What Mastitis Really Looks Like (I Filmed It While I Was Sick)

So this was me five years ago. I was really, really sick. I had something called mastitis, which is a breast infection. And during that time, I decided to turn on the camera and show you exactly what it felt like. I honestly even forgot that I had this footage until recently. So today, I wanted to take you back to that day. Then I'm going to come back and walk you through what mastitis actually feels like, what the symptoms are, and what you should do if you think you have it. By the way, I'm Diana. I'm a physician assistant specialized in women's health and gynecology. And on this channel, we talk about pregnancy, breastfeeding, being a mama, and also babies. So make sure to hit subscribe, and then let me know in the comment section if you are breastfeeding. So if you're breastfeeding, and then you suddenly feel like you have been hit by a truck, so fevers, chills, body aches, exhaustion, so heavy that you can barely lift your head, you might assume that you just caught a cold or something, maybe the flu, maybe something is going around. But for a lot of breastfeeding moms, that's actually one of the first symptoms of mastitis. Now I know this, not just because I'm a PA who's treated lots of women with mastitis, I know it because I've also had it. And the last time that I had it, I vaguely remember that I had this, what I thought was a brilliant idea, which was to film myself in the midst of a mastitis infection to tell you all about mastitis. I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But anyways, Diana, five years ago, is going to take it from here. Hey guys. So I am nursing right now. My baby's about nine months old. And last night, about 5am, I woke up with horrible chills, and shaking, and body aches. And I also noticed that my left breast was really tender and warm. And I laid in bed for a while, shaking, I was uncomfortable, couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up and I actually took some ibuprofen. Me getting up, woke up my little baby, who still sleeps in her room. And so I nursed her. I nursed her on my left side, the side that is hurting, which I recommend that you do if you ever experience this. It does help. And even though it hurt a lot while she was nursing, it did feel a lot better afterwards. And I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours. The Motrin kicked in and helped me with my body aches. And I went back to sleep. The next morning, about 8am, I slept in and the body aches were gone. I was feeling pretty good. Well enough, in fact, that I got up, got my family dressed and we went to church for an hour. And then I think the ibuprofen was starting to wear off because I started having the chills again, the body aches, aching, oh the body aches. My head was hurting, chest pain, back pain, low back pain, neck pain. So all of that. I was shivering. I was hot and came home. I took my temperature. Thermometer's off. It was low grade. It wasn't a high, high temperature. Oh, it's 100.4. Anyways, so if you ever have these kinds of symptoms, so breast pain, I took a look and my breast on the inside is really red. Not really red. It's like pink. And it's really tender and it's warm right there where it's pink. Fever, chills, body aches. Those are textbook, classic symptoms for breast infection or also called mastitis. And so if you have those symptoms, I highly recommend that you call your OB, your mid-level provider, your primary care doctor, whoever you can, get a hold of because you can't really treat this on your own at home. Ibuprofen or Tylenol will help with the symptoms a little bit. They'll help with the pain, the body aches, and even the fever, but they will not get rid of the infection. So first thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to be calling my OB. He'll probably prescribe me something called Dicloxacillin, which is a very commonly used antibiotic. There's others, but that's worked really well for me. In the past, I've had four other breast infections. So aside from treating them a lot, I just wanted you to know how it felt firsthand. You feel pretty crummy. It's not fun. So if you feel those symptoms, don't wait. Don't try to wait it out. If you feel pretty sure that that's what it is, call your OB. Also, if you notice when you're feeling your breast that it's not just tender, but you feel like a little pocket of fluid, like a small water balloon underneath your skin, that could indicate that you might have an abscess along with the infection, and that might need to be trained. Again, don't ignore that, most definitely. We call that an IND, where they make a little incision and drain out the the pus pocket. So I hope that helps you, but actually, I really I hope you don't ever feel like this. It's not fun, but I thought that you'd like to hear what the symptoms are firsthand, because that's what I'm going through right now. So if you're going through this too, I feel your I'm sorry. It sometimes is a part of nursing. I didn't feel this. I didn't get a breast infection with my first or my second. I've just had more with my last two kids. So best of luck. I hope that helps. Take care, guys. Bye. So I think that's really important that you saw that, because I want you to understand that if you feel that sick while you're breastfeeding, you are not being overdramatic. You are not overreacting. Mastitis can make you feel genuinely and completely awful. So now that you've seen what it looks like firsthand, let's talk about what was actually happening in my body during that footage and also what that means for you. All right, so first off, what is mastitis and why does it feel like the flu? So mastitis is an inflammation of breast tissue, and it usually starts when milk isn't draining well from one area of the breast. That backed up milk creates localized inflammation, and inflammation triggers your immune system. Now, here's why it feels like the flu. So your immune system responds to inflammation the same way that it responds to infection. It releases inflammatory chemicals called cytokines that circulate through your entire body, and these cytokines can cause fever, chills, body aches, fatigue, basically the same systemic response that you get with a viral infection. But in this case, it's triggered by what's going on in your breast. So when you feel like the flu came out of nowhere while you're breastfeeding, that's your immune system working. And it's also why mastitis can go from totally fine to feeling genuinely sick so fast. The inflammatory response can escalate within a couple of hours. Sometimes mastitis involves a bacterial infection, bacteria entering through the damaged nipple skin, and then sometimes it is just purely inflammatory without infection. And both can make you feel this sick. Now, this distinction matters for treatment, which is why your provider needs to know what's going on. Now, mastitis is most common the first few weeks after delivering your baby when breastfeeding is still being established, but it can happen anytime while you're breastfeeding. I think for me, I was about four or five months postpartum when I filmed that video. You're most likely to develop mastitis if your milk isn't draining well, if you miss feedings or pumping sessions, if you have, or if your baby has a shallow latch that isn't removing milk efficiently, if your nipples are cracked or damaged, which gives bacteria a way in, or if you are under significant stress or running on little to no sleep, which most newly postpartum moms are. And look, new moms check several of those boxes all at once. So just be aware this isn't some kind of hygiene or character flaw. This is just a reality of early breastfeeding. All right, so let's talk about kind of how this usually presents. So the breast symptoms usually come first. So one localized area that becomes painful, it gets warm or red or swollen. Sometimes you might feel a hard lump, or sometimes it's just a tender spot that just keeps getting worse. Then you'll start to feel the systemic symptoms, sometimes within hours. So fever, chills, body aches, that overwhelming exhaustion. Now I mentioned the order because a lot of women notice the breast tenderness and they don't act on it quickly enough. Then by the time the fever hits, it's backwards. I know that. But 101.8, the inflammation has already escalated quite a bit. So if you have one area of your breast that is suddenly really sore and you start to feel sick, don't wait to see how you feel tomorrow. Just go ahead and call to make an appointment with your medical provider. Now, what about a clogged duct? Because a clogged duct usually causes a tender lump and localized discomfort, maybe even some hardness or redness, but it doesn't make you feel sick. You feel fine in your body. It's just uncomfortable in the breast. Once you add fever, chills, body aches, or that flu-like feeling, you've moved beyond just a simple clogged duct. So sick body plus breast symptoms means that you're probably going to need to be evaluated by your medical provider. Now, what to do? And this is the part that I really want to be specific about because the recommendations around mastitis have actually changed in recent years. And a lot of what women are still being told is outdated. So years ago, women were advised to aggressively massage the affected breast and pump as forcefully as possible to try to clear the blockage. We now understand that mastitis is an inflammatory condition and an aggressive massage can actually worsen inflammation. It can make things worse, not better. So if your mom or your aunt or someone on a Facebook group tells you that you really need to dig in there and massage that area, that is old guidance. Don't do that. First off, it really hurts. It's uncomfortable. Then second of all, it can make things worse. So here's what the current guidance actually says. Continue breastfeeding or pumping at your normal feeding rhythm, not more aggressively than usual. Emptying the breast normally is important, but pumping excessively beyond what your baby needs can increase milk supply and that can also make your problem worse. You can use gentle lymphatic massage rather than deep tissue massage on the affected area. And remember, gentle, not aggressive. Also, putting ice or a cold compress on the red area or on the tender area can help reduce inflammation in between feeds. Make sure to stay hydrated and then rest as much as humanly possible with a newborn. Now, I know that sounds almost laughable, but rest genuinely matters here. The truth is you might not feel like you can do anything but rest. Sometimes you feel that knocked out. Sometimes your body is going to tell you, nope, you're not doing anything else but rest and keep your baby alive. And then make sure to contact your medical provider if you have a high fever, if the redness is spreading or it's getting worse, or if you have not improved within 24 hours. Now, antibiotics are needed for bacterial mastitis and they are safe to take while breastfeeding. So don't wait too long to make that call to your doctor or your PA or whoever's taking care of you. Now, can you keep breastfeeding? The answer is yes. In most cases, yes. So continue to breastfeed from the affected breast or pump if feeding is too painful, which sometimes it is. And pumping or breastfeeding is actually helpful with recovery because milk stasis or just milk not coming out when it's being produced is actually part of what created this problem and keeping milk moving is part of solving it. Now, mastitis alone is not a reason to stop breastfeeding. If breastfeeding is too painful, you can work with your medical provider or even a lactation consultant to help find the most comfortable way to keep draining your breast while you are recovering. Now, what about prevention? Sadly, you cannot prevent most cases of mastitis. It can happen even when you're doing all the things right. I was doing everything right and I still got it. Actually, twice with my last baby. So give yourself some grace if you're in this situation, but you can lower your risk. So make sure your baby has a deep latch that's effectively removing milk. Now, if you haven't watched my breastfeeding latch video, go watch that. I will link to that right up here. Also avoid long stretches without feeding or pumping, especially in the early weeks. Make sure to treat nipple cracks or damage early because damaged skin is how bacteria gets into your breast. And then also ask for help early if breastfeeding isn't going well. A latch problem caught at week one is so, so much easier to fix than one that's been going on for a month. Now, looking back at that footage, I'm glad that I recorded it. Not because having mastitis was anything other than miserable. It really was awful. But I think there's real value in seeing it honestly. And also in knowing that a woman who teaches postpartum health for a living ended up in bed with a fever feeling like she'd been hit by a trick and recovered. So just remember, mastitis can come on fast. But now that you know how to recognize symptoms early and know what to do when you notice those symptoms, you'll know right what to do as soon as you feel it. So save this video and honestly send this to any of your fellow breastfeeding mamas now before she needs it. Because the moment that you need this information is not going to be a calm moment where you feel like doing research. Now, if you are new to this channel, I do have a free community of pregnant and breastfeeding mamas. Mamas who are also navigating early postpartum and breastfeeding together. So you don't have to figure out all of this alone. I will link to that free community in the video description below. And I will also link to my breastfeeding video right here. Click on that and I will see you over there.