Itchy Armpits?

[SumnerRain]

My armpits are killing me. I have been drawing blood because I scratch them so much. I have changed nothing as far as deodorant, soap, laundry detergent, etc. It will even itch on days where I have not used deodorant that day. I read that it could be related to breast tissue, but my colostrum has not started coming in yet.

I used a .5% hydrocortisone anti-itch cream twice before I realized it was a class c drug and have not used it again.

Anyone else had this? What did you do?

[COgirl19]

I had this the last month or so of my pregnancy. It sucked! I had to stop using deodorant until the itching stopped (about 1 week) and then I had to switch to a much milder natural deodorant for sensitive skin. I attributed it to an allergic reaction to Degree (or it working TOO well, not allowing the skin to breath) but maybe it was related to pregnancy....

[Ashley_R]

I have this. No clue what its from except that my skin tends to get more sensitive when I'm pregnant. I switched my deodorant to one that only had arrowroot and baking soda in it and it didn't help, our detergent is a super gentle one anyway, as is our soap. So in other words I have no solution for you, but I feel your pain, or itch as the case my be. Maybe cooler weather will help because there will be less sweat to irritate.

[donutmolly]

I'm much more sensitive to yeast when pg and ended up with ringworm (which sounds gross, but is really just a yeast rash) in my armpits. It was horribly itchy. Easy to identify by red, round rings, and clears up easily with anti-fungal cream (I used generic athlete's foot) -- but I also had to switch deoderant, I was using a natural crystal roll-on and swapped it out for a regular, sensitive skin brand, otherwise the yeast came back. Something to look into, HTH!

[greenmulberry]

I wonder if pregnancy has made you more sensitive to your deodorant?

What you describe sounds exactly like how I react to deodorant, it itches enough to make me scratch myself bloody, and I have to be several days without using it for the itch to go away. I am always like that though.

[Lady Lilya]

Your underarms are one of your major emunctory organs. They are used to shed toxins and other things that your body doesn't want. All kinds of smells come out of our armpits when we are pregnant. Maybe something you are shedding that way is irritating to you.

[MamaPhD]

I haven't had the arm pit issue but was really itchy random places (tummy, back, bottom of feet OMG) during preg with DD. What helped was just rub gently (or try to be gentle!) with wet washcloth. The moisture & coolness helped. After 5-10 min or when you're done, I'd put some sensitive skin lotion on. Good luck and hope it passes soon!!!