hey ladies, i'm 34 weeks pregnant now and i've developed a very irritating rash on my lower abdomen, upper thighs, arms and legs. they itch like crazy! red raised bumps and now its just overwhelming. went to the dr yesterday to get them checked out and they gave me steroids(prednisone) and some benedryl followed by another dr appointment next week. i feel extremely leery about taking the prednisone as i have researched this stuff in regards to pregnancy. most people have found that when they have the rash it is due to liver problems? i dont know anything yet but im hoping that it will go away. i was wondering if there was anyone here who could relate to this symptom.
i had a rash like that when i was 23 weeks. they put me in the hospital for 3 days, and had me on an iv with some steroids and lots of benedryl. I was also really hesitant about the steroids, but they put it in my iv the first night i was there, while i was sleeping, and didnt really explain it to me until the next day. They said it wouldnt do any harm to the baby, and it was necisary to keep the rash under control. still, i opted not to have it given to me again after that and the rash did go away eventually on it's own. my rash started as a normal "pregnancy rash" and was irritated by the antibiotics i was on at the time for a kidney infection. they think i was allergic to them. It got so bad i had to go to the er, and thats how i ended up in the hospital. my whole face was swollen and the rash was covering my entire body. it took about a month for it to completely disappear, but mine was really really bad. i found that the benedryl and a lot of lotion really helped a lot.
Maybe your skin is just irritated from being stretched? Here are a couple sites on prednisone during pregnancy. http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/hliving/cortdef.html http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/pred_wcp.htm http://forums.obgyn.net/pregnancy-birth/P-B.0008/0626.html http://ibdcrohns.about.com/cs/prednisone/a/prednisonefaq.htm Is prednisone safe during pregnancy? The FDA has classified prednisone as a type C drug. This means that it is not known what effect pregnancy will have on an unborn baby. Notify the prescribing doctor if you become pregnant while taking prednisone. Prednisone does pass into breast milk, and could affect a nursing infant.
I had a horrible itchy trunk during pregnancy, and it DROVE ME INSANE! Why not try aloe or calendula ointments? Or an oatmeal bath. Another thing I found that helped was taking a REALLY HOT shower and putting the itch under the water until the heat took away the itch. *hugs* To show how out of the loop I was, I didn't even know you posted here anymore, Syra, let alone were pregnant! Congrats!
my doctor gave me a hydracortizone cream cut 50-50 with a non-lanolin based lotion (I am allergic to wool). Worked really well.
I was itchy as hell during all my pregnancies. My doctor said, "That happens to pregnant womyn." Ordered some Liver Function Tests and when those came back normal, told me to take Oatmeal baths. I didn't want or get any medication. Benadryl is like an anesthetic to me, and I wouldn't have taken it anyway. Some mamas get itchy because of the stretching, others because their livers are handling the baby's waste, as well as their own. As long as your doctor is keeping an eye on it, Oatmeal baths, plenty of good moisturiser ect should be enough. I had to take some steroids during my last two pregnancies, but due to Severe Intractable Migranes, as it was preferable to my getting dehydrated, becoming "intractibly emetic" (meaning you can't stop vomiting) and living in the hospital. Steroids are serious medicine, did your OB do any tests to rule out liver stuff? Chances are it's fine, but I'd want to know, before taking those meds. Can you function on the Benadryl? Everyone is different. I can take enough Narcotics to kill a horse (pregnant or not) and not get a single side effect, but antihistamines put me out for days. Ask your doctor what his thinking was on this, and how long you will need to take the meds. You may well need this stuff, but you do want to know. LFTs, or Liver Function Tests are easy to take, it's just some blood. If you are concerned, ask your doctor why he didn't order them. Chances are you liver is just fine (if you have any form of Hepatitis, he certainly should have ordered them before treatment, though) but, usually, the liver is fine. Your doctor or midwife is probably the best person to ask, though.
Here's some info. The Linked article contains some scary, but rare things. but, you do need to talk to your doctor, as all the data says he should have done LFTs for itching, before treatment. J Occhipinti and others recently published an algorithm for evaluating the cause of itching during pregnancy, Occhipinti J, Parsey K, Nanda K: A diagnostic and therapeutic approach to pruritus in pregnant women. Prim Care Update Ob/Gyns 1997 4(6):217-23. In it they use the major breakdown as to whether or not skin lesions or a rash is present. Keeping in mind that sometimes scratching that itch can cause a skin rash or lesion, you often find that the itching is generalized and there is no visible cause. In this case you look for general medical diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, anemias, lymphomas, parasites and others. If these are not obviously present of suggested by other symptoms, then the next best step is to treat for the most common cause of itching -- dry skin also called xerosis. Moisturizing creams will often cure the problem. If this doesn't work, your doctor will order liver function tests and bile acid levels to make sure you don't have pruritus gravidarum or some other liver disease. When a rash, not just that from scratching, is present, the main differentiating factor is whether a fever is present. If it is, it can represent chicken pox (varicella), Fifths disease (parovirus) or even a reaction to some drug or medication you are taking. If no fever is present your doctor will need to decide if it is a pregnancy specific skin problem or something that is just coincidental with pregnancy such as eczema, psoriasis or scabies for example. There are some pregnancy specific skin diseases that are quite dramatic but disappear completely after delivery. an article on itching and what it means http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/prenatalhealth/9450.html
I was watching the Discovery health channel on pregnancy and delivery. They were talking about severe itching during pregnancy that could be caused by a liver condition. It's rare, but it could happen. I'd go see your doctor.
so i talked to my Dr and I have PUPPPS which is normal for those in their first pregnancy. alot of women get them in their 3rd trimester. they put me on benedry and steroids(prednisone). those didnt work. I bought 3 different types of cream, those didnt work. and then after all that she put me on zantac and something else. it made the itching reduce but its still itchy. i'm still waiting on my liver tests. ill find out about that next week i'm due march 16th and she wants to induce me as early as next week....if im dialated next week she wants to induce me....if not then she wants to try every week til my due date. if i'm still not dialated by my actual due date she is still going to induce me. i'm going to see if she can put off inducing me til my husband comes home for R&R from Iraq for two weeks on March 12th. If she cant, then i dunno. she never quite said why she wanted to induce me. i think she was concerned about the rash. but ill find out more details this week when i go in again. whew that was alot of information.
it sounds like the same thing i had with my first pregnancy. but i had scabies. the doctor prescribed me something to get rid of the lil bugs and told me to put anti itch cream on and to get aveeno oatmeal bath and after about 10 days i was perfectly fine. so i suggest you get some aveeno oatmeal bath and fill the tub in luke warm water (anything hotter will make you itch like crazy i learned the hard way) and put the oatmeal stuff in and just relax for a half hour or so.
Any doctor trying to schedule you for an induction at 35 weeks had better have a damned good reason! Every day in the womb matters, and taking out a baby before she's ready for no good reason leads to lots of problems with respiration, breastfeeding, and just general health. If your doctor cannot give you a REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY good reason as to WHY she wants to induce, ask her when her vacation is (as that MUST be the reason she wants you to deliver early) and hire a new doctor. Remember, you can hire a new doc at ANY time, even labour. And letting them do things to you that will only lead to more intervention and more problems in labour and more problems in breastfeeding is only going to frustrate you and harm you and your baby. *hugs*
I would certainly find out WHY! Even if it IS because of the PUPPS, unless you are in danger of liver failure (which is unlikely) taking a baby out of the womb so early is more dangerous than the itching. YOU have the final say. Don't let your baby end up in the NICU because your doctor may be nervous and not feeling adequate. Some docs cause preterm deliveries, and then just hand the baby off to the NICU staff. Not fair to the baby, or the parents. I'd sit down with your doctor and find out EXACTLY what her thinking is AND what ALL your options are. Don't let her scare you, either, do your own research, and do what you can to prevent a preterm delivery. At 35 weeks many babies do NOT have functioning lungs, this can have much more serious long term concequences than the PUPPS will. Even a baby with lungs in working order may have much difficulty breastfeeding, and your baby deserves to be breastfed. Don't let a nervous doctor take that from her. ASK your doctor what is done to facilitate complete breastfeeding in preterm babies in her hospital, if she blows off the question, say that that isn't "important" at this time, it means she doesn't know or doesn't care. I'd also get a second opinion. The earlier the "attempt" to induce, the higher the risk of C Section. Chances are, they don't just let you go home if the induction attempt doesn't work. THings go on in your body when they put these strong hormones in, and most doctors who "attempt an induction" don't wait long, and just start cutting. PLEASE, for your own health and your baby's look into this. They aren't going to "attempt" to induce you, and then just happily let you go home if you don't deliver. They usually do whatever is most convenient for them to just get the baby out, so they don't have to mess with it anymore. Only you can be your own advocate.
