Nursing through yeast infection of nipples (ouch!)

by Josie
(British Columbia)

My name is Josie, I am 30 years old. My husband and I got the best wedding present ever, when we found out we were pregnant the week before our wedding day.

I am writing this story to help provide some resources for other women fighting a yeast infection of the nipples. The only symptoms of a yeast infection of the nipples are red, sore nipples, unfortunately, this is the case for many nursing mothers.

Thrush, or yeast infection of the nipples, can be hard to recognize if it occurs with your first baby, as it did with me.

Our son was born 2 weeks early and I began nursing him immediately. within two days I was feeling a tremendous amount of nipple and breast pain. Within two days, the pain was constant and very distracting.

After several weeks, a public health nurse diagnosed me with yeast infection of the nipples.

After trying many, many different remedies, I found that Jack Newmann's triple action nipple cream in combination with Gentian Violet was the best solution.

The All Purpose Nipple Ointment (APNO) has the following ingredients:
Mupirocin ointment 2%: 15 grams
Betamethasone ointment 0.1%: 15 grams
To which is added miconazole powder to a concentration of 2% miconazole
Total: about 30 grams combined

To discourage yeast growth I took acidophilus pills 3 times a day (also contained in yogurt), cut out all simple and complex sugars (bread, pasta, sugar, fruit) for one month and followed a fairly strict routine with applying Gentian Violet to my nipples (Twice a day, and small amounts to sore locations on nipples whenever pain is present). It took 10 weeks to fight off the yeast infection.

I found this website to be an excellent resource:
http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/yeast.shtml

The amount of pain I was in during these 10 weeks is indescribable. (Note that I had a natural birth, so I have a good reference for unbearable). It could be described as slowly cutting off my nipples with a bread knife. As a result, I had to take a medication, domperidone, to help increase my milk production as my body was resisting my efforts to nurse my baby due to the stress and pain I was in.

The story ends happily! After 10 weeks, the pain subsided, my milk was still flowing (with the help of domperidone - to increase my milk supply) and my son and I had finally established a good breastfeeding relationship. Now that I am back at work, and still breastfeeding, I am so happy that I have this special time to reconnect with him every day.


Good Luck!