Could I Have Thrush on My Breasts?

I got a breast yeast infection while breast feeding my son and the only thing that got rid of it was the oral prescription med diflucan. It was almost instant relief from the horrible itching. It is safe to take while breast feeding. Gook luck

I had thrush when I was BF my daughter. We both had it. The only thing that knocked it down for me was going into a pool. Sounds drastic and the wrong time of year but I tried all sorts of things and that's the only thing that seemed to work. Good luck, don't give up. I know it's not fun.

You could have thrush and you will need to get something for you to take or put on after every feeding. I actually got that when I was pumping when my baby was born. I would see if you could just get in with another doctor or the nurse practitioner. If you dont' get rid of it your baby will keep getting it. Good luck to you!

Im sure it's very possible for it to spread to your breasts. I didnt best feed but my son got thrush 4 times. It became very annoying. Do you have any of the medicine left that your child was treated with? If so I would try rubbing that on there. Maybe it will help. My doctor told me that we can give it to our children by putting there nuks in our months and then in theres. Hope this helps you a little bit.

Oh honey, no wonder you're so itchy. Yeast LOVES vinegar!! You're actually helping it grow using the vinegar. Try a combo of coconut oil and olive oil rubbed onto the areas. Your daughter can still breast feed and both are strong anti-fungals. There are other natural things you can use, but not so great for baby to eat. You can mix a dab of lavender oil and tea tree oil into the coconut/olive oil mix if it doesn't work just plain. You can also get liquid cat's claw to put directly onto the breast---also a strong anti-fungal. You could also put garlic juice into the oils, but that would be strong for baby, too. If those don't work there are other ideas I could share, but I think that should work. I'm guessing it is so bad because of the vinegar. Stopping that should help tremendously. I wouldn't use the prescription anti-fungals others are suggesting, as they are chemicals and your baby is eating from there. However, I never use chemical medicines for any reason, so that might just be my bias. Oh....another great thought. Put a full spectrum pro-biotic into the oils. The good bacteria will fight off the yeast and it is also healthy for your baby.
If I can help further, please let me know.
J.

My bf son has thrush right now. I cannot get into my dr til Monday (although I don't have symptoms yet). But my sons pediatrician reccomended using lotramin. It's an anti fungal cream. After you nurse clean your breasts off then put a small amount of the lotramin on. Then just wipe it off before you nurse again with a wipe or washcloth.
Also, like the other moms suggested you should let your dr know the reason you need to come in. If you do in fact have it and your baby is the only one treated you are just going to give it right back to her. Good luck- its such a pain in the butt! This is the third time my son has had it

If you can't get through to your doctor, call the pediatrician. They might be able to help you out because you can reinfect your daughter if you aren't treated.
Often for these things, they treat the mother and the baby at the same time.
Run it past the pediatrician as soon as possible.

Best wishes.

Yes, if your baby has it, you probably do too. Check out this link....
http://www.babycenter.com/0_thrush-in-breastfeeding-moms_...

Nystatin will probably be prescribed first and will most likely work. If not, there are other things you can try. There are also homeopathic remedies - check out the link for several options.

Good luck!

Yes - could be - try an OTC yeast cream, the same you would use for a yeast infection. Wipe it off for baby to nurse.

I haven't read all the responses, so hopefully this isn't a repeat, but with my doctor, I didn't have to SEE them, I just called, talked to the nurse, told her it was on my breast as well and she called in a prescription. It is basically the same thing they give to the baby for thrush except something to put on yourself. So try to just see if they can call you in a prescription. That is ridiculous to wait that long for help! :s
Good luck!

Surely your drs. office has some means to see patients on short notice, maybe a nurse practitioner or another Dr. in the group. Did you tell them WHY you needed to be seen? You might try an Urgent Care Clinic, or a pharmacy that has a "take care clinic", or talk to your pharmacist. Maybe your OB or the Pediatrcian office would help you. I would think someone might call in a prescription for you. The pharmacist can offer suggestions that are non prescription. You might try some of the over counter creams to treat yeast, like Lotrimin. Get on some good Pro-biotics, and eat yogurt with active cultures.

When I have taken my kids in for thrush, I have asked for an additional prescription for myself. Call the pediatrician and get in right away. If you can't get in right away and you already took your baby in to the doctor for thrush, see if you can talk to the nurse over the phone to convince the doctor to just set up a prescription for you. If you don't take care of it on yourself, you can end up handing it right back over to your baby. This is an urgent issue and I bet you are completely in pain because of it. You only use a tiny bit at a time, so one prescription can last a while. Good luck.

I have so had this! Mine hurt though. Needless to say, thrush is just a yeast infection so you can use anything over the counter for yeast infections just be sure to wash it off thoroughly before you feed the baby. You can also put the medicine your baby is using on your breast too. Other tips, be sure not to fall asleep with her on your breast and dry off after each feeding. I take my bra off as much as I can when I have it so I stay dry. You have to be sure to treat yourself or you will just give it back to her.

Maybe your doc office could just call something in for you. What I do when I cannot get in the office is call during off hours so they cannot see me and sound dramatic. They usually will call something in at that point.

It's a pain, I had it reoccur over and over with two of my four kids. Good luck!

I also agree with cutting sugar out of your diet for a couple of weeks to ensure the yeast doesn't come back. This was really important for my daughter and me when we had it. For us the antifungal creams would keep the symptoms away but whenever we stopped them her symptoms, at least, would come right back. Cutting sugar from my diet (you will obviously loose weight as a bonus) was what did the trick. And by sugar I mean simple carbs, too, like white bread, pasta, rice, etc. Eat small amounts of brown bread, rice, etc. each day, minimal fruit (choose sour apples or grapefruits) and add a lot of nuts and seeds to your diet to help with hunger. good luck!

Yes, you can absolutely have a yeast infection on your breasts. Usually, thrush is treated systemically, meaning both mom and baby are treated, because it can be passed back and forth so easily. I'm not sure why the doc wouldn't have given both of you an Rx, even with no symptoms in mom.

I also agree about speaking with the pediatrician. Or if you can find a lactation consultant. You can also go to Dr. Jack Newman's website and find home remedies for thrush, such as gentian violet. http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=doc-UGV

Good luck :)

Go to Dr Newmans breast feeding web site. I use it for a lot of my clients, full of great info. We use the componded Newmans's ointment from Jolley's pharmacy and it is a wonderful product but you do need a prescription

I got candida (yeast / thrush) on one my breasts, and I wasn't even breast-feeding at the time. On the doctor's advice, I tried each and every other-the counter ointment available for funguses, each for about 3 weeks and none completely got rid of it. In fact, it spread to the other breast, too!

There is the possibility of taking the oral prescription medication for it, of course I do not know if that is safe while BFing or not, but ask the doctor. My doctor didn't want to give me that (I really don't know why).

I did take the oral other-the-counter anti-yeast medications (often they will have olive leaf extract other food supplements). Also, you must keep the area dry... extra hard if you are breast feeding! But it is really important.

Other than that, I can tell you what helped... Lots of probiotics, prebiotics, and consuming NO SUGARY stuff and NO refined carbohydrates. Which is really hard because it seems like it made me crave sugar like crazy.

Then I looked on-line for remedies and saw things I remembered we used for various skin conditions when I was a child, such as gentian violet (which stains purple) and iodine. They will work even if what a person is dealing with is a secondary bacterial infection which can happen in addition to these persistent candidal infections. Anyway after failing to clear this completely with 2 years of trying, I went the route of gentian violet, but then switched to the iodine. That worked after about two weeks. It looked worse at first with the top layer of skin drying up. BUT... It worked. ... BUT ... I would NOT do use iodine on an area where it can get into my baby. Also, even to this day, if I eat sugary foods a few days in a row, including honey, syrup, JUICE, etc. I sometimes get a spot back, and have to treat again.

I think I should have been given the prescription oral medication for candidiasis to begin with, and my next flare-up, I am going to insist on it.

All hail, Diflucan. I tried Gentian Violet, Lotrimin, yogurt, going topless, but the prescription Diflucan was finally what it took. Also, be sure to change your nursing pads frequently to stay dry. Certainly try the other methods if you aren't already acting like a wild bear (rubbing against trees to relieve the itch). Sure, natural is better, but I couldn't take it any longer.