IVF and crohns

[Kerry]

Hi All

I got diagnosed with crohns Aug 2011. I was on prednisole but that didnt work and i was in and out of hospital Jan/Feb this year. I started infliximab in feb and have been doing great since.

We have a sperm issue so knew we had to have IVF and were about to start when i got sick last year. We need ICSI where they inject the sperm into the egg.

I have no reproductive issues except low amh (probably due to the flare this year) but i responded fine to the drugs so no problem there.

I am 38, hubby 36..

we did our first cycle of IVF in May and it failed. Were about to use up our 2 frozen embryos.

There is a new thing in IVF at the moment called natural killer cells. Its about the body attacking itself. They prescribe prednisolone, clexane and asprin for your 2 week wait and to 3 months if you get pregnant. I asked my consultant if he thought i should take those drugs and he said he didnt think the killer cells would be an issue for me as im already on infliximab. but im going to take them as he said it was worth a try.

Has anyone on here had IVF with crohns and any experience of the killer cells?

After the frozen embryos were going down the donor sperm route so then it should be turkey baster ish so alot simpler. I havent enjoyed pumping myself full of yet more drugs for IVF and trying to do it quickly incase i get a flare again.

The timing of my crohns counldnt have been worse, :ybatty:

 

[TTC_IN_NYC]

Hi Kerry,

I can shed some light on that
It's good to hear that your RE is receptive to the idea, some REs don't even want to hear about immunie issues in TTC.

I am 36, no known issues when we started TTC, great SA for the hubby, we went through 5 IUIs with no success, and my RE was pushing for the IVF. I "live" on the fertility friend dot com site, and there is a forume for TTCers with immune issues. So before proceeding with IVF, I switched clinics as my RE was completely dismissing the whole idea of immune infertility (I am with SIRM now), and had a NK cells tested at ReporSource, as well as HLA matching. My new RE recommended doing the immune protocol in addition to the usual IVF drugs (dexamethasone (steroid), lovenox (blood thinner injection, no aspirin to avoid stomach bleeding), and intralipids IV), since I have a history of Graves (auto-immune, anti-thyroid antibodies) and Crohn's. HK cells came back elevated, so we did the immune protocol for IVF #1, which didn't get me pregnant. As we did the stimming, we realized that I was a slow responder, so hoping the next one would be better. My IVF #2 was cancelled 4 days before egg retrieval due to bowel obstruction, and my RE told me not to come back until Crohn's is well under control (I was only on Pentasa all these years, since 1998). So yeah, Crohn's has really crappy timing....

So my new GI put me on Cimzia as it was considered safer for pregnancy (bigger molecules that supposedly do not cross placenta), and I should be ready for the next IVF in a few weeks. I am planning to follow the immune protocol again, even if I am on Cimzia (i am not taking any chances -- better safe than sorry).

Hope this helps. If you want to learn more, PM me and i will send you the link to the board i told you about, if you have problems locating it.

Good luck!