im at a loss.
ive had this mastisitis on and off for about 2 weeks. its extremely painful. im hesitating to go to the doctors as i dont want antibiotics.
the clog just wont come out and he nurses on that breast 85% of the time.
perhaps water fasting would work? i dont know what to do, i'm dying from this pain
Permalink Reply by Simplicity on I definitely think water fasting would help. Or if that's a bit difficult, I think a green juice feast would do wonders. If both of these require more discipline than you possess, eating monomeals is a third solution.
Oh wait--I just saw you're breastfeeding. If that's the case, my vote goes to mono-eating or green juicing. I don't know much about nursing, but you probably need to be passing along some nutrients to the baby via your diet... so maybe fasting isn't the best idea?
Permalink Reply by ORGANIC811LFRV on Is that advisable while you are nursing? I'd suggest green juice. May I ask how your eating has been? Are you solidly 80/10/10? Are you 100% raw? Any meat, dairy, processed phood? Any caffeine? I don't know the details of your history to formulate an opinion actually. It's all in the details.
Permalink Reply by Maggie on I've got 4 kids and am tandem nursing both a toddler and a 2 month old right now. (I should be on the cover of TIME, lol;)
If you start getting chills/fever you really might want to consider visiting a doctor for some antibiotics, IMHO. But it is important to try and sort it out until then because if it's just been on and off without getting really sick you'll probably be able to heal it up on your own without the antibiotics. But remember - antibiotics aren't bad - they're life-savers in many cases. It's the abuse of antibiotics that is bad. Sometimes we do need them:/
So.... do warm compresses (washcloth with hot water) right before nursing or even take a hot shower before nursing to loosen things up. Nurse AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE on that breast to help clear it.
Rest as much as possible.
IMO - I would NOT do any sort of fast at all while nursing. Please don't do a fast while nursing! The purpose of fasting is to help your body release toxins quickly and doing that while nursing could not only affect your milk supply for your baby, but would also dump more toxins into your breast milk and your baby would get more toxins when he nurses! I know there are always toxins in breast milk but there is a gentle way to do things and and extreme way to do things and a nursing mother and baby really deserve the gentle way. I'm not really sure how it would help mastitis anyway except for making it more difficult for your body to produce milk which would be a bad thing in your situation.
Are you familiar with kellymom.com? There is probably also some really helpful advice about mastitis there for you. I hope you start feeling better soon! Breast infections suck!!!!
ps - in between bouts of mastitis, can you tell whether or not you have a plugged duct? It's like a lump in one spot that is tender to the touch? If so, while nursing you can gently massage it and that will help clear it before it develops into an infection.
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on Actually, antibiotics ARE bad. Anti--against. Bio--life. Antibiotics wipe out many beneficial bacteria within your body. A common side effect of taking antibiotics is thrush, which is a candida infection that affects the nipples and the inside of the baby's mouth, causing pain and itching, and sometimes horrible diaper rash. In fact, thrush can lead to plugged ducts and mastitis.
The entire basis of this lifestyle (80-10-10 was inspired by the Natural Hygiene Movement) is that you create the conditions of health and allow the body to heal itself, you don't treat symptoms. If someone eats greasy animal products and gets heartburn, the medical model says, "Take an antacid." And the person does that, but then they get other symptoms from the fatty food, or side effects of the medication or the antacid only partially suppresses the heartburn. It would be better to eliminate the cause of the problem and allow the body to heal on its own and the symptoms go away naturally.
In fact, the body (even unhealthy as most people are) has very effective ways of fighting off infections. Fever is one such mechanism. People are taught in our society to fear fevers and to bring them down immediately, which is very counterproductive.
A healthy person never needs antibiotics. A very unhealthy person may need them in an emergency. Mastitis is not a life-threatening infection for anyone, except maybe someone under-going chemotherapy.
Permalink Reply by Maggie on I agree antibiotics typically have no place in the life of a perfectly healthy person. But I also think it's important to acknowledge the fact that most people are not perfect - even many people on this site - most here are on a journey to wellness and I would venture to guess that perfect health would probably have prevented the OP from getting mastitis in the first place.
But she's in a position now where she needs to be realistic and if, after trying all of the excellent more natural suggestions I and other people have offered up here, her body is still dealing with an infection, I want to make sure that she accepts the fact that antibiotics may be necessary to prevent the need for surgery to drain an abscess or something more serious happening.
So I'm not advocating antibiotics in this instance and I'm glad you brought up the side effects that could result because those are important to consider. And I agree with all you have to say about fevers, addressing the cause of an issue rather than treating symptoms, etc.
Again, like I tried to make clear in my original reply, do all the other natural things first to give your body an opportunity to heal itself!
I just don't want her to end up with an abscess on her booby!
Good points, Maggie. Mothers of breastfeeding infants are not exactly what you would call at their best health!
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on Hey Mary, I'm feeling confused reading this and wondering if you would be willing to clarify it? Thanks!
nutshell = lack of sleep, stress of life change, often time lack of support
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on Yeah, it's really too bad we don't have more support for parenting in our culture!!! Lack of sleep is also due to cultural factors, imo, although under-eating plays a role.
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on Listen, I am not 100% against antibiotics. In cases of trauma or pervasive life-threatening infection they may be needed.
But realistically, the chance of getting an abscess that requires surgery is probably lower than having a serious allergic reaction to antibiotics. 800,000 people die annually in the United States due to adverse reactions to drugs. The numbers of adverse reactions that cause unpleasant symptoms are much higher than that. One of the most common allergic reactions is to antibiotics.
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