Trouble conceiving while on Humira

Hi everyone!

I am a 28 year old female who has had Crohn's Disease since I was 3 years old. I am currently married and have 1 son. Our son was conceived with no problems. Now we have been trying for our second one for 2 years. I started taking Humira in May of 2010, the same month we began trying to conceive another baby. After 6 months of no luck, I went to the doctor and we began fertility help--inseminations, clomid, etc.

My question is HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD TROUBLE CONCEIVING WHILE ON HUMIRA?

This is the only thing I can think of that changed from conceiving my first child to now trying to conceive this one. My doctors are convinced the Humira is not the cause of the issues, however I just wanted to see if anyone else has experience or medical opinions as well.

Thanks!

I have gone through some testing. I had an HSG done to make sure my tubes and ovaries are ok--passed. I have follicle scans done every other day from day 10-day 14 and have had 4 IUI cycles done. I have had my hormones checked on day 3 and day 21--they were all great. My obgyn has no reason to believe that I have any issues...is there anything else you think I should be tested for?

My husband has gone through 5 sperm samples---the first 2 were pretty low in count. However, the next 3 were ok--not great--but not the worst. And every time we've had an IUI done, the doctor says his sample looks good and they are all swimming in the right direction. I believe they want 20 million sperm per sample and his averages around 16.5-18, so it's not that low...

It is very frustrating. We had no trouble conceiving our first, and I'm getting pretty tired of this process. I was just trying to think of things that have changed and that's when humira popped into my head.

I'm starting Clomid tomorrow actually and then my doc. will do the follicle scans, trigger shot to force ovulation, and another IUI.

Thanks for your response...

Male factor infertility is very frustrating. You would be surprised to know how LITTLE infertility specialists understand about sperm and how they work. It's like they've been looking at women's bodies for so long that they forgot there's another partner involved. Just as an example, my BFIRL was dealing with her husband's vasectomy reversal - she did IVF/ICSI and although she conceived almost every cycle she invariably miscarried btwn weeks 8 and 12, often after seeing a heartbeat. Her DRs were sure there was an egg factor there and discouraged her from trying any more. Instead she got a sperm donor and had two beautiful daughters via IUI. Heh.

I mentioned my ovarian dysfunction but I didn't say in my post that my husband's sperm were on the low and slow side. When I conceived my second daughter without any "help," many people were happy to assume that since I'd already had a child my fertility problems were "solved." I gave up trying to explain that while something might have changed in my physiology, my husband's sperm count was still low and slow. I think in the end that when you have a marginal sperm count the way you get pregnant is just try a whole lot of times. It's seriously just a roll of the dice IMO.

We did many IUIs also, most of them were barely ok in terms of count and motility. My husband had a varicocelectomy and stopped wearing briefs. We spaced out our sexual relationship so that he'd have enough time to build up a good count. I'm pretty sure none of that made a difference but he felt better having tried something.

{{{{HUGS}}}} I'd say continue with the IUIs. You might want to consider adding a fertility drug to your cycle to increase the egg count and raise the odds of a conception. Also IVF might do it so you can be sure you have embryos and can better manage the risk of multiple births. But you are still young and have plenty of time ahead to try - I'd encourage you to be patient.

Thank you so much Kazbern!

I'm going to try IUI a few more times and we're starting on Clomid and the trigger shots.

Crohn's-wise, I'm feeling great! Humira is the best thing to happen to me, so there is no way I'd give it up.

I'm going to keep trying and I'll let you know what happens :)

isergodur:

Wow twins! Congratulations!
So, I'm assuming you conceived naturally?
That's great to hear---gives me hope!

My beautiful healthy smart baby girl was conceived while on Humira.