The sole of my left foot, the palm of my left hand and the fingers of both my left and right hands are itching....horribly.  There are these tiny TINY little bumps, but not everywhere it itches....just a few on my sole and a couple on my left hand and then on my fingers....they look like tiny blisters.  Basically on my left palm I have three tiny blisters but my entire palm itches, not just where these bumps are.  I really don't think these are due to an allergy as I have done nothing differently....touched or eaten anything new.  I am concerned that it could be cholestasis of pregnancy.  My liver enzymes before I got pregnant were a bit off and right before I got pregnant I think I may have had some gallbladder pain as it was right upper quadrant and unlike anything I had ever had before.

 Anyway....it has been getting worse over the last few weeks and not better.  Cortisone doesn't help at all, fwiw.  Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this.  I don't itch anywhere else, but this is driving me crazy.  Oh ...I am almost 17 weeks pregnant.

The little bumps you are taking about that look like blisters is a form of eczema and it can be worse during pregnancy. I know this because I have the same things on my hands. The blisters are tiny water blisters and the itch drives you crazy!!! I have to use meds to clear it up and it flares up every few weeks but its only on my hands. I would call your doctor though just to make sure its not something more serious. I hope you feel better :)

I also have that. It is eczema. They itch like crazy to the point i wanna cut my hands off. LOL It is way worse at night, somtimes when i wake up my fingers hurt cause they are raw from scratching all the skin off. I have no luck with any medication creams or lotions. I just know scratching makes it way worse. But ya i had it before i got pregnant and now that i am pregnant it is way worse!! Feel better and try not to scratch

You made me feel better!  So what do you treat it with?  It is absolutely driving me crazy. I've tried OTC 1% cortisone but it hasn't helped at all.  It does look like little tiny clear fluid-filled blisters about the size of a pinhead.  I sure hope it is only eczema....but why my soles and my hands? and no where else?  Just really strange.

It sounds like this:  dyshidrotic eczema....did a search on that....steroids are one of the mainstays of treatment, but that cortaid sure didn't help any.  I am thinking maybe ice packs.  It is just awful though...and scratching it does make it worse, but sometimes I just can't help it!

There is an over the counter medicine called dermarest. Make sure you get the one for eczema. It has cortisone and some soothing oils in it. That seems to really help out. You can find it at walgreens or riteaid.

Hi Danna, you might want to get a blood test for your liver levels. I had cholestasis with both my pregnancies and it was always the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. NOTHING helped the itch, no creams, or antihistamens (sp) I used to have to stand in a bathtub of cold water or soak my hands in the sink with cold water. it sucked. If it is ICP you need to get on Urso for your babies sake. Any questions feel free to pm me.

Unless you have some of these symptoms, I would not worry all that much...... The itchy little fluid filled blisters on your hands is eczema and is not a sign of cholestasis. These are the symptoms of cholestasis:

Jaundice, dark urine, light-colored stools, and generalized itchiness are characteristic symptoms of cholestasis. Jaundice results from excess bilirubin deposited in the skin, and dark urine results from excess bilirubin excreted by the kidneys. Retention of bile products in the skin may cause itching, with subsequent scratching and skin damage. Stools may become light-colored because the passage of bilirubin into the intestine is blocked. Stools may contain too much fat (a condition called steatorrhea) because bile cannot enter the intestine to help digest fat in foods. Fatty stools may be foul-smelling. The lack of bile in the intestine also means that calcium and vitamin D are poorly absorbed. If cholestasis persists, a deficiency of these nutrients can cause loss of bone tissue. Vitamin K, which is needed for blood clotting, is also poorly absorbed from the intestine, causing a tendency to bleed easily.

This is what I think you are suffering from per your symptoms:

Dyshidrotic Eczema

 

Dyshidrotic eczema is a vesicular form of eczema affecting the hands and feet. The cause is unknown, both men and women are affected and the condition usually appears before the age of 40. As in general eczema the condition usually runs in families.

The condition is characterised by the sudden onset (1 – 3 days) of deep-seated small, clear, fluid filled blisters or vesicles. A rash may also develop. The main complaint is a burning sensation and intense itching.

This may be followed in the later stages by redness, scaling and thickening of the skin. The skin will also become cracked and large blisters will cause pain. Ruptured blisters will frequently result in a secondary bacterial infection developing

 

I am a nurse so sorry for all the extra info :) Hope it helps you feel better.

DawnKlasen your right. I never had an blister things, just the itchy hands and feet. So if that freaked you out Danna. Plus when I saw a liver spec in June he mentioned that your liver before, during and after ICP are different. (meaning your liver functions are normal when your not pregnant, and wonky when your pregnant if you have ICP (Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy), and go back to normal after pregnancy)

dawnklasen:

Unless you have some of these symptoms, I would not worry all that much...... The itchy little fluid filled blisters on your hands is eczema and is not a sign of cholestasis. These are the symptoms of cholestasis:

Jaundice, dark urine, light-colored stools, and generalized itchiness are characteristic symptoms of cholestasis.

    I never had any jaundice, and the urine and stool didnt happen until much later so it took them awhile to figure out it was ICP. I thought I was going to die!

Best of luck! I hope the cream helps!

Thanks so much, ladies.  The blisters I have are really tiny and only a few of them and it itches where there aren't blisters also.   I am seeing a nephrologist now and I think I will just mention to him about the cholestasis since he is watching my liver functions too just to make sure, though I agree it sounds more like the eczema.  It is driving me NUTS though...it itches so badly.  I'm going to try that cream and see if it helps.  Two of my kids had newborn eczema and one of my kids had asthma so it isn't a stretch to see me have eczema....but why oh why did it have to start now when I still am nauseated and feeling bad???  To top it off I have gestational diabetes and am taking insulin and of course have to prick my finger tips and that is where it itches...makes it hard to scratch when I have little scabs on my fingers.  Boy, I am a mess!!!  LOL

 Y'all have been a big help...hope I can figure out something to keep it from itching so much.

I'm not sure what form of ezcema I have, but I can't wear my wedding rings because it flares up so bad and itches like heck.  None of the cortosteroid creams have worked.  The only thing I've had success with is real vitamin E and aloe vera.  I put the vitamin E on at night and the redness is gone by morning.  The aloe helps with the itching.  All other medications exacerbated it. 

I just wanted to add that I tried the dermarest and it helped more than the other hydrocortisone, but didn't take the itch completely away. I like how it feels though.  I did tell my doc about my hands and feet itching and without prompting he gave me an order to have my bile acid salts and liver enzymes measured....hopefully they will come back normal and this is just eczema.  I will say though since I had to go through a 24 hour urine collection yesterday, I did notice that my urine is very dark and my bm's are light, but as how dark and light they are as to be classified as light and dark I don't know...LOL....but that can be a sign too.  I get those lab tests drawn next Wednesday.  Thanks, everyone, for your help with this.  at least this is narrowed down to one of two things and it will probably end up being eczema. 

Keep us updated!  I too, have been experiencing itchiness (especially at night).  It feels like a thousand tiny bugs crawling all over me!  I have also had really dark urine, and some pain in my upper back.  I'm going to mention it to my doc at the next appointment- but thats not for over a week.  I hope all your results come back normal!

Danna - How did your tests turn out?

marissak - are you still itchy?

Danna - hopefully you've gotten your results back and it's eczema.  I had ICP with DS# 2, and believe me it was not fun - I didn't have the little blisters that you're seeing, but the itch - it was all over my body.  I couldn't stop scratching, and it just started out of nowhere all within a week - I was 30 weeks pregnant, and nothing helped.  My OB/Gyn scheduled me for a blood test on the Friday of that week, but by then it was too late for the results - the next day I went into premature labor.  My doctor mentioned that it was the only way for ICP to go away was for me to have the baby, but what she didn't tell me is that I should get checked in case something was wrong with my liver or gallbladder.  It was the case, 5 months later I ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis - my pancreas was swollen because I had passed a gallbladder stone that had blocked it.  I later had to get my gallbladder removed so it wouldn't happen again. 

Here is a link that explains ICP in detail:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrahepatic_Cholestasis_of_Pregnancy

It has helped me and my DH understand what I went through since my DH had always thought that I went into premature labor because I was never taking care of myself, lifting heavy items (like my DD) and such. 

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