A laugh

They say it's the best medicine, right? Let's see what it does for our itch...

So true, right?

Pretty much how I feel. Allergic to my own self. 

When you get the spot...

And last but not least...this is so accurate...

(click here to see it bigger)

You know you have PUPPPs when...

It's mosquito season where I live. Pesky buggers.

BUT, you know you have PUPPPs when the mosquito bites barely itch in comparison to your rash.

My poor little girls have quite a few bites, complain about the itch, and I really don't have very much sympathy. Sorry, kiddos! Mommy knows what it's like to really itch.

Let's see...how else do you know you have PUPPPs...

You might have PUPPPs if...you're medicine cabinet is full of every over-the-counter itch cream known to man.

You might have PUPPPs if...it looks like the drug store exploded on your bedside table.

You might have PUPPPs if...you've considered joining a nudest colony just to avoid the hassle of clothing.

You might have PUPPPs if...you've fantasized about swimming in the ocean all day long.

You might have PUPPPs if...you seek out privacy in public places just to scratch the "awkward" spots.

You might have PUPPPs if...you have your dermatologist in your favorite contact list.

Got any to add? Feel free to comment!!

A Silver Lining to the Common Cold

That's an unlikely post title, no?

I know this is my PUPPPs blog, but I'm living with the itch AND a cold right now, so I may as well tell you about it. 

It's a little crazy, but the fever, aches, sore throat, and completely plugged sinuses have taken my mind off the itching! I'm rather miserable, but less itching is definitely a silver lining.

So, here I am in the middle of summer, hunkered in my hoodie and fleece jammies...researching the common cold. Ironic.

Now, let's be logical, if you're reading this because you have PUPPPs, you are about to or already do have children in the house. Children, the little germ factories, are the main way adults get infected. They're worth it, trust me. But with children in the house, you are going to become quite accustomed to colds, so you might as well buff up on your sniffly knowledge. 

I came across a fascinating webpage all about the common cold from Cardiff University in the UK. Here's a link to the article: link

Here's the run down in case you'd rather skip reading the full article. 

• Incubation period for the common cold is 2 days. Super short!
• You are most contagious when you have the early symptoms (sneezing, coughing, runny nose).
• The virus is commonly present in your nose and throat, but it doesn't take root unless your immune system takes a dive (like if you get stressed). 
• Your mother was right! Getting chilled can give you a cold! A study took roughly a hundred college kids and chilled their feet in ice water for a while. Compared to the control group, they were statistically way more likely to get a cold! Researchers believe the chilling of the feet constricts the blood vessels in the nose and throat, thereby lowering your immune reponse (due to the lack of immune system cells that would normally be present with the blood in that area!) The gist? You get cold, you're more likely to get a cold. This is also probably the reason colds are more common in fall and winter. 
• There are roughly 200 different viruses that causes common cold symptoms. Awesome. This means you can get one cold right after another. Your body will be immune the first cold, but not prepared to fight off the second one. 
• Symptoms usually last 7-14 days. 
• You'll first feel sick where the first viruses attach themselves. If it's in your nose, you'll probably get a runny nose first. If it's in your throat, you'll get a dry scratchy throat. 
• Many infections don't cause symptoms. The virus takes root, but your body fights it off before you start to feel sick. Come on, body! Why didn't we do that this time?! 
• You can't tell the difference between a cold and a flu based on the symptoms. They can act very similar. A flu is often worse than a cold. There are some laboratory tests for the flu. 
• Your nose doesn't actually get blocked with snot. It gets plugged up, because the blood vessels in your nose swell up. It gets all inflamed in there, and then the tiniest amount of mucous blocks the rest. Lovely. 

(Image from the Cardiff University website for common cold info)

Well, after all that, I'd say our trip to the beach was our downfall. We all got chilly in that blissfully cool air. And then we all got sick. It sure felt good! Next time, I'll bundle up better. 

Skin brushing

File this one under humor. Or irony. 

I'm always on the look-out for itchy skin cures. I got a tip to look into dry skin brushing, and off I went to google. 

At first, I was rather intrigued. OooOooo, I thought. It's supposed to increase circulation and help move lymph? Well, that's great for detoxing! This could be an awesome addition to my PUPPPs treatment routine! And it helps minimize cellulite also? Bonus! 

Here's a link that describes it's benefit in more detail: dry skin brushing

Other itchy people even seemed to like it! Eczema sufferers were touting it's benefits: dry brushing for eczema

I did run across some skeptics. This article had a few quotes from dermatologists that were not super confident in the miraculous claims that the skin brushing fans were spouting: NY Times article

After taking it all in, I examined the nitty gritty more closely. And I laughed. 

Ok, so, step 1 seemed to be getting a naturally bristled brush (like my trusty boar-bristled favorite). Check. 

Step 2. Starting at the ends of your extremities, brush towards your heart. Hmm. Ok. Simple enough. I'm already using my hairbrush to scratch like crazy, so I'm half way there!

Then the cautions. Be sure to avoid current outbreaks of any rashes (like eczema...and PUPPPs!?) or sensitive areas. Haha! 

So then, where does the miserable PUPPPs sufferer have left to brush??? One's fingernails?? The tips of our noses??

Uh huh. 

Well, perhaps skin brushing to cure PUPPPs is out. I am curious if anyone out there has used it successfully in their non-itchy lives to good effect. Any miraculous cellulite disappearances? Anyone?

And that is how my evening of research turned into a wry chuckle. Goodnight, fellow itchy people!

PUPPPs...alternate acronyms

PUPPPs. It stands for Pruritic Urticarial Papules & Plaques of Pregnancy.

What a mouthful. 

Pruritic means itchy. 

Urticarial means hive-like.

Papules means raised, hard puffy spots on the skin. 

And plaques are just abnormal spots on the skin. 

So really, it means...strange itchy, puffy hives of pregnancy. 

I think they could have done better than that. But if they are going to use PUPPPs, here are my suggestions for what it SHOULD stand for...

Phenomenally Ugly Pink & Purple Pimpley-things

Persistent Ultra Painful Peculiar Protuberances

Person Uncontrollably Prone to Picking & Pouts

Perilous Unbearable Perplexing Persistent & Prickly

Pregnant Upset Pitiful Panicky Person

Puzzling Ugliest Psychotic Preposterous rash of Pregnancy

Powerful Unpredictable Pervasive Puffy rash of Pregnancy

Any other suggestions? I think the medical community could use them!

The Dermatologist

What I'm about to relate is probably a common experience for PUPPPs sufferers. Now you'll know you're not alone!

During my 3rd pregnancy with PUPPPs, I was at the end of my resolve to avoid steroids and headed into a dermatologist appointment. My PUPPPs was the worst it has ever been. Having to put on socially acceptable clothing for the appointment had been torture. I couldn't even fill out the admission forms without setting down the clipboard to scratch. I could feel the eyes of the other patients in the waiting room on me and my squirmy self.

When they called me back, the nurse felt so bad for me that she immediately went to find some ice packs to get me through the appointment. As I cooled the burning itch, more and more people kept filing in to the exam room.

I was feeling a bit like a spectacle! 

Apparently, PUPPPs is rare enough that many of the staff hadn't seen it! There were a couple different nurses, two or three doctors, and a nurse practitioner. They Oooed and Ahhed. They all expressed how sorry they were for me. And then they all consulted on what to prescribe.

That wasn't exactly confidence inspiring. I went home with my steroid and got into a routine of "slathering" it on. But that's a story for another day.

Going along with feeling of being a spectacle at the dermatologists...

When I was 16, I had a horrible zit. Oh, it was bad. My mom actually let me skip school and ballet class. It was on the very tip of my nose. I was giving Rudolph a run for his money. My mom felt so sorry for me that she took me right in to the dermatologist that day. The doctor was an older man. I got the impression that he'd been practicing for decades. He came in and sat down without glancing up at me.

But when he did? Oh my.

He actually exclaimed. Loudly. His exact words were "That's the biggest one I've ever seen!" The dermatologist that had been practicing for decades said my zit was the biggest he'd ever seen!!

The biggest zit he'd ever seen. Wow.

I was a strange combination of mortified and gratified. I may have had a horrific growth on my beak, but at least I wasn't overreacting! He proceeded to get out some kind of medical binoculars, tilt my head toward the light, and go in for a close up. Talk about a spectacle. It wasn't exactly a boost to my teenage self-esteem. I must have recovered somehow, but visiting the dermatologist for PUPPPs definitely brought back old memories!

PUPPPs Yoga

I think this about sums it up.

I end up in the Pretzel most myself. 

Humor is the Best Medicine...

Oh, how PUPPPs adds to it all...

The only thing worse than PUPPPs would be PUPPPs with a full body cast. Just take me away to the padded room and straight jackets, please.