WWYD- Intense Itching

lotsobabies

For at least the past 3 nights I have had an intense itching all over my body that will either wake me from sleeping or not allow me to fall asleep. It does lessen through the day but becomes nearly unbearable at night. I have tried cool oatmeal baths, lotions and other ways to soothe the itch with no success.

I made a call to the on call doctor early this afternoon. He advised that I take Benadryl and make an appointment this week regarding the itching. Since then, I have taken Benadryl, which did nothing but knock me out. The itching is as intense as ever and within the last hour I am developing an increasing amount of small red extremely itchy bumps in various places. I am already being seen 2 x weekly for Pre-E monitoring, so I have 2 appointments on the books this week.

So, my question is: Would you make another call to the on-call? Go into L&D? Wait until your appointment that is already scheduled on Tuesday?

WillyBean

This sounds so similar to what I had in the 2nd trimester. I was unbearably itchy at night to the point that Benadryl did nothing. I was only red I finally went to the dermatologist and he said I have pregnancy-related eczema, which was why the Benadryl didn't help. He prescribed me some cream that INSTANTLY helped. It's called: triamcinolone acetonide. Maybe that could help you? I used it a couple of times per day at first but now I only use it once a week, if that.

lotsobabies

cocohkn said:

I had and continue to have itching. After itching small bumps would appear. My OB has tested me for, and has confirmed I have cholestasis. It's not something you want to ignore. I'm not saying you have it, and I'm not a doctor, but make sure your doctor does run some tests rather than just telling you to take Benadryl.

That is definitely something that is on my radar. I am in for an NST and an ultrasound tomorrow, they also have an onsite lab so I am hoping I can have them do the blood draw to rule that out.

kindacrunchy

Yeah, make sure they are taking it seriously and insist they test your bile levels. I mentioned to my ob that I've been a little more itchy lately and she got concerned and started asking me more questions and brought up testing for cholestasis. We didn't end you doing it since I'm sure my itching doesn't fall into the intense category but she told me if it starts to increase to let her know asap. One of the things we talked about was that it doesn't prevent me from sleeping or wake me up, that seems to be a red flag that it wakes you up. Hopefully it's something harmless like pupps but cholestasis is serious and needs to be ruled out. Good luck!

jenn43

I had terrible itching, mostly on my belly and all over my legs.  It usually came on in the evening, right before bed, and would keep me awake.  My tests for cholestasis were normal.  Here's what helped with the itching

-either benadryl or hydroxyzine if your doctor prescribes it (the hydroxyzine worked better for me- it's also called Atarax)

-taking an ice cold shower.  I put the water on the coldest setting and let it run over where I was itching

-mixing over-the-counter cortisone cream with some Gold-Bond lotion meant for itching (it's got menthol, so it's tingly.  It was in the pharmacy by the stuff for medical skin problems like psoriasis, not by the regular lotion).  

That combo worked pretty much every time, even if the cold shower was miserable.  

sunflwr2

Im really concerned because I posted something similar earlier. I also have itching and a rash it started a few weeks ago on my legs, almost my bikini area on both sides kind of on yhe crease. And then moved to just under my chest (right on the band of my sports bra) its itchy but def not unnearable. Then today it spread to both sides of my abdomen. The only part that is very itchy is one side of my leg on the original spot which has turned to almost a hive. My stomach seems to.fade at times and then gets worse after a shower. I called my obs office and they wouldnt squeeze me in. One of the drs left me a message and told me what to do for the itch. He wasnt concerned at all that it was anything alarming. But now im freaking out hearing about cholestasis. I have an appt wed but now im wondering if I should demand an appt tmrw?

heathera1979

cocohkn said:

I had and continue to have itching. After itching small bumps would appear. My OB has tested me for, and has confirmed I have cholestasis. It's not something you want to ignore. I'm not saying you have it, and I'm not a doctor, but make sure your doctor does run some tests rather than just telling you to take Benadryl.

I'm waiting for blood work to diagnose or rule this out as well... I was going to make the same suggestion!

CubanPinky

have you tried Serna? its a lotino...helped me out a ton

lotsobabies

I am currently awaiting the results of my blood work. I am hoping to have them by my OB appointment Monday morning.

crawford411 said:

I hate to mention this, but if it's little red bumps worst at night, especially on your wrists, ankles, armpits, etc. it could also be scabies and totally not pregnancy-related.

The bumps only arise in the places that I itch, which is unfortunately everywhere. I had an OB appointment today and they are not really say cholestasis out loud. However, they don't need too, I've already read up as much as I can about it. My symptoms are very consistent with cholestasis and not so much PUPPS. I am still holding out hope that it's just pregnancy itching. The NP that I saw today wouldn't even give me the game plan if my levels are elevated because " it's too rare to even worry about." I'm not sure how I feel about that response, but luckily I go back very soon and will see my OB for more details.