PUPPP: A Challenging Pregnancy Experience

I’ve already been to 2 pregnancies and I’ve had a lot of challenges encountered during my pregnancies. A few remain to be untold while some worth sharing.

One of the challenging experiences I’ve had was when I encountered PUPPP or medically known as Pruritic Urticaria Plaques and Papules of Pregnancy during my second pregnancy. I hope and pray pregnant moms won’t experience this condition. It’s comes in a non-threatening form – in the form of rashes.

I would like to share my PUPPP experience to other moms (and dads as well) just in case some might still encounter a similar condition.

PUPPP appeared during my last trimester. I was scheduled to deliver on the week of April 8 and the rashes appeared first week of February. It seemed like a normal pregnancy rash but it became worrisome to me since I noticed that it spread to other parts of my body. It appeared first in my thigh area. Then I was shocked to see that few days after, my legs were covered with rashes and after a week so did my entire arms! Imagine the look and feel of being bitten by the ants all over your legs and arms! The rashes were so itchy that I went to the derma at a nearby hospital after office hours (since my regular derma is located miles away from our office and she can’t wait for me on that particular night due to prior engagement) for a consultation on my condition. I mentioned to him that I ate some seafood during the weekend in case this could be the suspect(but I never had rashes before when I eat seafood).The derma initially suspected urticaria and he prescribed me with a corticosteroid – Clobetasol. Clobetasol can only be applied for about a week. Thankfully the itchiness subsided but after a few days, it reappeared again.

This time around I went to my regular derma and when she saw me – she suspected PUPPP. As far as I can remember her explanation, I had few hormones working against instead of working with my hormones thus a certain imbalance occurred. What she advised me was that all of these would go away once I give birth. I was advised to continue applying Clobestasol for only 2 weeks. She prescribed me to take Sarna lotion instead if I can do without Clobetasol the better. Sarna lotion when applied gives a certain cool feeling in the skin. I’ve tried as well other methods on my own that helped alleviate the itchiness (temporarily) and made my skin cool such as alternately applying Aveeno lotion and No Ad Aloe Vera lotion. Being in an airconditioned room always is also recommended (if possible turn it to the maximum cooling capacity). It is not recommended to stay in tropical or hot conditions when one has PUPPP. If I feel hot at home or in some locations, I apply ice cubes directly on my skin. In the office, I even had an electric fan directly hitting my arms and legs at the office even if air condition is turned to the maximum.

On top of the Sarna and Clobetasol and my own magic tricks, I was also prescribed with Benadryl or Itherax but I was advised to check with my OB first if she allows me to take Itherax (cause I think it is classified as a sensitive med for pregnant women that benefits should outweigh the risks when taking these types of medicines). I settled for Benadryl but I always get this drowsy feeling when I took it.

After giving birth, I did not get the itchy feeling anymore and a few days after the rashes faded away leaving no marks whatsoever in my skin.