is basically a yeast infection - and it thrives in a dark, warm, moist environment. If you can let your breasts dry out in the air - then you are taking away the infections' ideal living arrangement.

In order to keep your (or rather her)baby from getting thrush, you will probably want to wipe out his mouth with a damp cloth after each feeding. And don't freak out if his mouth turns a slight purple color - it's just from the gentian violet, and is not harmful.

DJ, Nicki, Michelle--Thank you sooo much for your input. I have shared it with my daughter. Some of the suggestions she has tried, but she will explore some of the others. Thank you, again.

I know this is an old post but I thought I would share my experience. I had thrush problem once with my daughter also. I did do the Monistat on me for the prescribed amount of times and washed it off before nursing then like Michelle_Launch said I would make sure they were completely dry before ever putting them away so to speak. Before hand however I would express a few drops of the milk, rub it onto the nipples and let it dry completely over them. The dried milk makes a film over the skin that will protect it since it is already irritated and I've heard that breast milk has properties that could possibly fight yeast infection anyways.