pregnant with twins & can't cope with eczema flare, please help.

[greyby25]

Hi, I'm 23 weeks pregnant with twins and I'm currently going through a really bad eczema flare up and no one can seem to help me. I had eczema previous to be pregnant and go through flare ups. Last year I had one so bad I couldn't straighten my arms, it was all over my face neck, inner arms, underarms, pretty much everywhere and it finally got me referred to dermatology.

In dermatology I had to go through many different creams, ointments, steroids and antihistamines. We finally managed to control it with a strong steroid ointment and one of the strongest antihistamines. My issue is that moisturising suffocates my skin, so I can't moisturise too much. The skin is red and comes out like a rash, I have to try and get the heat out of the rash and then it will become dry and I can attempt to heal it up.

Now that I'm pregnant my GP is reluctant to prescribe the steroid and antihistamines without my doctor at the antenatal units permission, even with that I'm struggling to get a prescription. I spoke to midwife and antenatal doctor last week at my appointment and she prescribed me piriton. I told her about how hard my skin can be to control and how I need a strong steroid to control the eczema and a strong antihistamine to control the itch. I could of cried when she prescribed the piriton. Im taking it but it isn't working at all. She explained the steroid would be okay to use in small doses as only 10% would be absorbed into my bloodstream if that but still didn't prescribe it. I sleep in a freezing room to stop myself getting warm and itchy, im in constant pain and constantly trying to scratch, I have no nails so instead just bruise myself and give myself friction burns from trying to scratch.

Does anyone have any natural remedies or tips on how to control the itch or calm a flare ? Ive heard about an anti inflammatory diet helping but I don't know if it would works. I keep trying to get a same day appointment at my GP but so far no look. I feel ugly and sore and I'm really starting to despair as I'm struggling to even pick my toddler up as my skin is so sore and I feel like I'm just being ignored by GP/ antenatal.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried coconut oil? I find that very good & use it all over. I find adding 2 tablespoons to a bath of hot water is great for the skin.

Oh & drink plenty of water with fresh lemon in it, lemon slices & some fresh lemon juice

I have psoriasis and I already know I can’t use the steroid creams whilst pregnant. 28 weeks here and also flaring.

Things that are working for me are a home made blend of Shea butter, coconut oil and lavender oil and light weight post wet skin moisturisers.

I hope you find something soon!

is it really eczema? or is it your liver playing up?(relatively common in pregnancy)
has the gp done a blood test to check your liver?

@starflake have tried coconut oil but just irritates 🙄 thought it might work as it's natural but sadly not, definitely will try the water and lemon, I do try and drink a lot but probably not enough I'm hindsight. I'm off to Tesco's now so will pick some lemons up.

@Karigan195 shea butter seems to be a bit too thick for my skin ! There's a very very fine line for me. Isn't it so awful that we can't use the steroids. Obviously I know why we can't use them but so annoying that there's something that works that we can't use ! I might try some lavender oil in my bath though...

@orangeshoebox I would think it was something else however it's identical to the eczema I always how so I think it's just my eczema. If I hadn't had flare ups previous to this I would be pushing for tests. They did do a blood test a few months ago and all was fine.

Is it all moisturisers OP? I find Childs Farm absorbs well and relieves the itch, but admit it's nothing like you describe

West Lab Dead Sea mineral bath salts are the only thing that gets rid of my flare ups without resorting to topical steroid creams. Worth a shot maybe?

Hi @grey I really feel for you. My eczema has also been terrible but just on my hands and I've really been struggling. Yours sounds a lot worse though so I really do sympathise! I've been using sudocrem to take the burn off and then moisturising with various creams once it dries out. I think I've caused permanent damage to the knuckles on my little finger from twisting and scratching it! 😣 I bought some natural stuff off amazon called Balmonds Skin Salvation which helps on and off, especially with the burning heat. I've also found that the days I eat more sugar (chocolate 😳) that the eczema is worse! Have you tried Aveeno oat sachets for the bath? I had some a while ago, not sure if they're still around? We did have a thread about this on here a few weeks ago - there were some useful suggestions to try if you can find it!

@greyby25 try almond oil then with a drop of vitamin e in it..... Or try finding a combination of oils, wellnessmama website has a good few homemade recipes to try out

Have you done the oat bath? Have you tried Lush Dream Cream? It was the only thing that worked for my eczema.

@needsleepzzz pretty much all moisturisers yep, I really struggle and then as soon as I find something that works it changes and I have to find something else. I tried Childs farm last year, it worked briefly but then irritated my skin. But Thankyou for the suggestion !

@Geluksvogel I've been using just normal salt in my baths but maybe a mineral salt Epsom would be better, worth a shot, I'll pick some up tomorrow.

@starflake Thankyou ! Maybe oil would work better, I'll definitely have a look.

@russiandwarf Oh I feel for you, I had issues with my hands last year and it's starting to spread there now. Absolutely awful isn't it ! That burn ! And such an awkward place to scratch, you just take the skin off 🙄 I'm thinking about trying to anti inflammatory which basically cuts out refined sugars, gluten. But I need to read more into it. I have no advice when it comes to the knuckles and fingers because I never figured out how to stop it, it just calmed down eventually. I'll have a look at that cream and see what the ingredients are.

@PBobs have tried oat baths, just inflames my skin further unfortunately!

Sorry OP, hope you find something

@greyby25 everything is definitely worth a try when in pain! I tried Epsom and Himalayan salt neither worked for me but everyone’s different. Only the Dead Sea Salts worked for me. It was noticeable after 2/3 baths. I really hope you get some relief soon. Good luck

Have you heard of Dr Aron? Went through hell with my sons skin as a baby. This worked. I believe its safe in pregnancy. He has a fb page. Think youd have to go through london doc if you are in UK. Feel free to message me if you need more info. I see myself as a bit of an eczema expert. Sounds like yours might have a staph infection as well as the eczema.

@Geluksvogel definitely worth a shot. I'll give it a go!

@BeardyButton nope but I'll have a look. The travelling might be an issue as don't currently drive and have an 18 month old to think about, but will deffo have a look on Facebook and see Have just had a read about staph infection and a quick look at pictures and symptoms and looks nothing like my skin. Thankyou though !

I use apple cider vinegar (organic, with 'the mother') to soothe my eczema. Just dilute some in water and apply. It also has moisturising properties. Have you tried oat baths too? And warm olive oil applied topically can sometimes help. I would definitely look at your diet too though, perhaps try cutting out dairy as well if you haven't already.

Sorry to hear about your pain OP. You should have a repeat of the blood tests, and they should include the "liver function test" and the "bile acids" tests. I've noticed that my first blood test at the hospital didn't test for these things. And I don't think they usually do. I just had these done privately today and now am waiting for the results. My skin all over has been extremely itchy for the past 3 weeks but there's no obvious rash, at least not everywhere, so I want to rule out pregnancy cholestasis (which apparently is more common when you're carrying twins - check that out). But if you say you've had problems with eczema, it's probably just that. Good luck !!!

Oh and in the past I've been very sensitive to candida albicans overgrowth which also causes itchy skin. So I'm on a diet now to eliminate my candida too. :-p

You can do a skype consultation. 90 percent of bad eczema will have a staph element to it. Please do look into it. Its not a miracle. It involves steroids and topical anti biotic. But i am convinced it will help you. It has helped 1000s.

@BeardyButton I've had a look and it looks amazing. I read the page as well and I see what you mean about the staph element now. I will mention it to midwife and my doctor. I have my next antenatal appointment in a week so will definitely bring it up then. But that page does look amazing and I will definitely be looking further when I'm sat down tonight.

@Sandrine1982 oh I feel so sorry for you but at least you don't have the rash ! Mine has been itchy for around three weeks now also ! I will ask for that on my next tests. Do you know what will happen if my liver function was off ? I have wondered about chloestasis but haven't read up on it and I just presumed it was an eczema flare as stress tends to be my trigger and I am stressed at the moment. X

@witchy89 oat baths don't and have never worked for me even since I was teeny. My mum said they never worked for my skin when I was little and they still don't know. Salt water is my best bet. Sea water is normally the best but I don't live near the sea unfortunately! Definitely want to cut dairy out, I did used to be vegan and my skin was amazing during that time. I'm also wondering about taking turmeric as an anti inflammatory as my mum takes that for her rheumatoid arthritis and it seems to help so could help the inflammation in my skin potentially.

Do. It really really saved our lives. My little baby was a mess. Its no cure, but it the best management system going.

@BeardyButton Thankyou for mentioning it. Eczema is horrendous and especially when it's your child. I'm so glad your sons skin was helped by this ! I will be looking and hopefully enquiring x

These products from Brighton are flipping awesome
balmonds.co.uk/
And have completely sorted out my husbands horrendous eczema. They have had loads of press recently so hopefully they will still have some left.
Wishing you all the best

@greyby25 I'd definitely be interested to know how you get on with the turmeric. I swear by it for colds. And yes, my skin improved considerably when I went vegan. I still get flare ups (I get pompholyx eczema) but mostly triggered by my allergies. I feel for you though, it was my worst fear when I was pregnant, that the hormones would trigger a flare up. Luckily I only had one very mild one right at the beginning. I really hope you find something that works for you, definitely try the apple cider vinegar though, it helps the itch so much!

No miracle cure suggestions but a couple of things that can help me during flare ups is double rinsing bed linen and clothes at the end of the wash cycle, tumble not line drying to avoid pollen.

Taking antiallergy one a day tabs (I use the Lidl cheep ones about 79p a pack) I don't know the science behind the anti allergies but I get very mild hayfever and find that sometimes it feels like everything is on fire (nose, eyes, skin) and they help take the edge off.