Itching

Last night was insane!  My calves, the tops and sides of feet were itching, it was unbelievable! This was Way Worse than I have ever felt it before! I literally felt like I was crazy. Was it all in my mind? or was it really this bad?  I remembered reading and experiencing that heat aggravates the itch of Cholestasis so I stuck my legs out of the blankets.  I also grabbed the Aveno lotion and slathered it on.  Those two things did cool my skin down, which helped but not all that much.  I was a mind game, like with Mosquito bites.  You know when you get a mosquito bit and you think 'if I scratch enough it will go away', we all know that's a lie! It doesn't make it go away and doesn't make them better.  I just had to keep telling myself that over and over, 'scratching my legs off won't do any good!'  I could have sworn that if looked down at my legs they would have been covered in thousands of bites or rashes or bumps, but I knew there was nothing...and there wasn't

This morning the itching has gone away, not completely but it only very light. Strange how it can be so intense and then not bad. Why? What made it flare up?  Was it aggravated by something I ate? Today I decided to get rid of possibilities. I shaved my legs, lathered up on lotion, and drank plenty of water...we'll see how things go.  I will call my dr tomorrow if I itch again tonight as bad as last night.  They say it's worse at night.  I wonder why that it.  I have found that to be true, for me at least. 

Doctors say the soles of your feet and palms of your hands are where it typically starts but that it can be anywhere.  I noticed it on the tops of my feet then slowly work its way up my legs/calves, then to the soles of my feet and palms. That progression took a few weeks.  With Harlow it was so subtle I didn't even realize at first.  I would be teaching and I'd slip off one of my shoes and rub my foot against my other foot or against the carpet without even thinking, then I realized I was doing that a lot.  Then at night I would be getting ready for bed and my ankles and calves would be itchy so I'd grab lotion but that wasn't helping.  I just had this mild, unquenchable itch, if you will.  I'm getting it earlier this time, 30 almost 31weeks.  I think it happened around 35-36 weeks with Harlow but I didn't mention it to the dr until my 38 week visit... I didn't want it to be what I thought it was...I had known about it because Becca gets Cholestasis too.  She got it at 30 weeks with Kolby and 16 weeks with Brielle!  16 weeks and on, I can't even imagine how horrible that would be!

PS- (Feb 21st) as an update, I am still itching but nothing as bad as that night.  I have not called the dr about it because it has been mild.  I will see him on Monday Feb 24th.  I figured I'd just bring it up then.  I will probably have my liver numbers tested then and we'll get a better idea of what's going on.  I don't know for sure but I have been thinking about it and I think I know what spiked it that night.  Not much is known about Cholestasis but greasy things and lots of protein are things that are hard on your liver.  The night I itched we had these big, greasy homemade hamburgers and tator tots for dinner.  I think that meal is what spiked my levels...again, I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure that's what did it.  So I'm thinking, YES, diet does have an effect on this condition!