OB | The A-Team

Jul 2 2012

Postpartum Hives???

Anna

Wednesday night of this past week I developed some odd mosquito- like bites on my right foot and ankle. I itched them and it spread (not unusual for me). Then it showed up on my left foot. Very odd. Then my feet swelled. Before bed my chin had been itching and my eyes had some odd looking welts on them. I woke up Thursday morning to a face that nearly had my left eye swollen shut! Needless to say, I was totally freaked out. I called my OB and he said see your PCP. I called my primary care physician and got an appointment for 11:30 am on Thursday. I get to his office and I wait. My swelling was getting worse and I was noticing that my nasal passages were swelling shut. I calmly asked the nice ladies at the desk how much longer my doc would be since my nasal passages were swelling and they said they would get his assistant to see me. She comes to the window (actually it was another doc’s assistant because my doc’s was too busy) and she promptly turned me away and said go to the ER now. Are you kidding me? I was an emotional mess and called Aaron to come get me.

We make plans for a trip to the ER because this condition was worsening rather rapidly. My mom was so kind to promptly leave her work and come straight over to our house and watch the boys while Aaron, me and the Beans went to Community South’s Emergency Room. Thankfully, I was admitted quickly and given treatment within about 15 minutes of arriving. The swelling in my feet went down and my itching had calmed down. The swelling was so bad in my left foot that it actually caused bruising under the skin. As you will see in the graphic photos to follow, this happened ALL over my body. Anywhere I have had hives, I have swelled and bruised.

We leave the ER with info about my LFTs being a bit high (liver function tests). I call my OB Friday morning and explained everything that happened the previous day plus the fact that my hands were now so swollen that I couldn’t even bend my fingers. Even the kids were getting freaked out by my appearance and lack of being able to do anything. My OB says come on in. We go see him and I tell you, it is not comforting to see your doc look at you with puzzlement. But I must say it was rather awesome for him to call his bud who is a dermatologist and get me seen immediately by him! The dermatologist was nice but unable to offer me anything further. He does not believe my condition is related to anything I have ingested, inhaled or come in contact with. So basically I am diagnosed with idiopathic urticaria. Yippee. Luckily I have a super duper internet savvy hubby who spent some time Saturday morning researching my condition. Originally we thought it was a drug allergy but everyone we spoke to figured not so much since it had been so far in the past. We were at a loss. Aaron came across some info from other women experiencing postpartum hives. Hormones are the cause. It is different in each person and the cases all vary from severity to duration. There is no known cure just treatment for the symptoms. You have to take steroids and antihistamines.

Throughout this whole ordeal, I have prayed for healing (obviously) but also patience and courage to face this along with protection for Abilene who is nursing. All the meds I have been given I have had to make sure are cleared for breastfeeding. That has not been the easiest since not everyone takes breastfeeding as seriously as I do.

Anyway, I am still suffering but I believe we may be on the upward swing of things. I have a follow-up appointment with my OB on Friday and I pray that by then this will all be but a memory (albeit one not likely forgotten). Here are pictures that will show you what I am dealing with. Sorry for the graphic nature of these photos but I believe women out there need to know about this.

This is what I woke up to Thursday morning. Scary, I know. I had Aaron prepare the boys ahead of time before seeing mommy because I didn’t want them to freak out!