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Mumsnet Discussions:
Pregnancy
: Is anyone else suffering from Obstetric Cholestasis at the moment?
(39 messages)
I haven't got cheese graters, but have you dried dry body brushing? YOu can buy a body brish, or use a childs soft hairbrush - it gives just enough relief without damaging your skin (if you don't press too hard that is.
Good luck. Hope you get some sleep. I was addicted to the ItchyMoms group on Yahoo when I was up all night itching last time. But that was before I had discovered Mumsnet .
I'd stick to what they've prescribed you - is it 600mg?
if that doesn't work, keep pestering them. looks like you can go up much more if Prufrock took 1200mg a day.
Homeopathic stuff not necessarily expensive. I didn't try it but have heard that milk thistle is good for supporting liver.
Sounds like you're doing all the right things. Try to eat something REALLY low fat for dinner eg. steamed fish, vegetables and rice. It's bedtime that's worst, if i recall, so reducing the strain on your digestive system in the evening is good.
Good luck. Hope it gets better with the increased urso dose.
ok, so realise it looks like i am talking to myself but i was just working out if i could have 2 of these new ones without overdosing and i havent gone up all that much. was on 500mg daily (2X250mg)
sorry, DP just given me the new meds (he picked them up from hosp this evening as it was HEAVING earlier!) will be 600mg daily in 4 doses of 150g, if that makes sense?!!
pregna, i don't drink at all anyway and although i do have sugary things i don't eat all that badly really.
Had read on the itchymoms site (via jenny chambers page lol) about drining more. water on its own gives me heartburn oddly so have been having apple juice watered down to keep hydrated.
can't afford homeopathy but will try the lemon juice and hotwater thing. Tried putting a cold pack on last night in bed buit was itchy everywhere so it didn't really work!
hang on in there mumofmonsters. I ended up on 1200mg of urso daily by the end of my second pregnancy, so you still have some leeway.
pregnabrain's advice about doing things to support the liver is excellent - with ds I saw a homeopath who prescribed chelladonia (a remedy with an affinity for liver problems) and also recommended drinking a cup of hot water and lemon juice before going to sleep and upon waking - helps to flush out the system.
As you know, I had OC with my first pregnancy. It started at 28 weeks and i was induced at 38 weeks.
Am 27 weeks tomorrow and am now totally paranoid about every tiny itch! My skin is looking quite pale and yellow so I suspect i'll be itching before long.
Things that helped me:
1) drink loads of water 2) cut alcohol out completely, if you haven't already 3) avoid high fat / high sugar foods, and red meat.
The above are all designed to reduce the strain on your liver. Consultants etc will tell you that there is no evidence to suggest that diet can influence OC symptoms, but there is a good OC support group on Yahoo (called Itchymoms) and lots of women on there have reported reduced itching by controlling what they eat. My worst OC night ever followed a night out at a restaurant at which I drank red wine and ate steak. Avoiding certain things definitely helped me, even if only to give me some sense of control.
Menthol cream - get your chemist to mix menthol into aqueous cream. Provides blissful relief from the itching (although not for long).
urso - my itching really subsided when i started taking the medication. If yours hasn't, you should ask about taking an increased dose.
Wear light, cotton clothing. This was the only thing i could tolerate against my skin.
Hope this helps. You have my total, total sympathy. The itching / lack of sleep / stress combination is really hideous and the last thing you want to be dealing with when anticipating the arrival of your new baby.
It honestly does disappear COMPLETELY when the baby's out, though.
Dr has put my Urso up from 250 mg to 600mg and consultant will review again on wednesday. Made a right mess of my legs in the night (while i was asleep )
scan checked baby's estimated size. I know that it can be wrong but they wanted to check size to see if its safe to deliver early (as in now) and baby looks like 6lb 4 which is fine. sonographer looked over heart and said it looked fine, didn't check blood flowing thru it as far as i can tell. Am still having plenty of movements.
Going to mention tomo that i am no better, in fact today i am much itchier than y'day and completely unable to stop the scratching
AM having a nrmal bath later followed by cool shower!
Thanks for those stats, Fettle. I will definitely keep trying for another baby - itching or no itching, of course they're worth it. I think I got off lightly with my OC last time though, from some of the stories on here!
That's high bile's. But there is no proven correlation between risk of stillbirth and specific levels of bile acids, so don't worry about them.
I was desperate to get both mine out - it felt so awful to know that it was my body that was effectively poisoning the babies I should be keeping safe. I've got a thread somewhere from 2004 debating the merits/risks of early delivery, but general concensus was anything post 37 weeks is ok, but the later the better.
Are you having the scans that show the flow of blood through the babies heart? The 2006 guidleine said that there was no conclusive proof on it but my consultant was very hopeful that it could provide a warning system
MoM - oh no, don't feel like an outsider - we do talk lots at the moment, I'm sure that'll level out when we all have our babies! We need some more experienced Mums on the thread as we have lots of first timers (me included!) with silly questions Feel free to drop back in anytime you need some inane chatter/a moan
I was induced at 36.3 with dd, finally deliverying by emergency c-scetion at 37 weeks. I think my AST got up to about 270 at one point. With ds, I think it got up to about 350. But my bile acids were never over 20. Ds was delivered by elective c-section at 37.3.
If you've had 2 VB's already, then induction is a lot easier than if your body has never done it. Theres loads of threads on active management of an induced birth in the archives - it doesn't have to mean overly medicalised.
And if you are feeling regular movement then there is no reason whatsoever to be in hospital until they are ready to deliver you. There's nothing short of continuous CTG that can make you any safer than just being concious of your bady yourself. And IME the stress of being in a ward far outweighed teh benefits of being closer to a theatre
my bile salt levels are 85, either AST or ALS or something like that is 126 and one is 158 or there abouts (the page fell out today and they are keeping it at hosp for me)
That was from mondays tests, had more bloods taken wednesday so will get those results on monday
I had this twice and can totally sympathise with the hell of the itching. In both my pregnancies it started at 13 weeks, but became really, scratching-so-much-I-bled bad later on.
Cold linen sheets, having a fan on overnight, body cream that contained peppermint or menthol, sleeping with icepacks (those gel ones you use to chill bottles of wine) on my feet, dh blowing on my toes, cold baths, wet flannels - all worked and failed to various degrees.
fettle is right though, piriton can't help the itching, though it does have a sedative effect which can help you to sleep through the itch - but if it's that bad it's better to try normal sleeping pills.
this is the latest medical guideline on treatment, and this is the website of the support group, set up by the wonderful Jenny Chambers.
with DS - the highest my bile got to was 15, which isn't far off normal! but one of my liver enzymes went to about 80 - again not too high, but as I'd had OC before they wanted to treat me cautiously - but I didn't have any treatment.
With DD again my bile wasn't so high - about 80, I seem to remember, but one of liver enyzmes was in the 100's! can't remember which one it was though - I know there is one liver enzyme that rises in pregnancy normally anyway, so it was one of the others (and I'm supposed to be a scientist!).
Oh MOM - I remember the all over itching - it is awful! Try concentrating on anything other than the itching, but it is so hard. It is also much worse in the evenings and nights, so not very helpful now!
Gosh that sounds hell, I say two weeks isn't that long but I'm sure it feels like eternity for you at the moment! I know I'll have my baby in 4 weeks (at the most!!) but every day seems to drag and that's with no horrid pregnancy related things occurring.
I'm on the March thread - lot's more time to dedicate to MN now as I am on maternity leave, hurrah. Good luck with everything - I'll be keeping an eye out for your birth announcement
With DD I got it around 32 weeks and was induced at 36 weeks as my liver enzymes were doing sky high despite treatment and growth scans showed her to be a good size (she was 7lb 4.5 oz when born (almost pleased I didn't have a normal pg and go to 42 weeks!!).
With DS it came on much later, in fact annoyingly the day after I went on Mat leave at 36 weeks! They induced me at 38 weeks, but i had it much milder the second time around.
Jet, there are many varying percentages quoted on risks in future pregancies - some ranging up to 90%, but I liked the 50:50 rate my consultant quoted me! It is normal, if you do get it again to get it earlier and more severe than the first time, but that wasn't the case with me. Don't let it put you off having another one. I just had consultant led care the 2nd time around, so was all ready in case/when it started again.
MOM - induction is nothing to be worried about. I think too many people on MN give it a bad impression. Yes it does hurt, but then childbirth does!. It is not so bad being hooked up to teh monitor all the time (but then I've never had a normal birth, so don't know what it is like to be able to move around!)
Have you tried sitting on your hands? Only joking - I used to use one foot to itch the other! But watched telly with my feet in cold water - bliss!!! xxx
MMH, i don't feel right on the AN thread...U on the march one or the m/c one? (they blend when i am tired!)
Am 36 weeks and being monitored every other day. Meds aren't making a difference yet and had them since a stay over on Monday night when they had my results back and they were sky high. Not just my hands and feet now its my arms today, had it all over the other night. And i mean all over - not nice!
I had horrible itching thing when pregnant - rash all over feet and legs. Never ever have I itched like that before or since. I tried a mix of piriton (prescribed), aveeno colloidal oatmeal bath sachets, an anti-prickly heat spray (might have been called magicool?) and pine tar soap (Grandpa's Wonder Soap). Don't know which one did the trick but the itching calmed down massively. I think I had PPPS - it was suspected to be ob cholestasis but all the tests came back clear for me. But as far as the itching goes, these things might help.
I haven't had it MoM but wanted to send my sympathies and haven't seen you around on the AN thread for a while! 38 weeks must be pretty soon?
Hope it all goes well for you and second the cold towels/flannels suggestion. I have really itchy eczema and it seems to be the only thing to help (slightly different thing I know!)
Yes, I was induced at 37+2. Normal delivery though (well, forceps).
I only got OC in the late stages though - at about 35 weeks. They monitored me closely for a week or so then decided the levels had got too high and they should get the baby out.
This is my 4th pregnancy and i didn't get it with the DS's. Last pregnancy ended in m/c and i was convinced after that that my hormones had shifted and OC is supposedly hormone related
Out of interest - did you have it with your previous pregnancies too? I read somewhere that if you have it once, you are likely to get it with future pregnancies. I am planning on another baby and am wondering if I will get it again!
Piriton did nothing for me, it shouldn't really help with OC itching anyway. Different mode of action! But with DD I used cold wet towels to wrap my hands and feet in - helped me to finally get to sleep at night. With DS I was prescribed some menthol aqueous cream - see if you can get a prescription for that. Doesn't ease the itching for long, but cools the area enough to stop you itching for a while. So does help, as I found it a vicious circle, the more I scratched the more it itched!!
Not long now to go though and it will stop instantly your lovely little baby is born!
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