NON-STOP ITCHING! Your tips wanted, please???

[CurlyCasper]

I'm in my seventh week of pregnancy and have a crazily itchy belly, lower back and nipples. There's no rash or anything, and from googling I believe it to be hormone/blood flow to the uterus-related. It wakes me up in the middle of the night - I wake up scratching. And I spend a lot of time at work trying not to claw at my itchy nips! Tried moisturising, calamine, lanacane... - very little relief.

I'm going to go insane or do some serious damage to my skin if I can't get any relief. Has anyone experienced this? And do you have any tips for coping? I'm desperate - all help will be most gratefully accepted.

It goes away, it should stop soon.

oh I hope so!

You do need to get checked by a doc. Excessive itching in pregnancy can be a liver problem (obstetric cholestasis).

Isn't this in in later pregnancy brockley?

I had the itching in very early pregnancy, the GP said it was normal, it did stop. It would be a good idea to get it checked though.

I did suspect that it was a later pregnancy thing, but wasn't 100% sure (the site I looked at didn't say) so thought I should mention it. Hopefully you're right!

It should be checked out by the GP anyway, it's best to make sure. I'd give it a few days and see if it gets any better though.

thanks

It is in later pregnancy normally, it IS possible in a few small cases for OC to start early. Best get it checked. And re-checked and re-checked as your pregnancey proceeds, if it carries on. The itching in OC is normally worst on palms of hands/soles of feet.

I had this, but very late on. Agree with brockleybelle that it can be linked to liver.

The only relief I could get was to wallow like a hippo in a bath full of Oilatum. But that's not going to help you at work. Sorry.

See the doc again.

thankfully symptoms not like OC (read up on various causes of itch in PG). As I'm also suffering from a skin infection (affecting different areas to the non-rash itch) I'm going to wait for the anti-bs to do their job there before seeing GP again.

For now, I'm just desperate to hear any hints for soothing the itch, because i don't make to make a mess of my belly with scratching.

Everything above my nipples is already a mess with the infection, everything below and including them itches without visible signs! nothing on hands and feet though. yes, I am a mess...

Try not to scratch with your hands (not easy I know - I ended up bleeding ). I bought a really soft bristled baby brush which I used to scratch. You can also buy itch relief cream at the chemist (Eurax?) which helped a bit. I also found a hot water bottle filled with chipped ice cooled a bit. Mine went away at about 20 weeks (they did check me for OC and my liver salt levels were high but then dropped again thankfully).

You poor thing - I started a thread about my uncontrollable itching a few weeks back. It drives you potty, doesn't it? Slathering on lots of camomile moisturiser was the only thing that worked.

Thanks spice - think I'll use those tips. I'm considering buying some soft cotton gloves to wear at night (must cut my nails again too) because as much as I can stop myself scratching while conscious, I'm terrible for doing it while half asleep (reckon this would not be a problem if I wasn't such a light sleeper).

Time to invest in a hot water cold ice bottle...

oooh x-p mama. will go hunt out your thread - thanks!

Bumped it for you! x

great - thanks!

Delighted to report that it has passed now! thanks all