Hi everyone~
I am now nearly 5 months pregnant. This will be baby #4 for me. I am very excited about the new baby, but a little worried how this change is going to affect me physically and emotionally.
I wasn't diagnosed with Fibro until AFTER my last child was born. Although I had plenty of symptoms for many years, it didn't hit me really hard until her birth. Actually in looking back, I struggled A LOT with each of my children when they were newborns, because of the lack of sleep. I thought I was just going to die each time. It didn't help that I had to go back to work after only 6 weeks with each of them.
Anyway since I was dx'ed in 2007, I have tried every single med there is for Fibro, I think, in addition to many other meds for chronic pain, migraines, anxiety, depression, ect... I had tried Lyrica over a year ago and stopped taking it because of side effects. Well this past year, my Dr and I decided to try it again. This time I was feeling a lot better, and I was slowly increasing my dose. But then I found out I was pregnant.
My Rheumatologist appeared to be in shock when I told him I was pregnant, and basically told me to stop taking everything. He basically said "I will see you again in 8 months." He made a remark that he doesn't normally treat pregnant women.
But thank goodness I have a wonderful OBGYN. She told me I could stay on the Lyrica if it was helping me, but not to increase the dose or anything. I know it's in the class of drugs where it really hasn't been tested on humans for birth defects, but there were problems when they tested on animals. So I have continued with a very low dose, and it's the only med I take (other than pre-natal vitamins). I have had all of the pre-natal tests because I am over 35, and everything looks perfect.
With all of my other pregnancies, I felt WONDERFUL and I LOVED being pregnant. It was probably the best I felt in my entire life. But this time, I don't feel that great. I am still in constant pain, and I can't really even take Ibuprofen, which is what I usually take to ease pain. I am trying to keep up with exercising and eating good, but I still feel pretty lousy.
And I am really worried about something being wrong with the baby because of the meds I was taking before I knew I was pregnant, and because of the Lyrica. Plus I am terrified I won't be able to physically handle those sleepless nights.
Wow...this was really long. Sorry about that. But does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom for me? I would greatly appreciate it. It's scary enough bringing another baby into the world, but doing it with Fibro is what really has me concerned.