Remicade and pregnancy

[sfgirl]

The last time I went to the hospital to get my remicade infusion I was told by a nurse that she thinks I won't be able to have children. I cant talk to my doctor's office until Monday and I'm very upset because that was definitely not one of the risks we talked about before hand. Does anyone know if this is true???

 

[Jennifer]

Page 38 talks about Remicade and Pregnancy: http://www.drfalkpharma.de/uploads/tx_tocfpshoperw/S82e_12-1-09.pdf

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to have children while on it. Being unhealthy with untreated Crohn's can cause a lot more problems. Here's a video made by Mayo Clinic which talks about how important it is to treat active Crohn's before and during pregnancy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osmQ0QsZjwM

 

[sfgirl]

Thank you for the info. I knew my crohn's disease had to be in remission but she was saying remicade causes infertility.

 

[KayleighMeek]

I have never heard or been told by my dr that remicade or any of the biologic drugs causes infertility.
I have actually been put onto cimzia another biologic so that I can come off methotrexate and try and conceive.
Did she say where she got this information or just say it as a passing comment? Sometimes people need to think before they open their mouths.

 

[sfgirl]

She wasn't talking to me at first she was actually telling it to another nurse that she was going to be switching me out to. I just happened to hear them outside the door so when she came in I asked her about it & she said that's what she thinks and just walked out.

 

[sfgirl]

I haven't seen her since then.

 

[KayleighMeek]

It sounds really unprofessional to me she can't just say that is what she thinks and not give you a reason why. I don't think she knows what she is going on about if she can't back up what she said with fact. I would have been fuming I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I found this on the crohns and colitis uk website
"Research is ongoing into the effect of infliximab and adalimumab on fertility and pregnancy. Several studies have found that women taking infliximab during pregnancy had the same birth outcome as for the general population of pregnant women, or women with IBD who had not been taking infliximab. There have also been reports of successful pregnancies in women with Crohn’s who began adalimumab before conception or during pregnancy."

Hopefully your dr will be more helpful and be able to put your mind more at ease.

 

[sfgirl]

Thank you so much for all the information. I was going to go crazy having to wait until Monday. It seems like she just didn't know what she was going on about.

 

[sfgirl]

I talked to my doctors office today. That nurse had no idea what she wad talking about! Remicade is perfectly safe during pregnancy they would just have to keep track of my weight vs baby's weight so that they only treat me according to my weight.

 

[Vinceus]

Hello,

my wife is on remicade as well and we've talked with our specialist and gynecologist about getting pregnant. Their reaction was that the treatment did not have an impact on getting pregnant. When you're pregnant however you have to stop the treatment at a certain point during your pregnancy to avoid problems with the child (it is a poison after all).

What we did hear is that the fact that you stop a treatment of remicade and have to start remicade again after delivery increases your chances of getting the disease of bechterew.

 

[sfgirl]

I had to look up what bechterew was but thank you so much for the information. Now I have something I can research during down time at work today.

I'm not ready now but I really want children one day and I just don't want that to be something else Crohn's Disease takes from me

 

[lgpcarter]

Definitely nonsense! I had 20+ doses of Remicade and delivered a beautiful, smart and perfectly healthy baby girl two years ago,. I went off Remicade prior to conceiving, but my doctor's were fine with me staying on it. I was very firmly in remission, though, and chose to go off.

 

[sfgirl]

That is great to hear! Thank you so much!