I had horrible itching all over my body for the last 3 months of my pregnancy. It really drove me insane. I would scratch so badly that finally my midwife asked, "Did the cat scratch your legs?!"
I couldn't sleep at night and I was in misery. The cause of the itching was simply the hormones from pregnancy which I was very sensitive to. There was nothing they could do to make the itching stop but after my son was born it went away completely and quickly.
I found that oatmeal was the ONLY thing that provided any relief. If you have a bathtub, fill it up with water, put in 3-5 handfuls of oatmeal (the cheap stuff that you can buy at Wellcome is perfect).
Make sure the water is not too hot--lukewarm water is best because hot water irritates and dries out your skin. Let the oatmeal sit for a few minutes and then sit in it.
If you don't have a bathtub, you can still do something in the shower. Take the same amount of oatmeal and put water with it in a big bowl. Let it sit. Then take handfuls of the soggy oatmeal and rub it all over your body. Let the clumps of oatmeal sit on your skin for about 3-5 minutes. Use the oatmeal water to rinse the rest of the clumps off. Gently pat yourself dry--by keeping the oatmeal residue on your skin you'll get more relief for longer.
Also, get some aqueos cream (not expensive and found at almost every pharmacy in Hong Kong) and after a shower, within two minutes lather on a thick layer of it. Lotion actually can't do you much good as far as providing moisture for your skin--the best you can do, is after a shower, seal the dampness into your skin with a thicker, non-scented, hypoallergenic cream.
If you're having a really horrible itchy time and it seems to be like an allergic reaction, you can take a pine-tar bath. That stuff smells really bad but it does work to take the itch away.
The reason why I know all of this stuff is because I've had to do ALL of it at different times--I have extremely dry skin, grew up in a really dry climate, have had a few allergic skin rashes and then the horrible pregnancy itchiness. I am like a warrior when it comes to fighting itchy skin!
I know the oatmeal bath might sound disgusting but it is the most soothing thing I found. And I also tried everything else. I think that
Aveeno also makes a lotion with oatmeal in it.
Here is a thread from last year talking about where to buy Aveeno in Hong Kong.
I hope that you get some relief. Also, have you tried calamine lotion?
Calamine lotion is the faint, light pink lotion that you put on mosquito bites. It has a pleasant scent. It's not expensive and I think you can buy it at the local pharmacies here. Also, Desitin diaper rash cream (white and thick cream used on babies for diaper rash) also has zinc ozide in it which is one of the active ingredients in Calamine lotion. Desitin is a bit messy and smelly, though.
