6MP pregnancy

I think it scares me to be pregnant and NOT be on meds. I'm 8 weeks, and already I'm beginning to see diarrhea, even though I'm keeping up with my Remicade infusions. I'm confused why you went off the 6mp in the first place - maintenance meds help keep you in remission. If you go off them, it's almost certain that you'll flare. And if you flare during pregnancy, you can easily miscarry. Or to get the flare to calm down, you'll have to take meds that would be worse for the baby than if you had just stayed on the 6mp. At least, that's how I understand it.

Every doctor I've ever talked to has said that it's better to stay on maintenance meds during pregnancy than to risk flares. The flare is more dangerous.

Hey! I was thinking about "trying" for a baby in the spring, but my GI dr just put me back on 6mp and said I absolutely cannot get pregnant on it! It can cause major birth defects for your baby. So we are waiting to start a family, maybe never will, but I did ask about my options for the future and my GI Dr said it would be safer to stay on Apriso and start Humira when trying for a baby.

Good luck and keep us posted!! :)

The only IBD med that you absolutely can not take while pregnant, or even attempting to get pregnant, is methotrexate.

As scifigal2k said,
" it's better to stay on maintenance meds during pregnancy than to risk flares. The flare is more dangerous."

Back in 2006 my GI who was part of a large research team in Miami,said that if I were to get pregnant I should stay on 6MP throughout my pregnancy. He said that he had read recent studies at the time that had shown that women who take 6mp during pregnancy have the same amount of birth defects/anomolies/etc as women who DON'T take 6mp. He said that it was showing to be "safe" and that it wasn't an issue the way they had thought in previous years. I don't have the links to the studies, but I'm sure you can dig around on the internet.

Weigh all of your decisions carefully, as only you will have to live with your choices (good or bad). It's good to get info from others who have "been there/done that". I have 3 healthy kiddos - and took all of my meds all 3 pregnancies.

Hi Vande,

Please, PLEASE, P.L.E.A.S.E., do not go without meds during pregnancy. EVEN IF you are feeling "ok."

I was in remission and dealing with an ob/gyn who said they knew about CD and its implications with pregnancy. He advised me to stop my meds. I didn't want to, but thought the meds might adversely effect my baby. (I had a successful pregnancy eight years prior, and two recent miscarriages before this story.)We had tried so hard, I didn't want anything to harm my baby, so I stopped the meds. The first trimester was all morning sickness. The crohns seemed to still be in remission. I felt good for about a week or so, and then the "morning sickness" came back. I managed through it for about 6 weeks, but really started feeling bad. The last week before the third trimester I couldn't sleep, my back was hurting like never before, had cold/flu symptoms, and couldn't hold down any food. I was so sick I could hardly walk. And I started having contractions. Big ones.

I went to the dr. and he put me on bed rest. But during the visit my husband pushed him to check my CRP. He came back and told me to go see my GI immediately. It turns out what I thought were Braxton-hicks was actually labor. And my crohns was out of control. I was admitted at 26 weeks and pumped full of steroids, antibiotics, etc, and put on bowel rest. I almost delivered that day.

I stayed in the hospital for 7 weeks and delivered at 32 weeks. I was fine for a day or so when I realized I was having pain unrelated to delivery. It turns out I had an abcsess. I had to stay in the hospital another 7 weeks. (I know it seems a bit long for an abcsess, but that's another story for another time.). We thought surgery was imminent. My son was in the NICU for two months. We are both "fine" now. He is two and a half and appears to be normal. (There are still some developmental areas that only time will tell). But the first year was unbelievably tough. I did not have surgery, but my body is not the same. At some point I will need the adhesions and permanent strictures tended to. My once "mild-moderate" crohns exploded into "severe" overnight.

That flare nearly killed me and my son. I am not exaggerating. Please do not put yourself in the same situation. Please learn from my mistake. Do not put yourself, your family, and your unborn child through hell.

Google Dr. Susie Kane. She specializes in CD and reproduction. She will know more than any other physician what meds are ok during pregnancy. I think there is a video of her on YouTube where she discusses this topic.

Good luck with starting your new family. It is the most rewarding thing you will do with your life.