Hi all.  A mom is nursing her child (over 2) and is on antibiotics (had "Veetids" for a week which did nothing and is now on "Trimox" - she says they are both penicillin derivatives).  She has noticed her nipples are very tender.  She says her nipples may be a bit redder than normal, but the "difference" is so slight she's not really sure if they are or not.  They are not dry, flaky or itchy.  Child has no diaper rash or white spots in mouth.  She describes her nipples as tender all day if they are pulled/poked/bumped and quite sore at latch-on.  Once nursing has gotten going the pain is not so bad.  She describes it like when she had blisters and when he nursed on a dry nipple it hurt till the blisters were moistened and more comforably pliable.  But there are no blisters or even sore-looking red spots.  There is no breast pain, just nipple pain.  She says the nipples look healthy - no cracks, blisters, rashes or anything different from usual.  To complicate the picture, she got her period back last Sept., skipped Oct. and got it again in Nov.  So her cycle is obviously still settling down along with her hormones.  Before pregnancy, she never noticed nipple tenderness as a menstrual symptom.  She hasn't been regular enough to know if this is a new menstraul develpment for her.  My question is, what could be causing this?  Could this be a side effect of the antibiotic?  Could it be hormonal/menstrual related?  Is there anything she could be doing to lessen the tenderness in general and the pain at latch?  Would something like Lansinoh help?  If it is thrush, would "moist wound healing" lead to a more severe infection?  I am at a loss as to what to tell her.  Any suggestions?

TIA,
Linda V.
in Philadelphia PA where we are flirting with snow flurries but will more likely get rain.....