I've posted a couple of times on a mom who had nipple pain, breast
infections, globby milk,  transient bloody milk, reoccuring huge nipple
blisters, breast pain, etc.

We pretty much figured out that the globby milk was directly the result of
the mastitis and cleared when the infection cleared; mom strained it during
that time and still fed to baby. Also noticed that supply was low on the
infected side but rebounded when the infection cleared.

Blisters-- I don't know! Very big, not the usual pore covering. Mom has been
exclusively pumping with a good heavy duty pump for three + months; it ain't
trauma!  Also didn't seem consistent with yeast blisters, but then I haven't
seen everything under the sun yet, right?

We struggled about the deep breast pain, and I just wasn't quite sure what
to think about the blood, which occurs whenever mom gets the pump flange
just off center. I finally decided that maybe the ducts were indeed eroded
from internal yeast and easily broke and bled, so we pursued diflucan. Got a
10 day prescription, and after a week mom began to feel better, both nipples
and breast.

She also started to spontaneously produce more milk!  When things were at
the traumatized status quo, she was producing about 32 oz a day, which is
what her baby has been taking (baby is 3 mos, that doesn't seem like enough,
but growth is good). At the end of the course of diflucan, mom was producing
35 then 42 oz a day despite trying to *wean*, and now, despite some recurred
pain and another blister, is producing 50 oz a day!

Because the pain came back shortly after stopping the diflucan, we asked for
another course, which hopefully will be the solution to her long months of
unrelenting pain and trauma. I still don't know if yeast is the cause of
these mysterious large blisters-- the first one I broke with a sterile
needle and pulled off the pieces, then dabbed a little neosporin, and topped
with monistat; she did the next one. It will be interesting to see if more
diflucan causes all of the symptoms to recede.

In the meantime, mom is trying to kill a supply that refuses to die, then
wonders if maybe she should stop fighting it. She long ago gave up on her
desire to get baby to breast when we couldn't resolve the problems even with
baby totally off the breast. Oh, the irony!

Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC
Santa Maria, CA