Thrush!

Last week, it suddenly became very painful for me to breastfeed or pump and I noticed that Eliot had some white patches on the back of his tongue. A quick bit of research on the La Leche League website indicated we likely had thrush. How bad could it be? was my first thought. BAD. VERY BAD. It can be VERY, VERY BAD. Thrush, or oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), is a fungal infection that occurs when there is overgrowth of fungus called Candida. Candida is normally found on skin or mucous membranes. However, if the environment inside the mouth or throat becomes imbalanced, Candida can multiply. It's a yeast infection, basically. In medical terms, it's not that big of a deal. It won't lead to any serious health condition and it may even go away on it's own without treatment. However, it is INCREDIBLY PAINFUL and can be persistent and recurrent. Here's a very comprehensive article about thrush. I would say that for me, this has been more painful than delivering Eliot naturally. I'm serious. If you'd prefer to avoid TMI, this is your chance. Stop reading now.

My nipples are cracked, peeling, swollen and bleed when I pump. I've stopped breastfeeding until this goes away because I can't deal with the pain. It was determined that the infection had progressed beyond my nipples, to both the milk ducts and breast tissue. When I'm pumping, it feels like glass shards coming out instead of milk and there is sharp shooting pain through my breasts and into my back. When I'm not pumping, it feels like my nipples are on fire even though I'm walking around topless as much as possible. I can't hold Eliot against my chest, which has made taking care of him a bit difficult. He's definitely not impressed that I'm not breastfeeding him at night when wants it. A bottle doesn't seem what he wants at night, although he will take it if he's hungry. I'm not sure if Eliot is in any pain, but he's certainly been more fussy and needy than normal. He wants to be held all day and has cried himself to sleep every night.

I'm on a 10 day course of Diflucan and Eliot is on a 10 day course of Nystatin, which I've read doesn't work as well as other drugs. After four days of treatment, my symptoms are only slightly better. The recommendations for getting rid of thrush are extremely overwhelming and include the following:

• Disinfect all bottles and toys after each use by boiling for 20 minutes - I've been using my Medela microwave sterilization bags instead. I hope they work...
• Wash all plush toys, cloths, towels, sheets and any other items that would have been in contact with the baby/mom in HOT water with a bleach or vinegar rinse. We chose vinegar. Boiling all of these items for 5 minutes is recommended, but I don't know how that is humanly possible. What would you boil them in?!
• Switch to disposable diapers until the infection is gone and wash cloth diapers with vinegar rinse. We can't boil our diapers as it would ruin the snaps.
• Dry hands using paper towels and only use a bath towel once and then wash it, with vinegar rinse.
• Replace toothbrushes during treatment and after. Done.
• Replace makeup. Seriously!? I don't know what I'll do about this one... it's an expensive proposition.
• Clean all hard surfaces in your house with either a 10-percent bleach solution or vinegar water. We chose vinegar water.
• Change your diet to eliminate sugar, yeast, dairy, & wheat. Done to a certain extent.

In addition to these measures, we're both taking probiotics. I'm putting vinegar water on my nipples regularly, which is known to kill yeast. We used gentian violet (pronounced jen-shun) for two days, which was unbelievably messy and turned both my breasts and Eliot's face purple. There is some indication that prolonged use of this treatment can cause cancer, but a two day course is recommended by many sources, including La Leche League, Mothering Magazine and Dr. Sears.

A couple of things have me stumped. First, how am I supposed to clean our wooden toys? They have many areas where it seems that yeast would thrive. I can't boil them or soak them. Any ideas? Do I have to throw them away? Second, if regular dish soap and laundry soap doesn't kill the yeast spores, how can you possibly hope to eradicate it from your house? Or doesn't it matter? How long can they live on an inanimate object? Once the infection's been cleared from our bodies, will we be reinfected by a pillow or a shoe, for example?

Maybe I'm being overly worried about this, but there's a lot of horror stories on the Internet and I cannot imagine having this again or for an extended period of time. Any advice? I'm seeing our family doctor on Wednesday so I'll be sure to bombard her with all my questions, too. In the meantime, say a little prayer for my boobs and Eliot's mouth.