I wanted to add another possibility to the question of whether or not it
really could be yeast.  Since yeast is so prevalent and tenacious, it makes
sense that if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it must be a
duck.but if there has been no improvement whatsoever with treatment, it's
time to start looking for something else.

 

Perhaps it started as a mild case of thrush but she had a secondary reaction
to the treatment products.  Gentian violet is pretty strong and can cause
more problems than it cures if the mom or baby have side effects to its
strength.  Gentian violet works so well because it does work its way into
the lower layers of skin, just like yeast does.  However this capability has
got to be pretty harsh on the nipple skin and baby's mouth.  

 

The same goes for the Nystatin cream.  It's surprisingly common the number
of moms who react to the medium with which the Nystatin was mixed.  Nystatin
itself is pretty benign and can be taken orally for several months before
showing any signs of liver irritation (unfortunately it may take that long
or longer to reel in a raging yeast overgrowth). 

 

My last thought is that it wasn't yeast at all but an irritation on the
mother's breast from the baby's saliva.  In the Second Edition of the
Breastfeeding Atlas (my 3rd edition is on its way to me), page 100 mentions
a client "whose sore nipples cleared up (after all other suggestions failed
to bring results) when dairy protein was taken out of the woman's diet.
Dairy elimination was trialed on the premise that a sensitive baby might
experience salivary changes in reaction to exposure of the offending protein
through the milk, and that these changes might irritate the nipple.  A
three-week dairy elimination cleared up that mother's sore nipples.  While,
at the time, the physician felt the improvement was merely coincidental, the
mother was so relieved to have no more nipple pain that she remained on the
dairy elimination diet.A connection between food allergy and sore nipples
deserves more investigation."

 

Hope this helps your mom.

 

Debbie Gillespie

LLLL, hopefully IBCLC after 10/14 exam results :-)

Tempe, AZ


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