Does this sound like the beginnings of mastitis?

[miki]

I had a plug for over a day. In the past, when my little vacuum sucked it out, the painful lump next to my nipple would disappear and the hard, painful pie-shaped wedge of boob radiating out from the lump would soften and go back to normal. And milk would come out of a lot more of the pores in the nipple. This time, the lump next to my nipple decreased in size but it still feels swollen. And the hard part of the breast is no longer all engorged but still feels a bit hard and swollen and somewhat lumpy. When I hand express, I can see milk coming out of many pores unlike when the plug is there. I feel a general dull ache in the breast even if I don't touch it. I don't have a red spot on the breast but I did have the chills earlier and I feel kind of run down. My temp is only slightly elevated, a little over 99. And my baby is very fussy about nursing from the affected breast.

My OB isn't in the office until Tuesday so instead I talked with my SIL over the phone, she's a doc (but not an OB/GYN) and has had mastitis. She seemed to think I should start with the antibiotics right away, which I have. I'm just wondering if there is anything else this could be besides mastitis that I should actually try to go to my regular doc to get examined. TIA

[Rachels]

It does sound like a brewing mastitis. You need to rest as much as possible, nurse like crazy, and drink tons of fluids. You could also try lecithin, 1200mg 3x/day to help clear the plugs and keep them from recurring. Here's a link for you, too:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/recurrent-mastitis.html

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[american_mama]

I'm sure this bout if over for you now, but for any other readers, I have two comments. First, if you contact a doctor or lactation consultant and need to leave a message, make sure you say the magic word mastitis. For me, it ensured a faster callback. Second, mastitis can go away on its own without antibiotics. I'm not saying this would always be a smart thing to do, but when I had my own and only case of mastitis, I didn't get to my doctor for perhaps 2 days. But I was already feeling better, and my doc thought I was getting better too and didn't need antibioatics, which turned out to be correct.

[cara1]

I just got rid of my plug, and would remind you that sometimes the boob is still a little sore afterwards. If it is significantly better than it was, maybe that's all that's going on.