PUPPP rash?

[Surfacing]

Hello Fellow Jan 08 Mamas,

Just these past couple of weeks a few little red dots showed up on my torso. Yesterday I felt itchy and noticed that they've blossomed into a rash of sorts. Sigh. I will mention it to my midwives, but am thinking it might be PUPPP. Anybody else had them? Anybody?

[SharonAnne]

Oh, I hope it not PUPPP. My best friend had it with her first pregnancy. She got it later on, though. Like maybe going into her ninth month.

I'll check with her to verify, but I remember that drinking dandelion and nettle tea helped her some, with the itchiness.

The only cure is to have the baby. I'll ask her to pop in and talk with you about her experience if you like.

[LianneM]

I'm Sha's friend who had PUPPP in my first pgcy. It appeared at about 37 weeks I think. I'm so sorry you're feeling it this early

I actually took dandelion root capsules. I also drank my regular red raspberry and nettle tea. I tried every possible lotion I could find, including benadryl cream and sometimes I would take a benadryl just to try to fall asleep (my midwife's advice). Night time was the worst, b/c I just itched and had no distraction. One of the best quick reliefs was baking soda paste, but it doesn't last long. Also I would put ice on the rash sometimes just to numb it. All of the lotions helped a little, but nothing cured it until the baby was born (and then it was GONE). I used gold bond medicated, aveeno, avon stretch mark cream, vitamin E oil - that is good stuff. A cool oatmeal bath helped some. Hot bath/shower is not advised.

Wish I could be more help I am just so, so sorry. I did have the rash on my stretch marks on my belly, and also on my thighs. There were a few spots on my arms and back but mostly it was my belly. I have scars from the rash on my belly still, definitely different from stretch marks.

There is a skin irritation that is much more serious that PUPPP - it's important to make sure you don't have that. A search of PUPPP on this forum will bring up threads I'm sure that give more details.

Hope you feel better soon!!

[SharonAnne]

Thanks, Li.

[Surfacing]

Hi Lianne - I've looked at some pictures online and see that some people have a rash that covers much of their skin in the areas of belly, torso, legs, arms, etc. Sounds like you had it covering a large space and that it was VERY itchy. UGH!!! Mine seems like a minor case...it's itchy but not every second. Sometimes it distracts me but it doesn't keep me from sleeping. In a way it almost reminds me of shingles but it doesn't hurt like shingles did. Stings and itches some, but not like shingles. So I think I am very lucky. Either that or it's not PUPPP. I'm off to the midwives next week and hopefully they'll shed some light on it. Thanks for your input and sharing your experience!

Seaturtle - yes, mine are on my stretchmarks....some are anyway. And some are on my ribs, on my torso, between my hips and armpits, where there are not many stretchmarks (sign of things to come?). One side has it much more than the other. It looks like a bunch of mosquito bites or pimples. We'll see....

[nanaT]

I had this or a very similar rash at the beginning of my 2nd trimester. I saw a dermatologist and talked to a few midwives. Mine was on my legs.....started on my stomach and arms. It itched like crazy and I could not sleep at night....I wanted to seriously consider cutting off my legs or check myself into a mental hospital.....I felt like I was going crazy!!! I posted on here a few months ago about it. Mine actually went away after about 4 weeks and various other things....cocoa butter soap, an homeopathic anti itch cream (which seemed to do nothing) and then I found my miracle cure......Are you ready!!!! Omega 3 fish oil. I had been taking it....ran out and didn't get more right away....that is when it got really bad. Then I got more and took a double dose.... with in a week or so......the rash went away first and then the itch.....I think it helped most b/c it was able to work from the inside out. When I ran out of that bottle...I went about 4 days b/f getting another and a slight itch started again...so of course I ran for the store to get more. I won't let that happen again. I am currently just taking the recommended daily dose. I don't know if it will work for everyone....but I consider it a miracle for me. I can sympathize with the night time CRAZY ITCH and the lack of sleep. It was horrible. And to think I was going to have to deal with it from the beginning of my 2nd trimester til the baby got here made it feel even worse. I hope this helps or gives a little relief.

Best Wishes

[nanaT]

Sorry I forgot to mention.....not on strechmarks for me....but I was fortunate enough not to get them w/ DS and so far have been lucky w/ this pregancy as well.

[Surfacing]

NanaT interesting that you should mention Omega 3. When I was PG with dd#1 I took lots of Omega 3 supplements and she was born smart as a whip! With this PG I am on a low dose of Prozac. Today I consulted with the Pharmacist because I want to take Omega 3 supplements again but I am worried about Serotonin Syndrome. He recommended that I get the Omega 3's from natural food sources first and foremost (Omega 3 added to milk and eggs, fresh walnuts, freshly ground flax seed, salmon). Perhaps I should bump up the Omega 3's in my diet and see if that makes a difference. Thanks for mentioning it.

[hadassah]

I recently a few weeks ago had a really bad rash and thought maybe it was this "pupp" thing I have heard about. My rash was mainly on my stretch marks which I have almost everywhere, and the rash did seem to be other places also, it lasted for a few days before I was just going crazy with the itch. I coldn't get what it cold be and it itched so bad my skin almost bled. So I called my midwife and she suggested calendula*cream and bathing in baking soda, I did this for several days and it all cleared up and now its gone!

*calendula- I'm not sure it's spelled like this.

[riverundine]

I had PUPPPS with dd, and was able to rid my body of it before the baby was born - deemed impossible by the western medical paradigm.
Internally I took dandelion and yellow dock tea (yellow dock is contraindicated in various places, so do your own research. i deemed it necessary.) to flush the liver, as well as B5 (pantothenic acid) per the rec of my midwife. I eliminated all "hot" food from my diet (garlic, onion, tomato, spicy, etc.). I utilized just about every topical remedy known to humankind. The most symptomatic relief came from coating my skin in oatmeal squish after a cool shower. I'd wrap up some oats in cheesecloth and take it into the shower, then squeeze and rub it all over and let it dry on. My ob/gyn was shocked that it went away - said he'd never heard of that before. My midwife was not shocked.
BTW - mine was from fingers to toes and everywhere inbetween but my head. It started on my stretchmarks and I thought my skin was ripping apart. It felt like the devil was trying to get out of my skin. It's horrendous and I truly wish for you drastic and immediate relief.

[MamaJamie]

Ohhh.... I'm so sorry you have this! I had PuPPP with my first pregnancy (here's to hoping I avoid it this time around!). It started between 36 and 37 weeks. I was so itchy and uncomfortable! It was horrible. The only relief I found was from putting the Aveeno colloidal oatmeal mixture in the bathtub and soaking for as long as I could stand soaking in an oatmeal mixture! Needless to say I bought out every drug store in a 20 mile radius of the stuff! Hope this helps a bit! Oh, and my doctor told me I was crazy and that there was no such thing as PuPPP. He said it was just my belly stretching. Right.

Anyway, hope this helps!

[Surfacing]

Mothers, it musn't be PUPP. I am not in the agony that you mamas seemed to have been in. I went for a massage on Friday and after the massage the rash seems to have gotten a bit fainter. I thought perhaps it was from the use of cream. It really doesn't seem as bad as yours have been. I'm putting Aveeno Colloidal Oatmeal cream on and took some fish oil today. Perhaps it's just a different sort of rash....
Anyway, thanks, and I'm sorry you all suffered so much!!!

[LianneM]

I'm so glad you are not miserable, and I hope it goes away for you! Awesome ideas in this thread, I'm going to have to bookmark it in case PUPPP haunts me again!

I did have the rash over a large area, but it was NOTHING like some of the pics I saw online. Not dark or anything, you couldn't see it if I wore shorts (not that I did in January anyway) but it was awfully itchy. I wish I had heard about omega 3s and other dietary things, I bet that does make a big difference.

[Surfacing]

Update: it's not PUPPP. It's just a random rash that went away after putting some oatmeal cream on it. Go figure. My midwife said sometimes rashes show up during pregnancy then go away. Thanks all for commeriserating with me when it was uncomfy and a mystery!

[robidora]

What my midwife said

I called my midwife to tell her I thought I had PUPP. She said if I am taking a prenatal to stop taking them. It means my liver is being overrun. She said it should clear in a few days. She said drink lots of water and make sure I am eating whole rich in vitamin foods to make up for not having the supplements.

I will let people know how it goes.