I'm puzzled.  A mother of a 4 month old developed mastitis yesterday and
the MER is not operating while the baby is on the breast.  Only after more
than 20 minutes of pumping  does she get milk.  She is following all the
usual suggestions religiously and has taken 3 IIbuprofen in 24 hours.  She
doesn't think there is a connection in slowed MER with Ibuprofen..  She is
afraid that she will have to give up BFing.  During today's discussion she
admitted noting that the MER was having problems  2 days before the
mastitis arrived.  She notes that the milk comes down better when standing
up, rather than lying down.  She had a blocked duct  a month ago which i
suspect was caused by too much activity and I will explore this possibility
again with her.   My questions now: can   mastitis   cause the slowed MER
and does she (or I?) just need reassurance that a baby-induced MER will
soon return?  (There is no smoking, other med's or alcohol excess in her
home).

Thanks!
Anne Kaeser, IBCLC
Germany