I'm 8 weeks pregnant, and have woken up this morning with a strange rash. It's distributed equally equally on opposite sides of my body: under my chin, tops of both shoulders, backs of boths arms, backs of both legs, hips, thighs, and bottom. Some areas of my body are unaffected ie. none on my lower legs, tummy, chest, back or face.The rash consists of red blotches which form raised red lumps in areas where there are a lot of them. It's slightly itchy, but doesn't really bother me.
It isn't chicken pox or rubella (I had the first very badly as a child, and have been vaccinated against the second) - I feel fine in myself. It looks like an allergic rash, but there isn't anything I can think of that I've done/eaten differently recently. I've rung NHS Direct, but their job isn't to diagnose - they've just advised me to keep cool, not take antihistamines or use soap, and to contact my doctor.
I've read about various rashes that appear in the last trimester but obviously, something appearing so early on, I'm worried that it may affect the baby (not knowing much about allergies, but I do know a lot of histamine is released into the bloodstream to cause this reaction - can this affect a fetus?). Has anybody out there experienced anything like this?
Many thanks.