RA while Pregnant?

Question

i have RA ( Rehumatiod Arthrits) and i'm wondering if anyones had it while pregnant or has it now while being pregnant andhow its going or how their pregnacie went

Answer 1

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Hi,

Most of us are on so many different kinds medication, as well as on very strong medication. Medications such as these could seriously harm a baby. I know that I couldn't survive without my medications. What sort of procedure is taken when a women is planning on becoming pregnant? Are there alternatives medications that are prescribed? Also, drugs like methrotrexate stay in your system for a few years.

Has anyone gone through this?

I am currently going thru this now. My Rhemy recommended me to a high risk ob/gyn who I met with. She wants me off all meds for 3 months before we can start trying. Prednisone is the only drug that she is okay with me using thru out.
We're planning on trying for a baby soon also. My rheumatologist wants me to consult with a perinatologist before trying to conceive to get his/her opinion regarding which medications I should stop taking. So, I'm currently working on getting the referral from my primary care physician to see the perinatologist.

jmk1, it sounds like your ob/gyn is taking a pretty conservative approach to medication (which is by no means bad!). My rheumatologist also suggested being on just prednisone during the pregnancy, but I've heard of other folks staying on drugs such as Plaquenil (and even Enbrel!) during portions of the pregnancy. What I'm hoping to hear from the perinatologist is that I can stay on all my drugs (Enbrel, Plaquenil, and Prednisone) until I conceive after which time, I'll switch to just pred. May I ask which meds you are on? I know that MTX needs time to leave your system, but are there other drugs that you were told need time to flush out?

Jalebi, I too feel like I couldn't survive without my meds. Sometimes I feel like Golem from Lord of the Rings. The thought of my meds being taken away makes me want to cling to my pill box (which, btw, is ring-shaped!) and start mumbling "my precious.." Anyway, to answer your question, I've read that fish oil helps reduce RA symptoms and I've seen "prenatal fish oil supplements" marketed on pregnancy cites. You might ask your doc about them--i.e., whether they are effective and safe during pregnancy. I'll try to remember to ask my doc about them and report what he/she says.



Hey There,

I was taking Embrel, Prednisone and Plaquenel. According to my Ob/Gyn this is the ideal scenario. Figure I am only going to be able to go thru this once so am going to try for the ideal world. We will see if it works. Very nervous. She did say that Embrel there are no real studies out there that show it is good or bad for the baby so that if I get into a jam we would be able to add that back in. Plaq she said was very bad and she wanted me off for sure for 3 months.





I didn't know I had RA until after the birth of my second child....but from what I've heard the symptoms go away completely while preg.

That's really good news for you guys that are worried about not having your medication.

Good Luck!! I hope everything goes well. There's nothing like being a mother.

[QUOTE=Lovie]
what I've heard the symptoms go away completely while preg.

[/QUOTE]

That's what I have heard as well. Is this really true though? How soon before the RA pain kicks back in?

Pretty soon from what I understand...it has something to do with the hormones and the changes that take place. Mine wasn't brought on until after the delivery...something to do with that? No one will say exactly. Could be.
I've read that about 75% of women experience remission during their pregnancy. So, yes, that is good news. The tough part might be trying to manage the meds while trying to conceive.

I found the following message board to have some helpful posts on this topic:

http://bbs.babycenter.com/board/pregnancy/pregcomplications/ 10515/thread/1132689





from what I have heard (and what my dr.'s are telling me) you have an 80% chance to go into remission while pregnant. Higher if you get pregnant with the disease pretty much under control (6 months no flares). Remission should kick in by the 2nd trimester but you should start to feel relief in the first. RA comes back with a vengence once you deliver but if you are prepared and start drugs quickly enough hopefully you can already have a build up of meds.

Can you tell I am in the middle of this whole process! 1 month no meds and 7 months no flare and 3 dr.'s monitoring me. I should also add that I test positive for Lupus and Sjorgens diseases (have a few signs of lupus but none of Sjorgens) which is reason for so much monitoring or caution.

Also a little thing my Dr. had me do is start taking a baby aspirin a day. Something about auto immune disease and this helping with implantation. Something else to ask your dr. about.





My pain never went away, but it may have been more fibro than RA. Somewhere on this site is my pregnancy story. I'll see if I can find it and post the link.
www.arthritisinsight.com/community/stories/wayney1.html

wow i did find it. anyway that is my story. next time (if there is one) I will ask for pred despite it making me moody and depressed. can't be much worse than when i was preggers. i'll also ask for a pain med that is considered safe if the benefits outweigh the risk. that is basically what all i have found in researching this. some meds are considered safer if the benefits outweigh risks. all of the meds i was on during the whole time i did not know i was preggers were class c meds which just says their effects are not known. looking back, i think if i could convince a doc, i'd take the meds again because they kept me functioning what little i did. i wasn't suicidal, but i scared my hubby by saying i could understand how people who had no support could be if they felt that bad. that was all prior to finding out i was preggers too. one note, my ob did say that women with fibro tend to have pregnancy induced hypertension.
hugs, wayney

Hi,

Sorry to sound as though i am putting a dampener on it but I am 7 months pregnant now and I have had 7 months of HELL!!

I have been in Hospital some weeks twice a week to have parts of my body drained of fluid as RA just so painful. My RA came on a few weeks after becoming pregnant on my third child - never had it before - though i have underactive thyroid which i take 200mg for (ten years) and also have pernicious anemia which i get monthly injections for. I am 32 but feel 92 !!!

I have never ever ever felt pain like i have over last 7 months - knees, feet, shoulders, hips, fingers, wrists etc all out of use up until about 3-4 weeks ago when pain so bad I couldn't even write or eat etc as unable to hold pen and fork. My thryroid specialist agreed with me that me being left by me Rheumy on absolutely NOTHING at all for the entire first 6 months of my pregnancy was nothing more that torture he consulted his Colleague and they put me on 10 mg of Prednisolone which started to work within 2 hours of taking it. I could move my fingers for the first time in months and by the next day I was like a new person- back to normal!!!

I have been advised to reduced it by 2.5 mg every 5 days - got as far as 5mg but pain came back and swelling so increased it back to 7.5 mg which is great. I get morning stifness until about lunchtime when the prednisolone kicks in. BUT Pharmicist told me not to take my hearburn and indigestion medicine the same time as pred as the medicine cancels out the effects of the steroid. Part of Pregnancy problems - heartburn!!!!

I am hoping to remain on this until the birth and then I am totally dreading what may happen to my body with the hormones etc after delivery - but at least the pred is a start.

I am being induced (which i havent had with other two children) as my Obstrecian does not want me to go into labour naturally incase it is on a Friday night as there are no GPs at the hospital over weekends that could see to me with the arthritis part after the birth - so he wants to induce me on a Monday so that I will get care through to the Friday if needed. realyl nervous about the induction though as my other births were 2 hours first child and 20 minutes second child!! Bet this will be a nightmare! If thins turn out that i get a flare up in hips during labour I will then get a C section.

I just wanted to tell you my story as like yourself I have heard so many stories of people being pain free during pregnancy - i was opposite !

Hope you will be one of the lucky ones! Good Luck

Chelybel

chelybel38473.2768171296Chelybel,
If it's any help on the induction, I was induced a few weeks early because I had BP issues. I'd heard the horror stories about how it makes labor pains harder and faster. Not having anything to compare it to, I was apprehensive. But, my indcution was a breeze. They gave me pitocin at 5:30 or 6. By 9:30 she was ready to break my water, she gave me pain med before I'd considered asking for it. Around 11:30 I wanted to start pushing. And my son was born at 12:01 pm. Only from 11:30 on did I feel any hard pains and those were nothing compared to the pain I'd been in during the pregnancy. My doc also was kind enough to order good pain control during the induction and after. She aslo gave orders for a sedative if I needed it and something to help me relax.
Hope this helps.


Thanks Wayney for that! It does help to speak to someone who has had experience of this.

THANK YOU

I did forget to mention what others have told me about induction...I'd previously heard that induction causes harder and faster pains than just naturally going into labor. I can't complain of that. Just wanted to pass on that tidbit of one's of the not so good stories I've heard. One of the stories though could be attributed to the fact that someone went into early labor, the docs tried stopping it and sent her home. Then her water broke and she didn't progress so they induced and she said it was worse for her than her first delivery. Hope I didn't help then scare you. I feel fair warning and telling both sides is best at times.

Hugs, wayney

I totally agree Wayney!

Best to be prepared

Thanks!!!!

Copyright Arthritis Insight

Answer 2

A friend of my mom's has had this since she was 14 years old and she is now 65 and had 4 children. She had one premature son, but her other 3 pregnancies were uneventful...and he preemie son is now 42 and played college football.

Answer 3

Here are websites on RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS and PREGNANCY:

http://www.hopkins-arthritis.som.jhmi.edu/corner/newsletters/spring2005.pdf

http://www.arthritis.org/resources/arthritistoday/2001_archives/2001_03_04_pregnancyprognosis.asp

http://www.raandpregnancy.org/

http://arthritis.about.com/cs/preg/a/pregarth.htm