RA & Pregnancy | Arthritis Information

Hey everyone, I guess I will try out my first question and see how great you all claim to be ;) Just kidding.

So my husband and I have been together for 5 years, 3 being married. We have a couple dogs and a cat but we are getting to the point of thinking about having kids... My rheum said something about there being a few tests that need to be done to check for the possibility of me passing on the RA (I think) and another for blood clots to the uterus... I had one of those done about 2 years ago and came back negative (I'm not sure why they did the test in the first place but the records show they did).

Has anyone else gone through pregnancy while having RA/Raynauds/Sjogren's? Both of my docs want to keep in close contact with each other if/once I get pregnant, which I think is great.

Also, anyone have any problems with getting pregnant due to RA or meds? We've been trying for 6-12 months and not any luck. I don't really want to do the fert treatments. Perhaps we need to just keep trying.

Thanks! :)

I was pregnant a couple of years ago; I ended up having a miscarriage at 11 weeks, but I had a complete remission of RA during and after the pregnancy.

I do have two healthy (though NAUGHTY) children; I was 36 and the husband was 49 at the time of the miscarriage, so my doctors said it was probably due to "advanced maternal age" (I think anything over 35 is "advanced maternal age), especially since I had already had two completely normal pregnancies and no previous miscarriages. It also could have been due to frequent hot tub and sauna use before I knew I was pregnant; I had injured my knee while running and had been using the hot tub at the gym quite a bit. I stopped as soon as I found out I was pregnant, but that was at about 6 weeks. My rheumatologist said that while I was pregnant, I could use Tylenol for pain, and if the pain was severe, I could use short courses of opiates and/or steroids... but pregnancy usually results in temporary remission of the RA.

JasmineRain - sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I keep having dreams that something like that happens when I get pregnant.

I had read that for some reason pregnancy usually puts RA into remission. My rheum suggested I drop meds once I found out I was pregnant. This was about 8 months ago, and honestly (I'm a bad patient) I haven't refilled my prescription. I think I keep hoping that I'll end up finding out I'm expecting and then I won't have to deal with it. But lately I've been feeling a little more pain than normal (perhaps changing of seasons) so I'm thinking about getting back on my meds.

We still play "vatican roulette", which is why I just use naproxen for RA. I am also blessed to have a relatively mild case. No joint deformities, erosions, etc so far; pain, stiffness and swelling are usually kept to a minimum with naproxen. I occasionally have to use a Medrol dose-pak (6-day declining dose course of methylprednisolone) and/or a couple of Vicodin here and there for flares or pain from overdoing it. NSAIDs are contraindicated in the last 3 months of pregnancy, but won't cause birth defects if you get pregnant while you're taking them. Of course it's a good idea to stop taking it as soon as you find out you're pregnant, but the real problems come from using them during the last three months. Some studies suggest a slight increased risk of miscarriage if NSAIDs are taken in early pregnancy, but they've said that about damn near everything from coffee to exercise. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. If it happens, it happens. It would be fun to have another little one running around here, but then again I like to sleep at night!!!!

I went off all meds, actually I stopped going to my RD because I did not like her, which resulted in me not taking my meds anymore. I think we started trying in like July and I was preggo by Jan.

I went into semi-prego remission, by that I mean I took 5mg of pred after my first trimester, as I was waking up a little stiff and I did not want to get any fatter than need be, so I asked to be put on 5mg of pred to keep me active and it worked. did not gain much weight. I was pretty active.

Good Luck!

I think most people do really good during pregnancy. So good luck and have fun trying.

Hello,

I was pregnant with RA. This was a miracle for me because I was told due to total hip and knee replacements and RA, I wasn't going to be able to have children. During pregnancy, my RA was wonderful. I had a 20 yr remission until a few months before I got pregnant. Then I had shoulder issues. But during pregnancy I felt what I can only imagine people without life RA feel like. I could actually reach the floor for the first time ever. I was 36 when I found out I was pregnant. I was on Naproxen and plaquenil. Docs didn't stop my meds because they weren't as strong as some others but did keep a close eye on the baby's growth. They did stop all meds for one month before I delivered. After, I did have some back problems but that was considered to be less an RA problem and more because a large fibroid had been found when they did my first ultra sound. My RD thought I would go out of remission and she was right. However it only lasted for a few months and was not severe that I couldn't get around and take care of the baby. She's 2 now and quite the handful but the absolute love of my life. Good luck!

My doctor was adamant that if I were taking MTX, which I'm not, that we could not have children, unless I had been off of it for at least 3 months. [QUOTE=davidvc04]My doctor was adamant that if I were taking MTX, which I'm not, that we could not have children, unless I had been off of it for at least 3 months.[/QUOTE]

I've heard that about Arava (I think it's a couple of years for that one) but never for males taking methotrexate. Of course, it doesn't hurt to let it wash out of your system just to be safe.

Methotrxate can cause miscarragie or severe birth defects so it is recommended that a woman is off of it for at least 3 cycles before attempting concepetion. A man needs to be off of it for at least 3 months. MTX also affects the sperm

Arava has a long life in the body so a wash out procedure needs to happen before attemptin conception otherwise you are waiting over 2 years

yes, I've heard this about MTX. My RD had said this. Even though other RD's had already told me I couldn't get pregnant, she wouldn't put me on MTX just in case. SO glad she didn't.

WHen I was on MTX, my doc was also very cautious about me getting pregnant (I wasn't trying or planning on it at the time). I do know that some doctors will give large quantities of MTX to perform an early term abortion, similar to a miscarriage. That always scared the crap out of me.

More info:
http://www.fwhc.org/abortion/mtxinfo.htm