Pregnancy and Remicade

[mariasee]

Hello everyone
I am brand new to this forum. I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2008 and started Remicade treatments in 2010. I have been in remission since 2011 and am still on Remicade. I recently got married and am starting to think about getting pregnant. I have talked to my Crohn's doctor about getting pregnant while on Remicade but have a ton of hesitations. Is anyone on this forum currently on Remicade and has gotten pregnant/had a baby while taking Remicade? I am trying to weigh out my options and any advice or help is appreciated.
Thanks!!

 

[AKCrohns]

Hi mariasee! I am very newly pregnant (8 weeks) and have been on Remicade since 2012. I'm currently in clinical remission, although still have some symptoms. My GI suggests I stay on Remicade as long as possible. At this point, I'll stop at 30 weeks to limit how much Remi the baby actually receives in the 3rd trimester. After delivery, I'll have an infusion as soon as possible. Hopefully I'll stay in remission or at least avoid a full on flare this way. There aren't many studies out there on pregnancy and Remicade but there also aren't definitive negative effects. I hope this helps you a bit!

 

[Patricia56]

One of the studies of large registries supports the use of Remicade until the late 2nd trimester/3rd trimester.

The authors of that study recommend that infants be tested for Remicade in their blood after birth and that vaccines be delayed until there is no detectable Remicade levels. This may take up to 6 months.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21621603

FWIW my son's pediatrician commented on the fact that they now have several children in their practice born to mothers with Crohn's or RA who were on Remicade or one of the other biologics at the time of their pregnancy. He said the children are all doing great.

 

[Nickaz]

Hi I'm currently 29 weeks pregnant and have been on remicade for 12 months.
I have my last infusion in 2 weeks. I'll have the next one after baby is born.
I'll be induced at 39 weeks if I haven't had baby by then as the next infusion will be due.
All of my fears about remicade in pregnancy were for nothing.
Everything has been normal
I plan to breast feed too because the doctors assure me there has been no indication that babies can get the drug through the milk.
Better for their immune systems to be breast fed.
Baby can't have live vaccines for 6 months.

Good luck

 

[AussieMaraT]

I agree with everything everyone has said above. I am 7 weeks pregnant and am still having my infliximab. It is much safer for you and your baby to stay in remission and not flare. I had done copious amounts of research and spoken with my GI about getting pregnant before we tried and everything is as above. Try not to stress!

 

[mariasee]

Thanks for your great advice everyone! Appreciate your insights.

 

[lookame]

I was on a double dose Remicade every 7 weeks however 2 infusions in after I found out I was pregnant I became allergic to the treatment (I was on it for 2 yrs, got pregnant and became allergic). I had no other adverse effects with my pregnancy regarding the Remicade.

I highly suggest seeing maternal fetal medicine while pregnant with crohns. I was followed closely my entire pregnancy, received growth scans every 2 months to make sure my baby was growing.