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Remicade and pregnancy

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 4/5/2016 7:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I am new to this forum. I have had fistulazing crohns for 12 years and am now on remicade. Am about to have my 1st infusion after the initial loading ones and my GI has recommended I wait a bit to try to get pregnant. I have fertility issues and am 37. I have 1 daughter but am hoping for 1 more. My question for the group is: has anyone been on remicade while preg? Also, if anyone has also experienced fertility issues? I have had 4 chemical preg (2 w ivf) since I had my daughter. I am currently on remicade and 6mp.
Thanks for your help!
Posted 4/6/2016 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
I had two remicade babies. They are 12 and 10 now. Very successful pregnancies and healthy babies. I breastfed while on Remicade too. I don't know if you have specific questions, but I'm happy to answer whatever questions you might have!

Stef
Posted 4/6/2016 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
I have had two Remi babies as well, the second one was born last week! Both I also have fistulizing Crohn's, I have a RV fistula that hasn't been able to heal. I haven't had any infertility issues (baby 1 was while still on the pill and baby 2 was about 8 months after going off depo shots, with a miscarriage a few months before that).

I think that your doctor most likely wants you to be stable and make sure your body can tolerate Remi and be in remission with it. I would say after 3 infusions (not the loading ones), that should help you be able to determine if it's working and if you're body will tolerate it.
Posted 4/6/2016 12:12 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your replies. While you were on remicade and preg, did you stop treatment at all during the third trimester? I've heard it can pass thru the placenta? Also, did you have a different immunization schedule for your babies from the "standard" one due to potential weakened immune system in infants?
Posted 4/6/2016 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
No, I didn't stop treatment at all, especially in the 3rd trimester. The difficulty is that if you flare, you are likely to go into early labor. Overall, it's safer to continue Remicade. I have to have c-sections because of my RV fistula, so we time out my infusions throughout the pregnancy so that my delivery is a couple of days before the next infusion so that as much of the Remicade is out of the baby's system as possible. After delivery, we don't go anywhere public for 8 weeks. As for vaccines, the only ones we don't do are live vaccines for like 6 months or something like that. This basically just skips the rotavirus vaccine.
Posted 4/6/2016 3:54 PM (GMT 0)
My son is 16 1/2 months and he was a remicade baby all the way!
Scifi and my story are very similar, except I have an active perianal fistula.
We had to delay the infusion until after the csection in my 39th week because of a small possibility of it transfering through the placenta.
We also never let our son have any live vaccines like rotovirus.
Since it was the middle of winter in Buffalo, we also didn't go out a lot. :P
I felt physically fantastic throughout my pregnancy, but it was hard on me mentally. So many different doctors, so many different scans! It was too much. It felt like everybody and their mother was looking for an abnormality and that we really defied the odds when he came out beyond perfect. T_T
Posted 4/6/2016 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
I forgot to mention!
I was also on 6mp when I got pregnant and everybody, both GI and OBs, made me go off of it, which I thought was stupid, since it takes 3 months to really get out of your system and doesn't negatively affect the baby at such a low dose. So basically my son was 'exposed' to 6mp for 3 critical months and yet he's still awesome!
Posted 4/6/2016 4:55 PM (GMT 0)
Remicade crosses the placenta somewhere between 30-32 weeks. That information was not known when I had my first remicade baby and so I had an infusion at 30 and 35 weeks. There were no issues or health complications. I think I had my last infusion with #2 around 32 weeks. Again no problems. Your doctor will probably make a decision with you about the timing of your last infusion before delivery.

No live vaccines for 6 months. I was not informed of that and so baby #2 had his first rotavirus dose at 4 months and he was fine. It actually saved us, because when the baby was 5 months old, my 2 year old got rotavirus and the baby did not. So.... Yes, there are precautions to take, but baby will most likely be ok regardless.
Posted 4/7/2016 11:26 AM (GMT 0)
I'm 30.5 week pregnant and on Remicade every 6 weeks. I didn't get my first child while on it, but she was breastfed while I was on it. I just had my last infusion and will get it again once I've delivered. I'm in a very stable remission and Remicade crosses the placenta starting at 30-32 weeks, so it wasn't worth the risk for the baby in my case. It can cause more colds in the baby, but no malformations or very significant illness. As others have said, no live vaccine for the first 6 months is recommended, so no rotavirus (it's the only one in the normal schedule).
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