Excema during pregnancy

[cath]

Hi everyone,
I'm just wondering if anyone else suffered from excema during their pregnancy and what they did about it and were they able to get rid of it? I am 28 weeks pregnant and as of Wedensday I now have horrible excema on my poor pregnant stomach and on the lower half of my boobs which looks horrible and is burning and stinging and itching - I can't stand it. I used some new sheets (which had been wahsed once before we used them) and I think that started it off. I saw the Dr yesterday and I have tried Sigmacort 1% cream for 3 days which was uselss then as of last night have tried Betnovate .05% cream which so far doesn't really seem to be doing anything either. Does anyone have any suggestions about whart might clear it up - I don't know if I can live with this for another 12 weeks.
I hope my poor baby doesn't inherit this excema from me - it is bloody awful.I have had it at some point before in my life but haven't had it for at least the last 5 years. I am so regretting using those new sheets now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Hope everyone is well.

Thanks,
Cath

[Kat]

Cath,
There are some nasty rashes out there that you can get when you are pregnant that are not excema & some of them tend to start around this time.

I got a terrible rash and itching at 22 weeks. The only thing that got rid of it was oral steroid which I hated taking but I had no alternatives.

I still didn't find out what it was which is bad because I don't know what to expect next pregnancy now :(

However there are 2 rashes that I know of one is PUPPP which you'd have to look up in a search engine, the gist is its just a rash you get from being pregnant. Also one called herpes gestationitis which isn't related to herpes at all and is just a weird blistering rash that itches.

If it doesn't go away, get a referral to a dermatologist that specialises in pregnancy (if there is such a thing) because it is worthwhile to get it sorted out right NOW, I had mine go away in week 36 and then come back in labour and then persist for weeks, which was really awful.

My skin is still bad, but I think we are now putting that down to an increased allergic sensitivity - this can also be a cause of sudden rash in pregnancy. Things you were not previously 'allergic' to can be set off coz you're pregnant.

The only thing I found that worked ON my skin was to use QV wash in the bath instead of soap.

I hope your rash isn't any of these things and it goes away really quickly!

Kat

[aardvark]

I developed eczema in my elbow and knee folds last time I was pregnant. Normally I would just get it n my eyelids and hands.

I started taking a DHA supplement called Efanatal, on account of it apparently helping to prevent PND which I had badly after baby #1.

Next thing I know, the eczema had cleared up, so I did some reading, and the essential fatty acids in the suplement are also supposed to help with eczema, too.

[cath]

Hi Kat and Aardvark,
thanks for your replies. Kat, I think you are right and this is not excema - it is not getting better with the low dose cortisone creams and it is spreading and very uncomfortable. I looked up PUPPP on the internet and I think that is what it is - there were some photos and my rash looks very much like them -now looks like a big burn.I rang my Obstetrician this morning and his receptionist (who I think might be a midwife or something -she seems to know a lot) asked how many weeks I am and what the rash was like and said they would need to see me today so I am seeing him this afternoon. You are so right about doing something now - I really want to try and clear this up over the next few weeks (so hope I can). Aardvark, I think there might be something in what you say about the essential fatty acids -I read something on that too so I will see what I can do to increase my intake of them and hope that helps. What a pain!! At least I can still feel the baby moving around so hopefully it is okay in there. Thanks again.

Cath

[dee dee]

Hi Cath, I too suffered with puppp during my pregnancy and the itching would drive me insane. My ob sent me to a dermatologist who prescribed aristacort which helped me. My ob was always one who liked to play it safe and also sent me for blood tests to check my liver function as during pregnancy there was some condition of the liver (can't remember what it was called) that could also cause a similar rash. Thank goodness it wasn't anything as serious as that.

[cath]

Hi,
my rash was not excema in the end and is in fact this horrible thing called PUPPP. I've had a shocking week where I've hardly slept and have been burning and itching and having baths at 4am to try and relieve it and trying every medication known to man. I've seen my Obstetrician twice and I have now had to start taking an oral steroid which apparently won't hurt the baby but I still hate taking it. I am also taking an antihistamine tablet and putting Mylanta liquid on my rash (bizarre I know but it really cools it down). My rash gradually spread over the week so now 3/4 of my boobs have it and it is all over my stomach including my sides. I only started the steroids yesterday and my Dr said I should see a big improvement by Monday but that I might have episodes of this now until the pregnany ends. At least this didn't start in week 16 or something - 11 weeks to go and counting (maybe less if I'm lucky). Thanks again for all your advice.

Cath