Obstetric Cholestasis or PUPPS - blood test tomorrow!

Hi All!

Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place but I'm sure the MODS will move it if I have done the wrong thing.

First thing tomorrow morning (so I really should be in bed and not on BB) I'm headed to the hospital for a blood test to determine if I have developed Obstetric Cholestasis or if I have the beginnings of PUPPS or something else entirely.

I started feeling quite itchy last night on my tummy, chest, back and arms, but also on my feet and hands. I woke at 3:30am with itchy feet and hands and couldn't go back to sleep for awhile so spent some time googling trying to figure out what was going on. That just made me worry so I finally went back to sleep and rang my midwife first thing this morning.

This morning she wasn't convinced that it was cholestasis and asked me to monitor the itching and get back to her. In the afternoon the itch was quite severe on my hands and feet again so I rang her and she advised that I come in for the blood test.

I'm trying not to worry - my husband and I are strong Christians and I know that my unborn child and this pregnancy are in God's hands - but it is hard not to stress about it.

If anyone has any knowledge or first hand experience with the condition I would appreciate hearing from you.

I'm most concerned about the fact that if I do have the condition it pretty much sounds like this baby will be arriving about 4 weeks earlier then we expected!

Any help appreciated - now I think I should try to get some sleep as it has been a rough week. I spent Mother's Day in bed with gastro, my 3 yr old is sick with a bad cold, and I'm coming down with the cold now as well.

Cheers...

Heidi, I don't know anything of either condition, but couldn't read this without reply. Sending my love and hope that all will be OK with you and your bub - will be thinking of you sweet.

:hug:

Hello Lilprecious

I had OC with my son. You normally get the symptoms in the last trimester. I had itching like you wouldn?t believe, liver pain, vomiting and insomnia which are common symptoms of OC. If you do have it your baby will have to be born at around 36 weeks as baby?s born after this time have an increased risk of still birth.

There is a website at Itchy Moms Home This will give you all the information you need to know about OC.

My son was born at 39 weeks as I didn?t realise what was going on. I had been mildly itchy form months but being my first baby and being preoccupied with moving house I just thought it was one of those normal things and didn?t want to be seen to be overreacting being a first time mum and all. At about 38 weeks I couldn?t take it anymore and complained to the hospital. The stupid midwife told me literally that I was reading to many books and should go and have a cool bath (he was born in a hot February). It didn?t help that I had just moved to a new area and didn?t have my own Dr at that time. DP drove me to a lovely Dr who knew strait away what it was as soon as he saw me. By that stage I was covered in dried blood from the scratching. I sent me for tests and sent me strait to the hospital. They started the induction that night and DS was born by emergency caesarean the following evening.

Turned out I got the same horrible midwife when he was born also. Didn?t she feel stupid. Fortunately I was ignorant to the risks as I didn?t know anything about it until after DS was born. If I had known I would have freaked out.

Good luck with your test results. I hope it is not OC but if it is my advise to you would be to try and stay as cool as possible as heat make the itching worse. Cold showers in the middle of winter don?t sound that appealing but it will help. Put old sheets on your bed. Mine all had to be thrown out by the time DS arrived as they were ruined with all the bleeding. I had the itching until DS was about a week old then it started to go away. But would come back every now and then for a few weeks.

I am happy to answer any of your questions but the site above will also be of good help. I wish I know about it before DS was born.

Lolly

Lilprecious - I've just had my second blood test for this also. I dont have the liver pain, or vomiting that Lolly mentioned but I do have insomnia as well of course as this insane itching. I can barely type right now the itching is so annoying!!

I actually found that hot showers do help, but only for a little while. Once I am out of the shower, I have maybe 20 minutes of relief before the itching starts. As far as I can tell the key marker they are looking for in pathology is a rise in bile salts. Mine have stayed steady at 5 (I dont know what the measure is - maybe 5mg/lt blood or something like that?) but I think I'll be getting more blood tests each time I see a doctor just to monitor it as the itching has not gotten any better. I havent made myself bleed from itching yet, but I had given myself bruises.

I've been told that calamine lotion is helpful, as is Mylanta rubbed on the skin also. Best thing I can work out is to try and stay distracted - I've crocheted two hats this week trying to forget about it! Best of luck for your tests :)

I had OC in my pregnancy with DD. I was abit like Lolly and had the whole nine yards!! DD ended up being induced at 35 weeks.

I'm not really sure whatelse I can say to help. Like you and your DH my DH and I are strong christians and we just left it to God to take care of both DD and I and tried not to stress out to much about it all. I had monitoring 3 times a week with bloods and CTG's. That was tough. I also had scans.

I will be praying for a good outcome for you and your little one. Just rest in God and He will lead you through. Isaiah 40:11

Blessings
Amy

Calamine lotion didn't do anything for me. The Dr's in the hospital gave me antihistamine which did help for a little while. Also I forgot to mention that OC inhibits your bodies ability to take on Vitamin K which helps in clotting. You should get some Vitamin K supplements or you and your bub could have bleeding issues during birth. My OB also told me that I can never go on the pill now. Apparently people with OC's livers can't cope with to much estragon and it can cause you to have a stroke.

Hope you're doing OK Heidi - thinking of you hon!

Hi All!

Thanks so much to all of you for the replies and advice! Wouldn't you know the itching has TOTALLY stopped as of yesterday evening sometime??? I still smeared myself with loads of sorbolene before bed last night and we still went and got the blood test done this morning.

I spoke to my midwife when I got home and because the itching has totally stopped she is confident that it isn't actually OC and is more likely the cold, dry, winter air and my extreme dehydration earlier in the week from the gastro I had on mother's day.

However, she assured me that should would let me know as soon as she had the test results. I got my other normal bloods done at the same time (saves being poked again at my normal appointment next week) and the results for those are all normal. The bile salts result will be in tomorrow or Monday and my midwife is working tomorrow so if the results come in tomorrow she will contact me immediately.

So I'm feeling MUCH less stressed and more confident about everything again. With a very active 3 year old and a husband who owns his own business and works insane hours having to be monitored weekly or multiple times a week woud get difficult!

I will keep everyone posted as I learn more and thanks again for all your help and advice!

That is great news. I hope the rest of your pregnancy is uneventful.

Hello!

The bile salts results didn't come through today as we had hoped so my midwife will contact me Monday when she checks again.

In the meantime, the itching is still gone, baby is active as ever, and I feel fine. Just still working to get my fluid levels up from when I had gastro and trying to eat really healthy as well. I lost about 2 kgs in the 24 hours I was sick!!

Any news, Heidi?
Went to the Obs yesterday for 37 week check and she was a bit worried as my Liver Function is not so good, (I have had severe Obstetric Cholestasis with 2 out of the last 3 babies)

I had a few repeat tests done this morning and an appointment on Friday to look at our options. Looks like the baby may need to be born earlier, but I am not ready!
Jo

hi, i hope that someone can reply and give me some much needed information,,with my first pregnancy all was goood i didnt have the condition, a few weeks after my daughter was born i was diagnosed with gallstones and with my 2nd pregnancy towards the end i was told i had cholestasis, i had severe itchiness but my doctor didnt give me any meds and told me just to put some cream to help with the itchiness and i read that there were risks like stillborn and i mentioned that to the doctor but he said na that wont happen, anywayz my daughter was born at 40 weeks and now im almost 16.5 weeks and i had some itchiness last night and im scared its happening all over again but this time way earlier, im going in for blood test some time this week but im scared the doctor wont give me anything and then something goes wrong..wat medications are there to help..my next hospital appointment with midwife and OB is in another 4 weeks...are there any risks if u get cholestasis in early pregnancy..any advice would b appreciated..thanksss