PUPPS

AmandaB · 08-29-2006, 03:06 PM

So, my client with the lo lying placenta has just written me to say she has been diagnosed with PUPPS. Is there anything I could recomend for her? She is seeing the midwives soon and the doc also did bloodwork to test her liver. This poor girl, is there anything else that could go wrong for her? I am sure there is, it was hypothetical. Please let me know if any of you had this in pregnancy or clients and what there is to do about it.

motherwise · 08-29-2006, 03:20 PM

Yes! Here is a thread PUPPP

I cannot say enough about the use of dandelion in PUPPS cases. Also, let me tell you that from personal experience, the itchiness is absolutely maddening and completely indescribable. It's not just an itch, it's like chinese water torture. It's HORRIBLE! Benedryl will help her sleep, I recommend any lotion or cream with a minty tingle to hep ease the itching, and treat with dandylion caps. HTH! Let me know how it goes

Stacie · 08-29-2006, 05:41 PM

DoulaYvonne · 08-30-2006, 09:09 PM

I had it myself with #2. My mw suggested dandelion root tincture. (I think) you take three squeezes of the tincture into a glass of water twice per day. It got rid of it within the week. Yeah, it is maddening! Works like magic.

newbirth · 08-30-2006, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoulaYvonne

I had it myself with #2. My mw suggested dandelion root tincture. (I think) you take three squeezes of the tincture into a glass of water twice per day. It got rid of it within the week. Yeah, it is maddening! Works like magic.

Yep, that's what my midwife recommended when I told her my client had this problem. My client never tried it, though, as she had a prescription for Zyrtek and decided to use that since it was on hand. The Zyrtek did help, but I don't know of it's advisability during pregnancy.

AmandaB · 09-01-2006, 12:32 PM

Someone needs to know!

My client just called me bawling that she is in so much discomfort. She is taking dandelion, coal tar soap, goat milk ... whatever she can get her hands on. Unfortunately nothing is working, what does anyone know about steriods? That really is her only option left, unfortunately she is only 22weeks and 4 months on steriods sacres her (and me too, quite frankly). I hate to know that she is in tears and regretting her pregnancy. She is also the one with a low lying placenta (so a c/s could be on the horizon).

Please any of you with midwifery background, I would love to learn from you. I need an answer ASAP!

newbirth · 09-01-2006, 01:19 PM

PUPPPS is sometimes a symptom of poor liver function. She can support liver function by drinking the juice of one lemon a day (half morning and half night if she can't do it all at once) in a glass of water.

Ask her doctor if he would consider a prescription for Zyrtec (does she have other allergies?) as this is what cleared it up for my client.
http://www.safefetus.com/DrugDetail....ec&TradeId=854

Here are other suggestions:
http://www.gentlebirth.org/srcFiles/miscdisc.html#Itchy

Above all, she needs to work in concert with her caregiver on this. Potentially, this could be a symptom of serious systemic problems and the appropriate testing should be done, especially with her being so early in her pregnancy.

emmabella · 09-17-2006, 05:31 PM

I had it POSTnatally (very rare) and let me tell you it is just awful AWFUL. It was so itchy and scratching it felt so good (almost like an orgasm LOL) but then just burned like hell afterwards. I took dandelion and flax seed oil without much relief. Claritin seemed to help a bit. The thing that was my sanity saver was learning to knit and crochet, strangely enough. Then my hands were busy and I couldn't scratch. I would crochet in front of the TV so both my hands and my mind were busy. Also alternating hot and cold pads helped some.

The hardest thing will be keeping her from wanting to induce from what I heard because mamas are so miserable in the last few weeks.

nocomparta · 09-17-2006, 09:23 PM

heehee orgasmic scratching... I could make all kinds of man scratching jokes here... sorry ROFLMBO

doula Michele · 09-18-2006, 12:28 AM

just a question... is itout of scope of practice to recommend homopathic things...or anything for that matter such as benedryle?
I am always so paranoid about giving suggestions or advice. So i always say ask you dr, ask your dr...i just don't want anyone to have some horrible reaction or something.
What do the rest of you do?

Michele

amy323 · 05-23-2007, 03:00 PM

I also had a horrible case with my daughter. I was prescribed zyrtec and a prescription cortisone cream, and told that the dermatologist saw more women who were expecting girls suffer from PUPPS, and that he felt it was a hormonal reaction.

Amy
Sidelines IC Volunteer,
Doula working towards certification through CAPPA

SarahMcKay · 05-24-2007, 09:42 AM

I just had a client that had the worst case I have ever seen. Steroids didn't touch it. Dandelion helped, but she found the most (and immediate) relief from accupuncture. She said that for about 3 hours after her session, she could finally sleep. But, that night was the worst itching ever. But the next morning, little to no itching.

MyDreamDoula · 05-24-2007, 11:47 AM

I know there is a thread in the Herb Forum about PUPPS that you might find some info in.

mammamayI · 05-26-2007, 03:52 PM

I had a client who had PUPPS for the last six weeks of her pregnancy. She took the lemon in hot water, dandelion root, used pine tar soap, usually in showers twice a night, then she'd get out of the shower, and COAT herself with castor oil or avacado oil (whatever she could find that was thick). When it got scary bad, she would lie in the middle of the room and have her husband schmear her with cold yogurt. She, too, took up crafting to keep her hands busy, and took off of work because she found that she could sleep better during the day, and then would stay up all night to keep the itchies at bay. The longer she took the dandelion root tincture and lemon water and pine tar soap, the better it seemed to get.

So you know, actually, statistically, more boy and twin pregnancies end up with pupps. The gentle birth links gave her (and me) a LOT of information.

She actually did take two rounds of steriods (didn't seem to do much), tried benedryl (didn't work at ALL for her), and also used a mentholated cream that the doctor prescribed and the pharmacist had to make up for her...but the more she used that the less well it worked (and this is apparently very common), so she saved it for the most maddening times.

THere are actually two or three very good threads with a bunch of links about this on mothering.com, if you use the search function in the birth practitioners forum (am I allowed to suggest that?--it's such helpful info!).

Tell your client to keep trying the dandelion root and pine tar soap, as they should start to actually "draw it out" like a hot bath and chicken pox! Too, I HAVE heard that accupuncture can really help...and that it can do the same thing...make it worse before it's better, but then it's significantly better!