At 24 weeks along in my second twin pregnancy I woke up at 2am with itchy palms and I knew immediately what was going on. My liver was malfunctioning, again. I was no stranger to IHCP, Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy, and I was expecting it to start-up, but not this early.
With our first twin pregnancy the Cholestasis started around 26 weeks. I was itchy, everywhere except my belly. My arms, legs, back it all itched & itched and no amount of scratching could make it feel any better. It was pure torture and I had no idea what was going on. I went in for a doctor’s appointment and casually mentioned the itching. Blood work was ordered & analyzed and at 28 weeks I was finally diagnosed and put on medication to treat the IHCP. The very next day I went into labor and delivered my 3lb babies via emergency c-section.
To feel the same thing happening again brought back so much PTSD. The pregnancy was a complete mind game after that point. I went into the doctor, told him what was going on and what I needed. He ordered the blood work and simultaneously gave me the needed prescription. I was grateful for the medication, but wasn’t finding relief. You see, IHCP intensifies at night. So while I was feeling *mostly* normal during the day, as soon as 7/8pm rolled around the itching would intensify and make sleep impossible. A hot shower would only make it worse and no amount of ice water would help either. So 10 weeks later, after successfully stopping pre-term labor at 27 weeks and having 2 false labor episodes we went into the hospital at 34 weeks, 3 days along and delivered our 4lb 8oz and 4lb 9oz babies. Hallelujah!!
Even with the medication I needed more, like I said I just wasn’t getting relief. When I consulted with the nutritionist she all but shamed me for event thinking of ‘alternative’ medicine. To her, I thank her for her input but I stick my tongue out at her at the same time. I greatly appreciate western medicine, but I do not for 1 minute believe it is the end-all-be-all for treatment and care. So off to the alternatives I went. I had a close friend recommend Milk Thistle, as a natural liver cleanser, and I turned to that and a liver detoxing tea to help my body self heal. I was also dealing with an irritable uterus, thus the pre-term labor, and my body personally hated the blood pressure medication I was prescribed. It made me feel drugged and sluggish and seriously intensified my IHCP. So instead, I turned to a liquid calcium & magnesium treatment for that. Since magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer, it worked quite well for my body.
I share all of this in hopes that some other mama out there will be able to either help her doctor diagnose her IHCP or that she might even find a few alternative ways of treating her symptoms without feeling shamed for doing so.
Signs of IHCP can include*:
- Itching, particularly on the hands and feet (often is the only symptom noticed)
- Dark urine color
- Pain in the right upper quadrant (RUQ), without gallstones
- Pale/Light coloring of bowel movements
- Fatigue or exhaustion
- Loss of appetite
- Depression
Ways I chose to treat my IHCP:
- Ursodiol prescription medication
- Milk Thistle suppliments
- Sarna anti-itch cream
- Liver detoxing tea
Ways I chose to treat my irritable uterus:
Other oddities that I experienced during my second twin pregnancy:
Ok, this is going to sound a bit weird, but I started getting skin tags evvvverywhere. I finally started just ripping them off – the most random spot was on my nipple. Let me tell you how much fun that was!
Blood blisters. I had one develop right in the middle of my forehead and hang out for a good two months. (ugh!) I had them on my face, neck, back, abdomen, bum and groin area. I accidentally scraped one my cheek with a finger nail and it bled and wept for hours. It was slightly disturbing, but all-in-all just fine. And once the pregnancy was over it all miraculously cleared up.
Red bumps. I don’t know how else to describe them…and honestly they could have simply been because of all the itching/rubbing from the IHCP, but my back was covered in red, irritated bumps. They didn’t itch themselves, but my entire body-minus the belly-did.
–These statements are my own personal trials, findings and treatments and are not meant to be a form of diagnose or treatment. If you need help, please reach out to your healthcare professional before beginning any kid of treatment.–