Natural Cures for Mastitis
Well, the two rounds of antibiotics I took within a months time, plus the fact that I don’t get near enough sleep (a.k.a. naps) has caused me to come down with mastitis again. But this time I beat it without broad spectrum antibiotics!
Didn’t know that was possible, huh?
Yup.
And this time I was ready at the first sign.
I actually woke up last week at 4am with just a touch of pain and knew it was coming. So I woke baby up and had her nurse right away. Then pumped. Then drank a ton of water and took a mega dose of vitamin C (5000mgs in 24 hours). Then nursed, and drank water, and pumped, and drank water. I also used a heating pad on the affected area several times during the day. (if that doesn’t help you out, try a cold compress to help lessen the inflammation) I crawled under the covers as much as I possibly could what with having to feed and take care of my littles. I ignored the dishes and cleaning and laundry, and just took care of myself.
My temp went up just slightly, but within 24 hours I was feeling much better!
There are actually a few more things you can do naturally, but I didn’t need to take any more measures to kick it this time. KellyMom.com is a great reference for all things breastfeeding and it’s where I got the idea for the vitamin C, which seemed to be the extra I needed this time around. I also started to take apple cider vinegar which is supposed to help fight bacterial infections.
Basically you want to treat yourself the same way you would if you were to come down with a cold, so taking cod liver oil, eating garlic, and soaking in a nice warm bath would help as well!
And I’m so glad I didn’t have to resort to antibiotics again. Taking those 2 doses has really ruined my immune system and seems to have caused a Candida overgrowth. Not only am I craving sugar like crazy (feeds the yeast, and they want more!) I’m more tired than I think I should be, and my eczema seems to be trying to come back. So another round of antibiotics would have caused more of that good bacteria to die off and put me at greater risk for more infections.
So as long as your symptoms aren’t severe or your fever to high, check out some natural cures before resorting to meds! And while we’re on the topic, let’s talk a bit about how to prevent it.
- Take probiotics and eat plenty of yogurt/kefir (builds immune system)
- Get plenty of rest (sometimes mastitis is your bodies way of telling you to rest)
- Don’t wear wired bras
- Drink lots of water
- Eat good “real” food
- Don’t let baby fall asleep while feeding
- Make sure baby is latched and suckling well
- Go bra-less when possible
(and if you don’t know what it is, or it’s symptoms, check out this link)
Natural cures have really Worked for Me!
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Excellent tips! I had some mastitis symptoms when my daughter was two months old, the Sunday of Memorial Weekend. She and I spent the day in bed, I latched her on at every possible opportunity, I drank lots of water, and did quite a bit of massage and heat, if I remember right. We suffered through yeast for months and months, so I was very happy to not need antibiotics. I linked to this on my weekly roundup, the post is under my name. Thanks so much!
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donielle Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
@Lenetta @ Nettacow, Thanks for the linkage you rock! And I sure wish doctors would tell women they can fight this off naturally if they catch it in time.
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