Itchy Bumps All Over My Body During Pregnancy

by Liza
(Vancouver, BC, Canada)

About 5 weeks ago I had what looked like a tiny scratch in the middle of my lower left leg. I thought it was a cut from shaving. It was mildly itchy. Over the course of 3 weeks, however, it had grown into a discolored rough patch larger than the size of a quarter, and was extremely itchy. I'm not sure what diagnosis I received (eczema?), but the doctor prescribed a 2% hydrocortisone cream, three times a day to start, and then twice a day thereafter. It has been 2 weeks, and I have seen some improvement, but I have now developed another skin issue: hundreds of tiny itchy bumps on both my legs, my arms, shoulders, back, sides of my torso, and neck. I feel like I'm covered in mosquito bites, but since neither my husband nor my daughter have these symptoms, bugs have been ruled out. My hunch is that I am having a skin reaction to the hydrocortisone cream. This has not happened when I've used it before, but I am presently 14 weeks pregnant. Yesterday my doctor diagnosed the condition as foliculitis, and said to first try an aloe vera cream, if that doesn't work try Benadryl once a day, if there is still an issue, come back to see the dermatologist. He didn't think it was the hydrocortisone, since he thought if that were the case the rash would be localized.

Last night I spoke to my sister in Germany, who had an itchy skin reaction to a cream during her pregnancy. This made me think that my reaction is related to the hydrocortisone. If I stop using it, the patch on my leg starts to worsen within a day. The itchy bumps are increasing all over my body and causing much discomfort throughout the day and especially at night. I'd like to know of alternatives to the hydrocortisone, especially since I'm pregnant. Additionally, is this a common reaction to hydrocortisone?