Ugh! well I had had thrush with mya and didn't get any help and I gave up feeding her as I thought that the pain I was experiencing was normal and I couldn't cope on my own without the support. Well I'm in the same spot now only I do have the support I went to the doctors yesterday and I was right with the mothers intuition and everything.. Anyway my question is I was given clotrimazole cream, I was looking through the leaflet and it said it shouldn't be given to breastfeeding mothers unless the risks outweigh the ones of the baby, I have been using it but I'm feeling uneasy about it, has anyone else used this for thrush whilst breastfeeding? I wipe it off before a feed do you think this is ok?

I've not heard of that...I was given nystatin which is safe for BF, though you do need to clean it off before nursing. I would phone your doctor if I were you , as I was prescribed tetracycline a while back and the leaflet said something similar. I phoned my surgery and was told not to take it. Have you also got some medicine/drops for LO? You'll keep giving each other the infection unless LO is treated too.

I would phone just to be on the safe side and see why they gave you that instead of nystatin x

Yep, I was given clotrimazole. I also questioned what you are asking about - and was told they HAD to put that on their cream because there hadn't been specific studies on the effects of clotrimazole on breastfeeding women and babies. however, it's been used for years and there haven't been any reported bad effects, apparently there was ONE case of what appeared to be an allergic reaction to the cream so that meant they wern't allowed to claim it was perfectly fine for everyone.

Nystatin isn't AS effective but should have been prescribed for baby's mouth, clotrimazole for your boobies....

Oh, this might be helpful:
http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org....g_Jan-2012.pdf
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ETA: (pasted from another thread i responded to the other day)

Also - things i found useful - I used lids from a couple of bottles i had (theyy were tomee tippee bottles, if you can imagine the shape of the lids??) and basically put them in my bra to keep material off my boobs lol

^ if you do that, be careful, i got halfway round tescos getting funny looks from folk before realising i looked like madonna but it DOES help!! Get the cream and keep putting it on! If it's a viable option, walk around the house with a loose shirt on and no bra or anything. air your boobs!

I know it's bloody horrible, i had deep tissue thrush before realising what it was.......was really effing painful, but you can take ibuprofen and paracetamol (yes, both are safe to take at same time)......


also remember just sterilising things like dummies, teats, reusable breast pads etc isn't enough to kill the thrush, they need to be boiled for around 30 mins ideally, to make sure there is none of the evil stuff still alive.
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I think in this case the risks (which are very few but all medications have to state this) are outweighed by the benefits.....especially if one of the benefits is: you carry on breastfeeding a bit of clotrimazole and months of boobymilk is better for baby than formula and sore mouth (although baby WILL need to be treated, Nystatin is normally used but some practices vary - if your doc hasn't given anything for LO then i'd go back, even to another one because usually the thrush is coming FROM baby and into you). Oh, and i was told by breastfeeding clinic to wipe the clotrimazole cream off but my GP said she has prescribed it loads of times for BF mums and never heard of washing it off, and never had any reported problems!

Thank you for your help girls, kacen has nystatin for his mouth I just worried about mine but I'm glad someone else has had the same stuff

I didn't have the cream you mentioned, I had the tablets. I found that cutting out sugary foods helped alot, as thrush is a yeast infection, and yeast feeds on sugar.

If the pain gets worse, ask the Doctor to test your milk, as I was found to have a staph infection also. The thrush caused blisters and cracked nipples, leading to bacteria getting into my milk (very painful infection). I had several courses of antibiotics, but it eventually cleared. I had these problems for the first 5 months, but Jessica is now 13 months, and we're still going strong. It can be done!
Lots of luck, you're doing a great job x