Thrush is horrible. I'd say it was the worst but that would be mastitis.

You need to treat both your baby and yourself - so glad to hear you're doing that.

Couple things that seemed to work for me: Eat yogurt (unsweetened is best because sugar can make it worse) or take acidophilus capsules. Stay away from sugar, honey, fruit, breads until you get better. Vegetables and meats are good.

A friend uses gentian violet, an antifungal agent that you can buy at natural food stores. It stains and can be pretty messy, but my friend swears by it.

Diflucan can work on really bad cases - for both baby and mom. So that might be something to try if it continues.

Make sure you're washing your sheets, clothes and your baby's in hot water too. Don't reuse towels. Wash your bra daily and let it air dry in sunlight, which can help kill it.

Kellymom was always a huge help to me when I was nursing. Here's their link on thrush: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/thrush-resources.html

Good luck ... let us know how it goes.

Sarah

I just checked in with Mary Rose Tully, the lactation consultant over at UNC. Thought I'd just cut and paste. Hope it's getting better!

From Mary Rose:

If this is your first case of thrush and yeast, usually the over-the-counter topical antifungals, such as Lotrimin AF (or the generic equivalent) applied in a thin layer on the nipple after each feeding will clear it up. Do not use any form of lanolin because lanolin is an oil and yeast feeds on fats.

Eating live culture yogurt (check the container to be sure it says “live culture”) with no sugar or fruit added helps to recolonize your gut with “friendly bacteria” that help fight yeast. You can use artificial sweeteners and flavoring to make it more palatable, or take lactobacillus acidophilus (found in the refrigerator at health food stores).

If there are any signs of white in the baby’s mouth (look at the back of the tongue), call the baby’s doctor to discuss treating him/her with oral nystatin, which is a prescription. It works best if it is spread around in the mouth with a new cotton swab after each feeding – never put the cotton swab back in the medicine after it has been in the baby’s mouth. The instructions may say to put half a dropper full in each cheek 4 times a day, but that is not effective with babies who eat so often and don’t know how to swish and spit.

Check the baby for diaper rash and let the baby’s doctor know if you see a rash – it needs to be treated with an antifungal ointment, too.

If you have frequent problems with yeast infections, talk with your health care provider about a prescription for Diflucan. You will need a different dosing than for vaginal yeast. For nipple/breast yeast, you need to take it for 7-14 days, depending on how severe it is. The dose needs to be 100 mg or 200 mg pills because the 150 mg pills require a daily co-pay by most insurance companies.

Rarely do babies need the oral Diflucan, but if they do, there is a liquid dose the baby’s physician can prescribe.

If you have a yeast infection that is not clearing easily, avoid carbs in any way, shape or form for about 2 weeks. Breads, pasta, fried food, fruits, sweets are not your friend – carbs feed yeast. Also, fruit that makes good wine, such as grapes or plums has yeast on the skin, so it is doubly bad when you are having a yeast outbreak. Anything that is brewed, such as vinegar, wine and soy sauce. Meat, fish, eggs, hard cheeses and vegetables are fine.

Careful hand washing many times a day and using paper towels or changing all towels at least daily will help, too. Wash night gowns and bras (anything that touches your breasts) daily and either dry them in a dryer or in direct sunlight. Yeast loves dark moist areas.

If there is a place in your house where you can expose your nipples to direct sunlight through an open window, do that twice a day for about 5 minutes – yeast does not do well in sunlight.

Gentian violet does work for some strains of yeast, but it should be used with caution. Even though you can buy it over the counter, check with the baby’s physician about the strength to use so it does not burn the baby’s mouth.

If none of this is showing improvement within 2 weeks, see a lactation consultant because you may have something else that is masquerading as yeast.

Hello,

The gentian violet did not work for me. I started eatting yogurt and switched out all of my babies nipples and pacifers and it went away. Thanks so much for the help

Yeast infections of the breast and nipple ruined my breastfeeding experience. What was worse was the ignorance of the medical professionals I saw. I found out more researching online. The pediatrician just assumed that since my baby had no apparent symptoms, all was well. Everyone just wanted to take a conservative almost do-nothing approach when I could barely even put a shirt on due to the stinging pain. This website has the best advice. Might as well print it out and bring it to the doctor's so they know what to treat you with.
http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/yeast.shtml
Also read up on the candida diet to avoid other foods that aggravate the condition, such as white rice, things w/wheat, vinegar & other forms of sugar, etc. Ultimately, my yeast infection was so bad, even with Diflucan, which the dr. would only prescribe for every other day, that it didn't really start to clear up until I quit breastfeeding & pumping, and dried up my milk supply to stop feeding the yeast. I wish someone had advised me about this sooner. Best of luck to anyone who attempts breastfeeding!