itchy rash driving me nuts

god how i hope someone can help me. I have the rash from hell and it's driving me nuts, so bad i think it may result in divorce or serious psychological damage to some of my kids. It started on Sunday night on my bump, monday morning it was on my fore arms, by yesterday it was all over my arms, chest bump and stardting to go down my thighs, this morning it is everywhere except my feet and my face. The itching is unbelieveble, to the extent i've just scratched my boobs so much i have made them bleed. I can't see my own doc this week as he is on leave, the other doc at the practice is a waste of space. I went to another practice yesterday and the doc there was so crap he could hardly speak english, didn't understand what i was telling him, didn;t realise i was preggie (33 weeks and large with it). he kept saying, it allergy to something yhou eat, now i know it could be but i have never had a rash of any kind except when i had german measles aged 8 so think its highly unlikely that its food related when i havent eaten anything unusual. I called my local maternity department and the girl i spoke to laughed at me and said babies don't cause rashes. well i don't know where she did her training but according to the internet they can and do.

I don;t seem to be able to find a medical person who can understand the hell i'm going through and help stop it, or at least tell me its nothing to worry about and tell me what to do to stop the itching.

has anyone had anything similar, the rash on my bump and chest is like one huge mass of pin ***** sized spots which make my skin feel like sand paper. the ones on my arms and legs have gone larger and are more lumpy than *****ly.

Sorry have to go and get back in my cold shower before i rip my skin off.

Taz

can't believe that this site is so PC you can't even use a work like pin***** without it ** it outso that the phrase is not understandable anymore, incase anyone thought i ws actually swearing or something the word i was using was p r i c k, as in pin p r i c k or p r i c k l y. sometimes i think the world has gone mad on political correctness.

Taz

well... just to update....

i called my ante-natal clinic and they straight off told me to come in this morning, they are concerned that it may be related to a liver problem. I'm not cos what i've read about that says it affects your hands and feet, which are the only parts not affected by the rash i've got, but it has to be ruled out, i'm just happy that someone is showing concern about it (my god does that makeme an attention seeker!). Of course the rash has died down a little which it did both yesterday and the day before but came back worse later in the day so i'm not being fooled by it today!!

So off to Joondalup now and i'll let you know how i go.

Taz

Taz - let us know how you go at the clinic. I hear you on medical staff though - I remember going to a clinic because AF was two weeks late and he didn't understand a word I was saying either!
But I wanted to say - calmine lotion is what we use in the hospitals for itchiness. Of course, it doesn't always work. When I get a mozzie bite I use vinegar (actualy works!). Cold compresses are the another great natural remedy (so good on you for getting in a cold shower!). Otherwise - have a chat to your pharmacy for a product you can use to help with the itch - topical is usually best. Do let us know what the clinic says though.

MG :)

well, just got back from the clinic and all is well, if a bit itchy and red. They called in the consultant for his verdict and they went through all the options, he eventually plumped for something rare the name of which i can't remember. he said its not dangerous to me or bub, but we all agreed the symptoms would be dangerous for the rest of the family. It will likely last for the rest of the pregnancy and if it gets really unbearable then they may induce me early to "put me out of my misery". Not too keen on that idea but being due 2 days after schristmas it could have its advantages. So antihystamines and calamine lotion it is, along with ice packs and anything else i can find to keep the itching in check.

It gives me an excuse to put a set of acrylic nails on again as there is less chance of them breaking the skin than my own nails so i may get to indulge myself this evening:) I'm glad to know that it's nothing to worry about, although i think i knew that in myself, but sometimes you just need to hear it from someone who knows, especially when you have 3 other kids to worry about too.

Thanks for the kind words and wishes, if anyone has any suggestions on "how to remove the itch from itchyness" please keep them coming.

Taz

Taz - I'm glad you had a good outcome at the clinic! And what a brilliant idea with the nails!!! I'd go for it ;) Hopefully you won't need inducing and you can control it all with ice, antihistamines and calamine! I'll rack my brains for more ideas for you.

MG

Hi Taz,
I had a "heat type of rash' that came up mainly when i went to bed....sometimes during the day if it was a hot day.
I had it for 6 months straight every single night (7 weeks before due date now) and used to get up and put ice packs on the hives and rub an aloe vera plant on my skin afterwards. This only helped midly.
I changed my diet and stopped eating "heat related foods" and stopped buying instant food to avoid the preservatives, colourings etc.
What it ended up being was the pregnancy vitamin I was taking as within a week of stopping it, my nightly rash had diminished to about 2%. Obviously there is something in the tablet that affected my system and came out at night to haunt me.
Hope you find some relief soon.....
Bianca

i have a really itchy rash too, the one on my belly is all bumpy litle hives i think and worse in the heat, and under my arm i have a fungal rash the midwife said, if the one on my belly hasnt or isnt getting better in a week im going to go see my doctoer as its driving me nuts.. i cant cope with the itchyness anymore :( midwife told me to put sorbelene cream on it but its not doing much

It's a real nightmare isn't it?????

Mine is continuing to get worse, driving me even more nuts if thats possible. through the day its mostly bareable but at night....OMG.... you can rest assured that come 7.30pm i'll start to itch and by 9.30pm i'll be sat in a pile of skin. Somehoe it seems to be tied in with when bubs is active and it'snot always the same place either, last night it was my back and bum, by the time i went to bed it was my thighs. This morning it was my bump and my arms again. the really horrid part is that the bits where it started have gone all dry and spotty now, like coarse sandpaper, i have to walk like John Wayne until i get my pants on, there is no way i could wear a skirt:eek: My favourite time is in the morning, i can wake up and know that so long as i don;t move i wont itch, so i'll lie there with a pillow between my legs and the doona tucked all round me so no skin is touching any other skin and it's bliss, then as soon as i sit up all hell breaks loose:crying: I did get a script from the doc for antihitamines but the pharmacist told me only to take them if i really really have to as they airnt good for the baby and i'll become reliant on them to get through the itciness, so it's back to good old scratch and bear it again.

BTW i don't think mine is heat related as i have jsut been down the beach for a walk with the dog and am sweating like a pig, no itching:confused:

Isn't pregnancy a pain in the butt sometimes:)

Taz

Hi Taz,
Not nice to hear that you are still suffering from the itches.....
Apart from my heat rash I got a really bizzare skin condition on my buttocks, and tops of my thighs....my skin felt like sandpaper (the coarsest you could ever come across) and felt stretched....like there was no elastin in there. (it was a truly bizzare feeling and I have never had a skin condition like this before in my life)
I actually started rubbing Amolin Baby Cream on it (from the supermarket) and over the weeks it cleared up and now I have smooth, soft skin again.
Anyway I hope something you try works.....
Bianca

oh taz what you describe is exactly what I have underneath both of my arm pits. I never felt an itch so bad before to the point I could rip my skin apart and of course the more I itch the itchier it gets!I havent seen anyone about it though yet. But even the part where you mentioned it goes like sand paper on the skin and flaky, omg you really have described exactly what I got.

So glad I read this now

Taz, was what they called your condition obstetric cholestasis? That is a condition that stems from the liver etc etc and occurs during PG and goes away post-birth.

My OB thought that I had it, but my itch has continued post birth (Ruby is now 3 months!) although it's significantly better than it was, so it wasn't OC at all (my liver function tests were normal anyway).

Were blood tests done to check your liver function?

I must say though I never had any rash - just itch IYKWIM? It was EVERYWHERE except my face!!! It drove me absolutely crazy and night time was by FAR the worst without doubt. Oh and having a shower was just awful. During the day it was nowhere near as bad.

To date, I've found nothing that helps - antihistamines didn't help me either (including prescription ones - I tried Telfast, Claratyne and Tagamet - the latter being the prescription one).

Here is a link to another thread you may be interested in:

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ad.php?t=26099

I should add that I too would scratch the life out of myself during the night and would wake up with blood on my clothes.......horrid.

Could it be PUPPP which is a common pregnancy rash?

Symptoms and signs-

What red raised spots or bumps that itch strongly.

Where the rash usually starts on the abdomen and spreads to the thighs. Occasionally, the rash spreads to arms and buttocks. The face is never involved.

When the rash usually appears after 34 weeks of pregnancy and disappears after childbirth, but can recur with subsequent pregnancy.


Myn seems much worse than that so might go google it some more.-