Nursing can be a very natural, very
convenient way to feed your new baby. However if you are finding that it is
painful to nurse your little one you or your baby may have thrush. Now that I
look back I began having issues shortly after coming home from the hospital, I
was trying to ignore the pain because I thought it was just me trying to get
used to nursing for the first time. I
dealt with over all pain, burning, itching and the shooting pain that had me
yelping whenever he would latch on but nothing I did seemed to be able to ease
the pain.
For symptoms that may show up in mom and baby check here: http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/thrush.html
Then one day I noticed white patches in my baby's mouth
that would not go away when I wiped at them. The pediatrician gave me nystatin
cream, since nursing had become pretty painful for me to endure, as well as
nystatin to put in baby's mouth. I called my Obgyn at the same time since the
pain had gotten pretty bad, our pediatrician had suggested I be seen as well.
The Obgyn gave me Fluconazole/Diflucan pills to take by mouth.
For a good picture of what
thrush in a baby's mouth might look like, you can find a great picture on
the babycenter.com's website here: http://www.babycenter.com/0_thrush-in-babies_92.bc?page=1http://www.motherandchildhealth.com/Breastfeeding/Becky/thrush.html
Be aware that it is
advised to continue nursing even through this painful ordeal (Newman, 2009).
Thrush is a yeast infection (Dr. Sears, 2011). A yeast infection causes some
inflammation, inflammation can lead to blocked milk ducts, which can lead to
mastitis (Jones & Marshal, 2010). Continued nursing helps keep the milk
ducts clear, and is important to do so even while taking any medicine to get
rid of the thrush.
The nystatin worked to get rid of
the visible signs in my baby's mouth, and the Diflucan helped get rid of some
of it in me, I believe, as I was not hurting as much. I finished up both
prescriptions but as soon as I stopped the symptoms came roaring back to life.
I, once again, tried to change up my baby's latch to fix the problem but that
did not help, and using any nipple cream seemed to hold the moisture in and
make things worse! Another couple of weeks of nystatin was ordered, this time
it didn't seem to work as efficiently. After almost two months of pain I was
very frustrated, so I decided to work from the inside out and try to figure out
what fuels the thrush.
I learned that thrush can be passed
back and forth between mom and baby unless both are completely treated of it
(Baby Centre Advisory Board, 2011). So even when he looked clear of it, unless
I was completely clear of it too then we would get it again. Besides the high
heat and humidity that summer I could not figure out why the doctors medicines
were not working... I went looking for answers. I found out that every person
naturally carries some varying levels of yeast in their bodies (Stoppler,
2011). A yeast infection is an overgrowth so, I figured, the key must be to
fight the thrush off more naturally by working to set things straight from the
inside out.
Most of the treatment options I read
about didn't work on the underlying cause. They treat the thrush on the outside
but have little effect on what is going on inside your body. Nystatin for
example is only used topically, it is only used to coat the mouth. Fluconazole/
Diflucan was not a good option for us as it can be as much as $300-350 per
prescription (Newman, 2009). The other problem I foresaw was that the
Fluconazole/Diflucan was only killing
off the yeast numbers but not working with my body to naturally help me keep
the levels normal. Genetian Violet
stains horribly, is again only used to coat the mouth and skin, and has had
some studies done on it linking it to cancer which made me worry (Dr. Sears,
2011). I was also very hesitant to try any over the counter anti fungal creams
because I was not sure what was safe for my baby plus, again, they were all
topical treatments. Garlic Supplements, echinacea supplements, or grapefruit
seed extract are other natural remedies that are supposed to help combat the
yeast from the inside; however I had trouble finding information on them
(Flora, 2011).
So from my research, I decided to
add a cup full of vinegar to my laundry as well as washing and drying
everything on the hottest setting just to help make sure my nursing pads or
bras would have no trace of thrush left in them (Julie, 2011). Then I went
looking for some research as to where I could find this other pro-biotic/acidophilus
supplement I had been reading about that
was supposed to prevent thrush from growing (Baby Centre Medical Advisory
Board, 2009). The way it works is by helping stabilize the yeast numbers by recolonizing
your body with the healthy bacterium that would normally keep it controlled. I
knew that it could be found in yogurt but would I really want to eat yogurt
every day... and then how much would I have to eat to get relief fast enough? Nothing I was finding
online was very helpful.
I decided to head to walmart to see
what I could find in the supplement isle, having already struck out before when
searching for garlic, echinacea, or grapefruit seed extract. To my surprise I
found the acidophilus in two strengths! One bottle with one billion live
cultures per pill and one with two billion live cultures per pill. They both
said to take one pill a day. So I started with the one billion per dose jar. I
took one in the morning and one in the evening. That seemed to help but I still
had symptoms. So I bumped it up to one in the morning and two in the evening, 3
billion total. Therapeutic
Research Faculty (2011), lists effective studies on giving as much as 6 billion
cultures to infants to ward off diarrhea so I knew I had some room to work with
on the dosage. Acidophilus Supplement Central (2011), recommends 1-4 billion
cultures per day. Bear in
mind that I personally observed that a side effect of this supplement is looser
bowels, which could affect both mom and baby as the acidophilus cleans out the
intestinal track.
Later, I also noticed around the
time for the end of my menstrual cycle
my soreness would get worse again. So I bumped it up to two billion in
the morning and two billion at night for about a week and then dropping back
down to three billion afterward. Around
this time (the end of the second month of having thrush) I ran out of the
nystatin and our pediatrician refused to refill it as long as the baby was
showing no visible symptoms. So I kept up with the Acidophilus and the laundry
washing regiment. I was feeling lots better with only the occasional 'end of my
cycle' flare ups.
As my symptoms continued to go away
I dropped down to one dose a day of the two billion pills. Then, as my baby
turned 5 months old I realized that I had not experienced any symptoms for
about a month and decided to discontinue the Acidophilus. I was so relieved! I
have been off of the Acidophilus for two months now and we are both doing
great!
Yes, thrush can be quite a hassle to
deal with. It can be painful, and you may even want to quit nursing which, bear
in mind, may not even solve the problem.
I will offer this as a word of encouragement, I saw a great amount of relief
from my thrush symptoms within just 48 hours after starting my Acidophilus
treatment! I also had a bad case of it. If it is caught fast than it will be
easier to get rid of.
References
Baby Centre Medical Advisory Board. (2009) Probiotics
and prebiotics in pregnancy.
Babycentre.com.uk. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/probiotics-and-prebiotics/
Baby Centre Advisory Board. (2011) Thrush in babies.
Babycentre.com.uk. Retrieved on December
29, 2011 from: http://www.babycenter.com/0_thrush-in-babies_92.bc?page=1
Bonyata, K. (2011) Thrush resources. Kellymom.com.
Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/thrush-resources.html
Dr. Sears, B.(2011) Thrush. Askdrsears.com. Retrieved on
December 29, 2011 from: http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/childhood-illnesses/thrush
Tiran, D. (2007) Thrush, natural remedies.
Babycentre.com.uk. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/naturalremedies/thrush/?_requestid=6649240
Newman, J. (2009)Fluconazole. International
breastfeeding center. Retrieved on December 29 , 2011 from: http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18:fluconazole&catid=5:information&Itemid=17
Flora, B. (2001) Could we have thrush. Breastfeeding
essentials. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/thrush.html
Jones, K., & Marshal, S. (2010) Mastitis while
breastfeeding. Cigna. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.cigna.com/individualandfamilies/health-and-well-being/hw/medical-topics/mastitis-while-breast-feeding-hw98039.html
Julie, (2011) The 411 on Vinegar: Is it safe for cloth
diapers? Cloth diaper blog. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/the-411-on-vinegar-is-it-safe-for-cloth-diapers/
Stoppler, M. (2011) Vaginal yeast infection.
MedcineNet.com. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.medicinenet.com/yeast_vaginitis/article.htm
Therapeutic
Research Faculty. (2011) Lactobacillus. National Library of Medicine and
National Institutes of Health. Retrieved on December 29, 2011 from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/790.html
Thanks for sharing such a useful post with my readers Virginia.
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ReplyDeleteVirginia just sent me this information as an update.
ReplyDelete"I just found something about thrush that I thought your readers might want to know... I was reading March's issue of American Baby and the article "Your New Breast Friend" when I came across the comment about NOT using lanolin for more than a week or two because it could contribute to thrush (create a favorable environment for)."
I just watched an episode of HOUSE that made me think about this post. Apparently acids in the stomach help keep down the growth of bacterias and fungus/ yeast in our bodies. Taking antacids (tums)decreases those acids.
ReplyDeleteI was popping tums like candy (three after EVERY meal) just to control my horrible heartburn in my last trimester... Though I will never know exactly why I contracted thrush so badly- I can't help but wonder if this is yet another piece to the puzzle.
Many women worldwide suffer from recurrent yeast infections. This disease is caused by a microorganism called candida albicans. A this infection symptoms such as: strong vaginal odor, vaginal discharge, painful sex, severe itching and skin rashes and many other.
ReplyDeleteIf this condition is treated soon and it is allowed to spread it may become very uncomfortable and cause even more pain to the infected.
Therefore, finding a good Treatment for Yeast Infection for Women that will be a rapid and sustained relief.
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