33 weeks and Itchy!!!

[moline543]

I'm 33 weeks pregnant and for the last week I have been getting small bumps/a rash on my legs and arms. It is pretty itchy. My midwives think it is possibly PUPPS. My understanding is that PUPPS usually begins on the abdomen and along stretch marks. My abdomen is pretty clear, it is just my legs and arms that are starting to drive me crazy. My treatment at the moment is burdock/dandelion root and dandelion leaf infusion. Nettle infusions and liquid chlorophyll. Any thoughts?

moline

[gela]

i think, maybe you can get relief with a oil from balm and tea-tree mixt with jojoba.

the cause can be the liver.

i dont know, what is "PUPPS" (i'am german and my english is very bad - sorry!)
perhaps you mean "HELLP syndrom"?

bye
gela

[moline543]

No, its not the same as HELLP syndrome. It is a condition that causes no harm to mom and baby except mom is itching with a rash. It is due to liver stress though, but lab tests come back normal for liver enzymes. I've been keeping up with my herbs. Things haven't gotten better but at least the itching hasn't got much worse.

Thanks for the response,
moline

[crystal woman]

Gela - The term PUPPP is short for Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy, a skin condition also known as Polymorphous Eruption of Pregnancy or Polymorphic eruption. It is an itchy, bumpy rash that starts in the stretch marks of the abdomen in the last 3 months of pregnancy then clears with delivery. For a further account of this condition click on the following site:
http://dermnetnz.org/reactions/puppp.html

Moline, I don't think it is only because of stress on the liver. If you do a bit of research you'll find that some authorities will also attribute it to hormonal changes and weight changes during pregnancy.

Some menopausal women who are on estrogen replacement therapy will gain weight, often this will cause a rash exactly like PUPPP in the same locations on the body. One of the things my doctor explained to me is that some people are allergic to the histamine (not anti-histamine) that their own bodies produce. (I'm one of them). When the skin becomes stretched, or if pressure is put on the skin, it will cause the body to produce histamine in the location of the stretching or pressure, and the histamine causes heat on the skin and rashes, welts and itchiness. Antihistamines can help with counteracting the histamine and reduce the itching, but it won't get rid of it entirely.

When hormonal levels get back to normal, and the skin is no longer stretching the rash disappears.

What I've found effective topically is moisturizing creams laced with cooling extracts such as mint, lemon verbena, tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract, etc. Pharmaceutically I've used Lanacaine and anaesthetizing Polysporin and these have provided immediate (but only temporary) relief. Cold compresses soaked in a cooling infusion is helpful, and so is frequent exposure to cool moist air.

[moline543]

That info was very helpful and interesting. So, I guess there may not be a lot of hope for this going away until this baby is born. I'll just keep up with the liver herbs since they are good for me anyway.

[gela]

crystal woman - thank you very much,
i haven't listened about this, resp. i didn't know the coherences.

gela