Itchy Skin During Pregnancy

I used Eucerine Dry Skin lotion. I know you said you tried all OTC stuff but I applied daily (right before bed) and it did good. A.

I had that as well when I was pregnant. Drove me crazy! I used an oil I found an oil at ther Motherhood Maternity Clothes store and that worked for me.

Hi I had the same things with my twins it started in at 7 months and lasted until delivery....It's called pupps. It's very annoying!!! oatmeal baths worked for me at the time but once I got out of the bath back to ichy.... Good luck with it and remember it does go away!!

I had this happen to me during my last 2 months of pregnancy. It is called PUPPS. My Dr. did not even really know much about it. It was back in 2000. There was not too much I could do. Lotions and topical steriods, but they did not help much at all. It usually bothered me the most at night. In the middle of the night I would take oatmeal baths, even during the day sometimes. That seemed to be the only thing that helped a little. Nothing worked for me completely. I would wind up sleeping the best from 6am to 10am, because I was itching and tossing and turning all night. Literally as soon as I gave birth, I did not itch anymore. It was so freaky. Google PUPPS and you will see all about it. Maybe there are some advances as to how to treat the itching. No one I know ever had this. It was hell. My skin would get so raw from itching. Oh, and I remember the bumps... YUCK!!! If I remember correctly, I itched most on my arms, belly and legs.

It will stop. Hang in there. I truly know what you are going through.

FYI- I have had three children and it only occurred with my 2nd pregnancy.

Good luck .
J.

I had PUUPS the last month with my first baby who was born in February. My doctor told me to take benedryl and use OTC cortisone cream. The benedryl was the only thing that helped the itching. It was worst during and right before labor and took 1-2 weeks to fully clear up after he was born. I had a similar problem with itching all over when I wasn't pregnant but that time the dermatologist prescribed Allegra (I am not sure if you can take that when pregnant). Sometimes a lotion with a little peppermint in it helps if the itching is not so bad.

I avoided the common drugstore / chainstore products and went to healthfood stores to look for skin care lotions/oils for pregnant moms- I used 2 different emolliant items that worked beautifully at nighttime -
I am 1 of 4 sisters and I was the only one without stretchmarks - which I felt was from the all natural products I used for pregnant moms. You can check out a variety of them in Whole body - (next to whole foods).

I had the same thing! The only product that gave me relief was Lansinoh. which is a lanolin cream used for breastfeeding mamas with sore nipples - I actually never needed it for it's intended purpose when I was nursing (thankfully!). If you can't find it, just get Lanolin - it's the same thing. Good Luck!

Hey R., I know how dry skin goes....I got some with my son Caleb and tried over the counter stuff and it only made me sick....so I tried Shaklees and it was very nice and work really well... you can buy is online though a ditributor here is a website rachelgrace.myshaklee.com their vitamins are also amazing! Hope this helps, and CONGRATS!!

I had this problem too!!! I swear it has to do with winter. Anyway, my OB gave me Zyrtec which I believe is over the counter now. Its one of the allergy meds. that is safe for pregnant women. It helped ALOT!!!! I remember I was going crazy before. Good luck. Might want to check with your own doc. first to be sure nothing has changed. My first baby is now 7 1/2 yrs. old.

P.S. Cool oatmeal baths help too...

My skin was ridiculously dry when I was pregnant, especially in the winter. Indeed, even not pregnant, in winter time, I am so itchy, I sometimes can't fall asleep unless I rub olive oil moisturizer all over me, especially my back!

What I did when pregnant was when I was still in the shower (but with the water off) I'd pour Johnson's baby oil all over me (concentrating on my stretching stomach, which was very itchy). Then I'd use some kind of pregnancy butter (like cocoa butter) or burt's bees butter on my stomach.

Make sure you don't have any sort of rash. If you do, have it checked out by a dermatologist b/c there is some rash that can be dangerous during pregnancy (I once got checked out for a rash but turns out I was having a reaction to the fabric softener we used!)

Hi there. Congrats on your pregnancy! I had the same problem with both of my pregnancies and Aveeno lotion & drinking more water helped me. The itchy skin was worse with my second pregnancy. My husband was constantly scratching my back and legs for me. Once you deliver, you will feel much better. Good luck!

Hi -

I experienced the same thing during my 2nd trimester and thought I was going to tear my skin off! The only thing that worked for me is Mama Mio oil (all natural ingredients). It's pricey, but fantastic and so worth it! You can purchase it at Destination Maternity or online. Good luck!

So funny it happened to me and I almost went crazy, what I found that worked for me was a body wash with Shea butter in it and then a moisturizer with the same Shea butter, Not a real hot shower either lukewarm,
D. mother of Tj,3 1/2 and Julie 15 months

I am 33 weeks and have been getting horrible pregnancy rashes on my hands and legs. The only thing I have found that helps is spraying my body with apple cider vinegar after my shower and as needed throughout the day. the vinegar doesn't smell very good but the scent goes away quickly and its very soothing and nourishing for the skin.
its also all natural and affordable which are added bonuses!

Hello rita, what i did and still do to this day is when im done showering and am still in the shower i pour baby oil all over my body rub it in and turn the water on for i second then when u dry off you are already ahead of the moisturizing.then i smeared lotion on top of that .i use vaselines cocoa butter it worked for me and it keeps your skin nice in the winter and summer, just be careful it does make your tub slippery...

Hi R.,

I shop from a company that has great everyday products that are naturally based and don't use any harsh chemicals. We have a great lotion for excema or severe dry skin that really works great! If you want more info on this, I'd love to tell you about it :)

First, you should tell your doctor. I had PUPPS during my first pregnancy. It is completly harmless, although very frustrating. To treat it, I would use Sarna cream, Aveeno products, and ice packs. For some reason, the ice packs would calm my skin down immediately. Also, because I got it late in pregnancy, my doctor said that I could also use benadryl. Good luck!

I don't mean to scare you but.....the same thing happened to me around 30 weeks. I had uncontrollable itching- nothing I did would relieve it. It was worse at night. CALL YOUR DR RIGHT AWAY! It turns out that I had HELLP syndrome- it is very dangerous (and very rare so hopefully you don't have it!). You should get a blood test asap. I had no other symptoms. It came on in a matter of hours. It is a severe form of pre-eclampsia. If you don't treat it (immediate delivery) your body can go into shock, seizures, organ failure and death.
It's very scary but it all turned out ok. I had an emergency c-section at 31 weeks and my son was in the NICU for 23 days. He'll be 2 next week and is doing great!
Good luck and keep us posted

I would say depending on the extent/ "severity" of itching then I would try to figure out what it is. If it's just dry skin, then it will be a little annoying & I'd use the typical ointments/creams to help that. If it keeps you up at night and there is NO rash..... check out ICP Intrahepatic cholestasis in Pregnancy - there are things you can do to keep the itching down (some diet tricks)
If there is a rash, then take the advice of the person that said Puppps. I had both of these things and have NEVER experienced such bad itching in all my life. I had ICP with my 2nd son and it developed into Gallstones shortly after. The itching was controlled by a very low fat diet. I ended up with a bad case of PUPPPS with my 3rd son and sorry to say everyone is totally different. Some people get lucky with home remedies (grandpa's pine tar soap, dandelion pills, benadryl....etc) and some are less fortunate. I totally sympathize with these women that don't have any success with treatment. It is the WORST thing EVER. I was finally lucky after a month of suffering when I begged my midwife to prescribe me something different....(I said "keep trying them") ha ha
Visteril I believe is how you spell it. a newer antihistamine. (worked great for me, but will knock you down) make you sleepy. IF you think you have PUPPPS....here's what I did: I would take a hot bath (which some people say not too...it just felt great), get some sarna lotion and rub that all over when you get out. Talk to your Dr. about taking an antihistamine and see if you can take those only at night or something to help you sleep.... I just repeated this routine..... taking baths every 3 hours. Gosh I hope you figure out what it is you have. Good luck and know that you are not alone. Keep us posted... E. in Houston

Hi R.! Congrats on your pregnancy. It could just be typical itchy skin which is common, but you should discuss with your Obgyn and ask them to run a test on your liver panels to be sure it's not something more severe. I just had my first baby in June and at around 32 weeks into my pregnancy woke up in the night with very itchy soles of my feet and palms of my hands. I ended up with Cholestasis - google it to read more about it - this site was great for me http://itchymoms.com/. Cholestasis is a condition that is brought on because you're pregnant and when the level of hormones in your body get very high, your liver stops functioning properly. The liver plays a very important role in getting rid of toxins in our body (of everyday things we come in contact with that are harmful) so if our livers aren't functioning right, it can be very dangerous for both moms and the babies. I had a SEVERE case and my son was born healthy and everything turned out fine - I just had to be delivered about 5 weeks early (he was a peanut - 4 1/2 lbs but was otherwise totally healthy and grew big FAST!!). It is not anything to become overly frightened about - your doctors will just monitor you and the baby very closely and ensure everything is okay with both your liver and the baby's health and you will ALWAYS be delivered early (as that is the only sure way of minimizing risk of any fetal harm to baby). I hope this doesn't scare you... just want you to be aware of it, I always operate in the "better safe, than sorry" so please have the discussion with your doctor and go to a lab to give bloodwork so you can get your liver enzymes tested. That is the only way to find out if you have Cholestasis. Good luck!

I remember that.... it was awful!
One thing would be to use warm water instead of hotter water in the shower. I reapplied cocoa butter a couple times a day and that seemed to relieve me quite a bit.
Look at your soaps and try less harsh soaps with essential oils (Any of those Dove, bar soaps, Caress - those are drying no matter what they say)
Good luck!

Itchy skin is really common during pregnancy, but can also be an indicator of a bigger problem. Definitely call your doctor and let them know what is going on.
I had Cholestasis when I was pregnant and itching is one of the symptoms
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/c...

Good Luck!

I had the same problem. I didn't want to use any product with chemicals so I used one of the Burts Bees body lotions. It helped a little.

It is your skin stretching that makes it itch and by itching it, you are causing your skin to create strech marks - this is what I have found when reading up on the same topic. Just lke when you have a cut that is healing and it itches when it scabs over it is your skin stretching. Scratching it is like pcking at a scab causing scars or stretch marks. An itch reliever but not complete solution (because there is none sine your skin WILL stretch) is to apply a generous amount of good lotion and apply day and night - keep your skin moisturized!!!

I had that too! If fact, I was so itchy and rashy that I even got red bumps on my palms and the bottoms of my feet! It was the weirdest thing and my doctor didn't know what caused it. He finally told me to take some sort of antihistamine. I don't remember which one--but it worked.

Check with your doctor! Good luck, and quit scratching!!!

www.thosecrazybeans.blogspot.com

Hi R., In yoga we have a couple of poses which might help. One is called baddha konasana which you would want to do sitting up on a couple of blankets with your back to the wall. Another pose is supta baddha konasana which you would want to do with your torso over a couple of big pillows.