Is anyone else suffering from Obstetric Cholestasis at the moment?

[MerlinsBeard]

Could do with someone to moan with about the itching

I had this! Not at the moment (DD is 2 yo now). But I can sympathise! have you got Piriton? It helped me.

no! Asked and one Dr said no and one said yes.

Am on Urso and Vit K

Mom - can sympathise through memory with you!

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!

take care
xxx

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!

Will try the cold flannels thing tonight. ALthough i don't want to terrify myself and wake in a damp patch thinking my waters have broken!!

am being monitored closely and the thinking at mo is to deliver at 38 weeks(not discussed how yet, will meet consultant on wed)

baby seems fine in there which is what counts

Did you deliver early fettle? and Jet?

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

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.

All ended perfectly well though. Good luck MoM!

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!)

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.

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!

bellabelly i am willing to try anything! Tiredness + hormones + worry isn't helping me with a 2 and 4 year old!

Hi Mom and Jet!

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

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

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!

TBH i want an induction or a section or anything so this baby can come out and i can stop itching!!

Out of interest fettle, can you remember what your levels were?

thats why the moaning on MN fettle

MMH, i feel like an outsider a bit on the march thread thats why i don't post much. I skim thru still though - jeez do you ladies talk a lot

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!).

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.

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

13 weeks pru? You poor thing! that sounds like some kind of torture!

will look at those links thank you (anything for distraction!-although if you have batted me i will thump you )

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

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

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

Oh, and calamine lotion too. Really hope something does the trick for you.

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!