Rash on breasts, underarms and upper stomach?

[txtarheel]

Not sure if this is a breastfeeding issue or post-partum issue, but I thought I'd try here first.

DS #2 was born 9 days ago. A couple days ago I noticed a rash appearing on my breasts. No where near my nipples or areolas. More over to the sides near my arms (I'm a 40F when not living in early nursing/engorgement days) so that's pretty far removed. It's also where the hardest spots to relieve engorgement are localized. It's small, red bumps and drive me out of my mind itchy.

DS doesn't seem to have any issues and DS #1 and I had thrush for months so I'm pretty familiar with that and it's definitely not that.

This morning it's started itching in my underarms, at the top and between my breasts and on my upper stomach (not directly under my breasts). The rash isn't there, but the itching most definitely is.

Is this a PP hormonal thing? Any thoughts of what I can do to stop the itch?

[Mama Poot]

Have you taken any antibiotics or other meds for any reason? Sometimes you can have an allergic reaction if you're allergic to penicillin, and what you're describing kind of sounds similar to the rashes my mom gets if she takes something with penicillin.

[agnieszkaj]

This sounds very much like what I had with my new baby. For me, I noticed it the day after my baby was born. It may have been there sooner, but I just had not looked much at my stomach, etc. Anyway, I had a rash all over my stomach, going down my legs, and a little on my breasts. It was somewhat itchy but not too bad. My midwife looked at it 6 days postpartum. She couldn't figure out what it was. She had not seen this before, and she has done LOTS of births. She said it was *not* an allergic reaction to anything, including antibiotics. She said it would go away, and it did after about 3 weeks.

I have GBS and had 1 bag of penicillin in labor and a little IV fluid with that. After birth, I had a little pitocin. I ended up with LOTS of swelling, which is something I did not have with my first two babies - even though I had much more intervention with my first two.

[georgia]

I've heard of instances where PUPPPs (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy) can occur post-pregnancy. I've read that in many cases with a rash, it's the liver that's having an issue.

Any thoughts of what I can do to stop the itch?

If you're into herbal remedies, I would suggest looking at/asking about dandelion root and nettles for speedy relief of rash symptoms.

I had PUPPPs with my last pregnancy (even though according to most websites, women don't get PUPPPs after their first pregnancy--lucky me ), and the itch was unbelievable. Once I did the nettles and dandelion tincture, I almost immediately felt so much better.

In addition to the antibiotic question, have you changed detergents? Lotions? Deodorants?

[Azryel]

I developed PUPPPs post-partum with my twins. I actually think it may have started right before the twins were born (as in the day they were born) and I just didn't notice the early stages. The rash started in my stretch marks, and I thought they were just itchy from stretching. It grew out from there to cover my belly and legs. The rash reminded me a lot of eczema -- small, red, and bumpy.

I was terrified the rash wouldn't go away until I stopped breastfeeding, because birth is supposed to "cure" it and mine clearly got worse after giving birth. And it got bad enough that I would have seriously considered stopping breastfeeding. But it eventually did disappear. It took several weeks, and those several weeks sucked, but at least it passed.

Good luck!

* Jaime

[txtarheel]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I had a Drs. appointment this morning for something unrelated and asked about it. My son was born by c/s and I had a strong reaction to the adhesive on the dressing they put over the incision. My Dr. thought it was likely a systemic allergic reaction and suggested I tried Claritin or Zyrtec to clear it up. Just 2 hours after the Claritin, the rash was orders of magnitude better.

Georgia - what form should I try of the dandelion root and nettles? I've got dried that I used for tea while pregnant. Can I make something useful from those? The itch is improving, but if I can help it out some more, I'd be thrilled...

[agnieszkaj]

This is great info about PUPPPs. I looked at the picture, and this is exactly what I had. I *only* had it postpartum, though. Can it possibly be caused by (postpartum) pitocin or IV fluids? I'm going to take some info to my midwife and see what she says.

[notaperfectmom]

Oh my god I had this exact same thing too! I thought I was the only one

I also got the "possibly systemic" thing, but in the end it was decided that it was a reaction to antibiotics. Wierd because I've had a good number of those in my life and never had an issue. But MAYBE it was puppp because it looks and sounds just like what i had. Also like one PP mine began sometime during labor (I think before the antibiotics but can't remember clearly )

I did benadryl but that didn't do it and ended up on a VERY strong steroid cream which cleared it up in about 3 days. It lasted about 2 weeks. It sucked and I really hope it doesn't happen again!