About the itch...

Once again, if you've missed my blog for a few days, go back and read the last two. Otherwise this one won't make any sense.

Some people have asked about the itching and about how I can tell it's not normal pregnancy itching. Well, at first I thought it was normal pregnancy itching too, but it escalated and got to a point where I said to myself, "this is NOT normal". Sure I have itching on my belly where my skin is stretching, but nothing that I would think out of the ordinary. ICP is characterized by intense, widespread itching on the body, but particularly on the hands and feet. I have all of that.

The itching is like nothing I've ever experienced. I've been taking 2 or 3 baths a day for a tiny amount of relief. I've tried oatmeal baths and coating my skin with benadryl anti-itch gel, as well as taking benadryl orally. All at the same time... with no relief. I wake up every hour through the night ferociously scratching my legs, my feet, my hands, etc. Two nights ago it was so bad that it had me in tears and I literally was balling up my fists and shaking from the overwhelming need to scratch everywhere. I literally wanted to pull my hair out, and I felt like I was going crazy. It was about then that I had the realization, "this is NOT normal!".

The itching is worse in the evenings and night... which is how the ICP itching is described as well. And of course it is often on my hands and feet, which is the tell tale sign of ICP.

When I'm not actually scratching, I feel the need to scratch all day long. It never goes away. I'm constantly aware of my itchiness, even when I withhold scratching for hours at a time. It's like I've rolled around in poison ivy or something. Miserable, miserable, miserable! One article I read on ICP talked about how patients often suffer from emotional distress and suicidal thoughts from this condition. I can totally understand that! (Don't worry, I'm not suicidal!)

Anyways, if anyone is interested in reading more about ICP, here is a link:

http://www.itchymoms.com/

And here are a couple of medical articles if you're wanting to read a bunch of medical terminology on the matter:

http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0168-8278/PIIS0168827800801397.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1891276/