Pregnant w/ Crohns

[Christina]

Hi am almost 20years old and I am 5 months pregnant. I have had Crohns since I was 13. My condition has been under control for a while now, but since i am pregnant it has started to go back down hill. Has anyone else that has been pregnant noticed that their condition has gotten worse? I am still continuing to take Remicade. They say that it won't hurt the baby. That is the only meds that I am taking. Is that a good idea to be taking Remicade. Give me yalls opinion.

 

[butt-eze]

http://www.remicade.com/remicade/assets/Med_Guide.pdf

This is a tough call that only you and your doctor can make. The link above indicates that it is unknown what the effects on unborn babies are and therefore should be discontinued if possible.

You might need to consider trying prednisone during your pregnancy for the sake of the baby and keeping symptoms under control.

When I was pregnant I developed my first flare. It was awful but I made it through without meds because I was undiagnosed at the time.

Be an advocate for yourself. In other words. Don't allow your pregnancy and remicade to be a trial, of sorts, for doctors to know the true effects of remicade on a fetus.

Let us know what you decide please.

 

[Christina]

So far I have gotten 2 treatments of Remicade. At this time the baby is doing great and I am not having any pain. I am have a little bit of bleeding, but my doctor gave be some enamas to help with that. Taking those helps with the bleeding for about 2 weeks at a time. I hate to stop Remicade because it has done such great things for me, but on the otherhand I don't want it to hurt the baby. My OBGYN and my GI doctor say that they think that it should be fine to take the medicine and that there shouldn't be any side effects towards the baby. Does anyone know anyone that has had problems with Remicade while being pregnant?

 

[butt-eze]

Christina:

Did you read the link I gave you?

 

[Methofelis]

Hi there.

I have had three children, and experience the flare-ups during pregnancy (undiagnosed, sadly)... it can be very rough when you're trying to maintain body weight and keep the nutrition levels decent. My children came out a bit under the normal weight range (each about six pounds) but otherwise in perfect health.

I wish you the best of luck!

Nicole

 

[Ilysha]

I went to a CCFA seminar last year and they had a panel about pregnancy and crohns. They said Remicade was ok as long as you don't have an infusion in the last trimester. One of the panelist had a child while she was on remicade, and the baby is now a healthy 8 year old.

Hope that helps. Stay in touch throughout your pregnancy and let us know how it's going. I'm hoping to be in your boat one day so real life experiences are appreciated.

Best of luck to you.
-Ilysha

 

[ruthymg]

Hi, I took just Pentasa when I was pregnant and although she was small at just under 6 pounds, she was perfectly healthy. I was initially on Azathioprine/Imuran but stopped that when I found I was pregnant as there isn't enough evidence to show it will not harm an unborn child. Unlike you, I had a great pregnancy, I was in remission with no problems at all. My flare came when my daughter was a few months old and eventually I had surgery. Hope things go well for you, sorry to hear you're not feeling too good, wish I could have advised on the med but I haven't tried it.

Ruth

 

[mle]

Honestly, at five months the baby has already gone through the critical development stage so if the baby is doing fine now I wouldn't think there is any reason to stop the Remicade. I am now 3 months pregnant and my doctor said that Remicade is relatively safe for pregnancy (although that is not the med I am on) and she said that it is more important for the mother to stay healthy. Healthy Mom = Healthy Baby.
I know how hard these decisions are but they are choices you and your doctor have to make.
I wish you the best!

 

[tmcuddles]

I, too, hope to become pregnant one day. I have had crohn's for almost 8 months now, although the symptoms were there six months prior. I am taking Asacol and have been in remission since diagnosis. I still have quite a while until I think seriously about becoming pregnant, but I was wondering if Asacol is safe for the fetus as well (now that I read this and am thinking about it). Has anyone heard anything about that?