Remicade and Pregnancy....i Need Your Help!

I have just turned 27 years old a few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in january of 2007, osteopenia (due to prednisone), psc (primary scherlosing cholangitis) in july 2007, and fibromyalgia december 2007..It's been one heck of a year!!

I have been feeling somewhat better being off the prednisone and the urso is helping my liver pain and my blood work shows it!

I have been receiving remicade treatments since august 2007 for the ulcerative colitis...

My husband and I wanted to conceive in the very near future..And wanted to ask ya'll about remicade and pregnancy...I have heard that you need to be off of remicade for 3 months before trying to conceive?? Is this true? I also wanted to know anything about having liver disease and pregnancy? I have heard that you could be infertile or have a lot of trouble trying to conceive?

I appreciate all suggestions and concerns! Please help! I need your knowledge!

Hi PSC27!

We have had several members take remicade during their pregnancies. I believe one member has had two Remicade babies. In regards to liver disease and infertility, that is something I think you should ask your doctor. I'm sure he can give you the statistics and concerns he might have since he knows your medical history.

Also, I have a favor to ask. It is very difficult to read posts writen in all uppercase letters. In the future, could you please not post in all caps? Thank you.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's in Jan 06. I got very sick during pregnancy in 05 and literally thought I would die several times. My husband and I (I just turned 28 yesterday) are trying to get pregnant again and my GI gave us the go ahead to stay on Remicade. As fas as drugs go, it's fairly new so there aren't alot of studies but my GI (and many others from experiences on here) think it's safe during pregnancy and even breast feeding. Talk with your GI about the pros and cons. As long as your UC is under control Ithink it's better to stay on meds than risk having a flare up which would be a problem. Take care and goodluck!

I am having this debate right now. I am 7 weeks pregnant and starting to get some symptoms of Crohns. Are you from Canada? I am and my doctor told me the 3 month thing as well. I had an infusion about 5 weeks before conception and have not had one since. I have recently learned of other GIs besides mine that are allowing their patients remicade infusions. At this point I think I may be leaning toward getting at least one to get me throught the first trimester.

If you are in Canada, a good place to call is MotherRisk which is run out of Sick Kids hospital in Toronto. I phoned them about Imuran as well, which they said was okay. Good luck with everything.

Wow, thats so strange. We don't have "categories" here. Doctor's tend to go by numbers and studies that have been done. the answer I got about the Imuran was that there have been lots of pregnancies studied because of moms taking the drug after transplants etc. and that it was deemed safe. There may have been lower birth weights and premmie births but that they could have been attributed to the disease and not the drug. It is a great debate. I wish you all the luck in the world getting pregnant. I'm sure you will have no problems. I am also 27 and this is my first pregnancy. Very stressful and I post a lot.

Dont let the fear deter you. What I have learned so far from posting and reading tons of books is that babies can withstand alot in there. I was scared too (still am) but try and think of all the positive stories. That is why I like to post here, people have great stories and advice to share and since I feel so bad lately I just sit here and read anyway.

Currently, only Salofalk. Before I knew I was pregnant I was on Imuran and Remicade.