Denise,
I have a mother I have been dialoguing with online who is in the earlier
stages of your mother's story. She was treated for mastitis, has had many
plugged ducts recurring despite good drainage attempts, lecithin
(though lecithin added only recently) and low fat diet, and now has red,
puffy, inflamed breasts with shooting pains bilaterally. OB has diagnosed
yeast and given her the one-shot diflucan therapy used for vaginalis
candidasis (AAARGH!), but the day before the mother also started on
ibuprofen, after which she has already begun to see a reduction of the
inflammation and plugs (?!). I am becoming a fan of ibuprofen very
quickly.

If all of this does not work for your mom or mine, another possibility,
given the bilateral nature of the problem, is strep-B mastitis, which
requires erythromyacin rather than diclox. This can be cultured for.

(BTW- for anyone wondering, my "mom" lives across the US from me and I
have repeatedly urged her to be seen by an LC. Her first one didn't have
any clues as to how to proceed, and she has now consulted via telephone
with Kay Hoover, who suggested oversupply as one possible issue and an
outside possibility of the strep-B, which will be watched for if no
improvement occurs).

I'll be watching your case closely, Denise! Hope you come up with some
answers.

-Lisa

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Lisa A. Marasco, IBCLC                                /  [log in to unmask]
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant    /  [log in to unmask]

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