Well, I read MANY blogs, chat boards, etc. in my frantic search for the magical way to cure this damn disease, and I really appreciated all of their insight and opinions. Since traditional medicine wasn't working for me, I had no choice but to turn to the wonderful web for ideas.
As you probably know, Pupps is not a very well-researched disease because the eventual outcomes for mother and baby are just fine. So Internet research was much more important than ever before for me! My dear husband also did a STELLAR job researching ways to combat Pupps. He is a researcher by training, and found even better resources than I did that were full of ideas to try. He is the best, and I am grateful for him every day!!!
Two friends of mine did deal with Pupps, though much later in pregnancy, and I did take this as a comfort, since no one else seemed to have any idea about it. I read over and over the information I could find online, hoping to find the magical answer.
Here are some things I learned:
Pupps effects around 1 in 150 or 200 women during their first pregnancy (again, different sources say different things).
Info from What to Expect about Pupps
70% of women who have Pupps go on to have boys. (Anecdotal evidence that I read from women voting on if they went on to have a boy or girl said that 60% had boys.) We are not finding out until our baby is born if it's a boy or girl, but I am guessing boy much more now!
Pupps usually comes in the third trimester. Most women that I read about had it for their last two weeks of pregnancy. The itching was so terrible that many of those women chose to get induced early rather than deal with it. I was so jealous of those women who were at the end of their pregnancy!!
Pupps usually appears first on the belly, often within stretch marks. Neither of those things happened to me.
Your face is your saving grace. Pupps does not go after your face. Thank God for that!
Some research says that Pupps has to do with your liver. Many of the remedies attempt to flush it out, like V-8, lemon juice in water, nettle tea, dandelion tea or capsules).
Other research (again, anecdotal) blames the father for the woman getting Pupps in pregnancy. One thing I read explained that a woman had 4 kids with one man, and never had Pupps. She then got remarried, had 1 child with her new husband and got Pupps, therefore showing some "blame" on the man. Another example said that two women married twin brothers and both women got Pupps. My husband read that and felt bad that he may be to blame!! He was so sweet helping me deal with Pupps that I forgave him!! Haha
Most people didn't seem to get it until I showed them my arms which were raging angry Pupps spots! Itching while pregnant doesn't sound that bad, but this Pupps business is something else entirely! I feel your pain!
I gained a ton of knowledge about the options to fight Pupps, and reviewed them in the next post on this blog.
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