Anyone else suffering from PEP?

[purplemunkey]

I had my beautiful little girl 11 days ago and am enjoying every second of being a new mum. However I'm having to deal with the worst itching ever all over my belly, lower legs and forearms due to this PEP breakout. Itching in my stretch marks started in the last week or so of my pregnancy but it only properly broke out into this intense rash and spread in the last 4 or 5 days. Having a newborn means I'm already sleep deprived so adding this on top which prevents me sleeping even when I get the chance is really getting me down.

GP gave me calamine lotion and a very low dosage of antihistamine as I am BF. They also referred me to the dermatologist so we'll see what they say.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has suffered the same and what worked for them? Internet research has thrown up a few suggestions from other mums - sakura dermaspray & Lush Dream Cream. Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm pretty desperate, I'll try anything!

Watching as I came down with this last week on the day I turned 39 weeks, it's horrible and I'm grumpy Really do feel for you OP X

E45 Itch Cream.

Thanks fruit, I'm hoping it won't last long.

Thanks for the suggestion lady, I've tried that as I already had some. I have quite sensitive skin anyway which probably made me more likely to develop PEP. Didn't work for me but I'm guessing it's going to be a case of different things working for different people.

I mis-typed before, it's Salcura spray not sakura. I'm going to give that and Dream Cream a try, I'll let you know if they work!

I did try wrapping some porridge oats in a muslin last night and putting it in the bath, seemed to help for a couple of hours so I could get to sleep at least, not as good as anti-histamine tablets but everything helps at the moment!

It might be different if you're breastfeeding but my MW told me yesterday that at this stage it was fine to take any of the anti-histamine tablets I wanted. I had Piriton in the cupboard so I've been taking them as frequently as the instructions say I can. The rash has gone down a lot and the itching is a little better but still not great. I'll need to get more tomorrow so will ask the pharmacist if there's any that are particularly good for the itching, couldn't care less what it looks like at the moment!

The Dream Cream from Lush is made with oat milk so I think it's a similar idea. My legs are currently covered in the Salcura spray and my arms in the Lush cream, I'll see which works better. My belly seems a bit better today and is nowhere near as inflamed and itchy as my limbs. As the belly is where it started maybe this is a sign that I'm coming out the other side of this and my limbs will won't be far behind. I hope so!

Ooh, definitely let me know how the Dream Cream works please, I'll be near a Lush tomorrow I read the Aveeno stuff is oat based too so I was going to see if they had a shower gel / body wash to try X

The Salcura spray is definitely taking the edge off the itching in my legs. I can't really tell with the Dream Cream yet, though I put that on my forearms which are easier to aggravate as its difficult not to rub them up against fabric etc as I carry on about my business, whereas I can keep my legs nice and aired.

Wash your clothes etc with Ecover non bio liquid. Makes a difference. If you do go down the Lush route try Ceredwyns Cauldren bath melt. It contains lavender and oats and makes the bath very milky and soft. Helps with sleep too. Once the bath melt has melted the oats are left in the muslin pouch. You can gently GENTLY wash your skin with it and it helps loads.