Today I’m Struggling With…Thrush

Everything about my experiences with my two children has been opposite. My son, H, turned three two days after my daughter G was born. Where he was a spastic, sporadic eater who struggled to latch due to a short frenulum (tongue-tied), she is a hearty, efficient eater who can drain one side in seven minutes. With H, my struggle was more emotional than physical. Breastfeeding is hard. Like, really hard. While I did have a baby that would eat for 30 minutes, fall asleep for 30 minutes, and then decide to eat again – creating a never-ending nursing marathon that rarely allowed me unburdened time – what I didn’t have was physical issues. I used a nipple shield to help him latch, gave him a pacifier after a few months, and he took a bottle quickly and easily. Unbeknownst to me at the time, all of these things that made my life easier were also making me susceptible to thrush. But I never got it. Not even once in the year he was breastfed.

Flash forward three years, and just three weeks after G was born, my sister noticed a white spot on her tongue. “I think she has thrush,” she said with an apologetic smile. I sighed heavily, realizing this was going to be an issue I really did not have the energy to deal with. By the evening, my nipples were bright red and itching like crazy. So it was clear, without a shield, pacifier, or bottle to blame it on, we had thrush.

I was already dealing with some “retained product” following my delivery, as well as a crack in my left nipple that made my stomach turn every time I looked at it – not to mention made nursing hurt like a motherfucker. Now I was looking down a long, dark tunnel of more pain, doctor visits, and complicated medications. To say I was upset would be like saying a roller coaster is just a little train ride. And what a little train ride it was. (Little did I know, more ups and downs were on the way.)

Trush on its own probably wouldn’t be that bad. And even the case we had was fairly minimal; it didn’t even interfere with our feeding schedule. But with one thing after another, and the prospect of weeks of treatment ahead, I was pissed. I was so tired of feeling gross all the time. Thrush is a fungal infection, and nothing makes me feel more icky than the perception that I’m “dirty”. All of the doctor’s assurances that thrush is in no way associated with hygiene, I couldn’t help feeling like I had done something wrong.

The first mistake I made was Googling “breastfeeding thrush.” Don’t do that. Unless doing that brought you here, in which case, I’m glad you did that. The good news is it turned out to not be as bad as it seemed like it was going to be. So much of what you read online gives timelines that we weeks long. WEEKS. I don’t know about you, but the idea that something painful and icky will not be gone for weeks is pretty disheartening. My whole experience was only about 7-12 days, and I probably continued the medication longer than needed, just to be sure.

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What worked for me…see the doctor immediately.

Don’t wait. Don’t try the homeopathic home remedies first. Get the drugs.

Pro Tip: Skip the OB/GYN and just go to the pediatrician. Since the treatment for mom is an OTC topical, but the treatment for baby is a prescription, save time and see the pediatrician first. If the topical doesn’t work, you can always go back to the OB/GYN later to get an oral treatment for yourself.

There are a lot of negative reactions to Nystatin online, but this is the standard first try against thrush and it worked just fine for me. The most annoying thing about thrush is the intensity of the medication – oral solution for baby and topical cream for mom, both four times a day. Fuck. That.

Both are more effective the longer they last before the next feeding, so timing it just right in between nursing sessions is important. Unfortunately, it also means shoving a syringe and your finger into your sweet baby’s mouth just as they are lolling off into a milk-drunk stupor. That being said, I started to see/feel improvement in about 3-4 days.

Bonus Tip: Don’t worry about getting an exact amount in the syringe, and don’t just squirt it in a walk away. Use enough to drop it into the mouth (about 1mL), then use a clean finger to coat the mouth, paying particular attention to any locations with visible white spots.

The nystatin takes care of baby, but for you, the doctor is likely to recommend an OTC antifungal cream like Lotrimin. Yes, the same thing that fixes your athlete’s foot is going to go on your nipples. Applying a topical cream to the nipples creates an issue I didn’t anticipate – how does one “air out” her nipples? Well, as much as I didn’t mind walking around my house tits out, that doesn’t work while you’re out, and H started telling me, “Mama, put your milks away.”

 

The solution was nipple shells. The Medela SoftShells have a soft silicone backing, air holes for ventilation, and sponge insert to catch any leaked milk. They can be a bit cumbersome, since they are the size of a small cereal bowl, but now I actually prefer them to my cotton pads. Once I started wearing these, I had less stress about getting dressed after feeding and applying the Lotrimin, and as an added bonus, they totally helped the crack in my nipple heal faster.

Another thought: I also made a solution of grapefruit seed extract and water, which I would spray on my nipples before applying the antifungal cream. I started this after a few days of just the prescriptions, and I have no idea if it helped or not.

TL;DR – Just tell me how to fix it!

• Thrush sucks, and if you feel totally gross you’re not alone (and you’re not gross!)
• Call the pediatrician ASAP. Skip the homeopathics until you have the drugs.
• Use your finger to wipe the Nystatin around inside the mouth.
• Use nipple shells to let your girls breathe.
• Stay strong and this too shall pass.