Crazy itching and antihistamine

[buttercup123]

Has anyone else had ridiculously crazy itching, accompanied by a rash over most of their body (particularly stomach, chest and back, but not hands and feet)? I've been to the GP and getting the tests for OC, but he thinks it is more likely just the hormones causing irritation / eczma. He has given me antihistamines to take - but I'm worried about taking them, as apparently their safety has not been completely proven? (Which I don't understand, given the GP prescribed them for me.)

The itching has been insane - not been able to sleep, just non-stop itching. Last night seemed a little better, after an oatmeal bath and then smothering myself in calamine lotion. But I'm not sure I can handle another 17 odd weeks of this itching (only 23 weeks), and would love to be able to take some antihistamines to be able to clear it up properly. (I haven't taken any yet, as wanted to find out more about their safety first.)

Any advice / info on antihistamines would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds exactly like me.

My MW sent me up the hospital yesterday to get bloods done, just to be on the safe side. Came back clear but I have been prescribed piriton (have also read on here that a number of pregnant women have been taking piriton as well). Doc said obviously it hasn't been tested on pregnant women but it has been used for decades with no problems. He also said I could try Aqueous cream but its unlikely to help.

I suffer from all sorts of allergies including hay fever, dust mites, etc (am 31 wks pg). Best not to take antihistamines, and the only ones my consultant has told me are safe in pregnancy are Piriton (you can get them over the counter at any chemist). Other ones are best avoided.

Thank you! I just spoke to my midwife too, and she told me to take the antihistamines - so think I'll take them tonight. Especially seeing as it seems worse today... argh so itchy...

Snap waiting for my m/w to call me back about this. I got up in the night to take a shower which was the only thing that seems to give temporary relief. It's bearable in the day but I never feel comfortable. I feel your pain/itching :(

I understand about the shower, Magic8ball.

Oh the bliss when that water showers down on you! In case it's of any help, I have found calamine (applied after said shower) to be pretty useful - although it only lasts for an hour or so. Also, I took an ice-pack to bed the other night and applied it to different sections, rather than itching - and that seemed to be quite a good way to stop the itching without scratching anything.

Yes, havent got time to post a lenghty reply. If you do a mn search with my name and PUPP it may bring up some old threads of mine.

Basicaly it is probably PUPP....i will get you some links later. You can take piriton...but only the old type not the more modern one-a day type, chemical name is chorphenamine. You can also use steroid creams to relieve the itch.

Basically not much you can do to treat just need to try and relieve sympoms.

It is basically pregnancy related, although i have had recurring problems since, they think it triggered soemthing in me so i get it again every now and then. Recently i have very successfully been given 'montenuclast' which is actually an asthma drug but can also help with allergy stuff. No idea if you can be given this in pregnancy though, but worth asking. Oral steroids also help but agian you need to ask re pregnancy.

Hopefully you dont have it as bad as i did, i was initially hospitilised when 12 weeks pregnant as they didnt know what it was...my rash was so bad that my legs were swollen to twice their usual size!

At one point i was taking the piriton tablets every 2 hours and no ill effects on ds (now 5), he is v. healthy!

Thanks hairybabysmum, I will check out your previous threads for info. Crikey, sounds like you had / have it really bad - I shall try to keep my rash in perspective...

I had PUPP with both my pregnancies - I remember the insane itchiness and sleepless nights well!

Ask your doctor to prescribe aqueous menthol cream. You keep it in the fridge so it is cool when you rub it on the itchy areas, then after a few minutes your skin becomes icy cold. I found that the relief from itch was similar to that achieved by a cold shower, and the effect lasted an hour or so - really helped me to sleep at night. You can use it as often as you like as it is completely safe, and you can use it when you are out and about (much more convenient than tipping bottles of iced water on your legs, which was my other strategy ).

you poor thing. I had a similar thing, my doc called it purigo of pregnancy. Was like stinging nettle rash - everywhere - and I wanted to rip my skin off. I really do sympathise.

Doc presecribed priton and calamine neither of which worked particularly well for me. But then my best mate (who's a nurse) recommended this stuff from Boots and it really did help take the itch away.

I had it too. Try not to scratch it, the more you scratch the more it spreads.

buttercup - I have had the same as you although no rash and mine wsa on hands and feet as well. AFter googling like a mad thing and trying everythiung ( same as you did) I was finally referred to a harley st doctor . This is because I also had gest diabetes and a urine infection which set in and became resistant to antibs. Above all that the itching was the worst though.

This darling doc whilst ruling out oc prescribed for me something which has made it so much more bearable. I want you to go to your gp and insist on this too. Its aqueous cream wtih 1 pre cent menthol. when he first prescribed I was very dubious and viewed it as an expensive body lotion.

but oh ho it is not. When you put it on you first feel the burn - it is cold and can make you shiver and you feel it going in.Then the itch just goes! Not peermenantly of course but termporarily. Sometimes I reaapply during the day again or night but for htat hour or two hours you get blessed sweet relief.

Please try and get a prescripton for it not avaialbe over the counter

Thanks so much for the tips! I'm going to get that aqueous menthol cream straight away...

Hi, I have had the same thing since about 25 weeks and was literally going crazy through lack of sleep (not a good sign!).

I'm on piriton, taken before bed and its a godsend. I sleep like a log and the itching is manageable. Now 33+5 and tried coming off it the other day but had a miserable night back on it. GP says I'm alright on it until 36 weeks, don't know what I'll do after that. We are moving house that weekend so I can only hope I'll be so tired I'll sleep anyway!

Hope you get some relief

Hi there, I had exactly the same when I was at about 25 weeks and couldn't sleep. Red raw rash and mega-itching. So, so miserable. Doc did blood tests and couldn't find any reason for it. She did warn me to keep checking whites of my eyes in case it was a liver problem.
She gave me hydrocortisone cream. I went through 3 tubes of it, even putting it on as thin as possible and only the mimimum number of times a day. I also used Starflower herbal cream from my hippy auntie. It took about 2 weeks to go but it did go.
Poor you - hope it eases soon.

readyornot, there's no reason you need to come off piriton at 36 weeks. I took it until delivery both times without any problems. With all due respect to your doctor, many GPs are not well informed about the more unusual pregnancy-related complications and tend to err on the side of caution when prescribing meds - speak to an obstetrician if necessary.

You do need to stop piriton after the baby is born if you are breasfeeding, as it can sedate the baby. However, there are other antihistamines that are considered OK during breastfeedin. I can't remember exactly which one I took when bf, but there is an NHS site that discusses antihitamine safety during pregnancy and bf - can't do links but it was easy to find by googling.

Yes I agree with TheMethren. The harley st doc I went to also prescribed piriton and i saw him at 36 weeks . He did say that piriton has not been proven absolutely safe in pregnancy but neither has it been definitively contraindicated. I took the prescirtiopn but decided to try and manage with the aqueuos cream just to be on very very safe side

PUPPP is a horrendous condition! I had it with my first pregnancy. It is rare to get it with later pregnancies though.

The stats say that its usually people pregnant for their first time with a son!
Well, I woke up at about 34 weeks pregnant and my tummy was itching. Its rapidly spread across my abdomen and down my legs and arms. I was admitted to hospital for test after test and ended up with no definite answer.

Try not to scratch. I know its impossible. I ended up breaking a cd and scratching with that, yes out of my mind, but nothing felt sharp enough. I now have scars allover my arms and legs due to this.

I warn you now, the few days before labour it will get much much worse. Lots of luke warm showers and baths, plenty of aqueous cream and Im afraid we just had to put up and shut up
xxx

It is supposed to be rare to get PUPP with subsequent pregnancies - but I got it earlier and more severely in my second pregnancy than my first so there are always exceptions.

There is no reason you should have to "put up and shut up" with this condition - there are symptomatic treatments you can try along the lines already suggested in this thread.

I found that I only saw an effect from piriton after I had taken it regluarly 4 times a day for about 10 days. After that period of time the severity of the itching gradually began to decrease and those "waves" of intense itch where you just want to scratch your skin off happened less frequently. Then I tried cutting back the dose to 3 times a day but the symtpoms worsened again so I went back to 4 times a day until DS was born.

IMO the benefits of not being insanely sleep-deprived before labour/delivery/looking after a newborn far outweighed the small chance of potential side effects associated with piriton.

I tried piriton put it didnt make the slightest bit of difference. I was informed by the dermatologist that there was nothign we could do as we tried lotions and potions and I just had to put up with it. The itching went about 3 days after my son was born.