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bad flare and preggers

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/22/2009 11:48 PM (GMT 0)
i dont know what to do........ shakehead

im almost 12 weeks pregnant and this flare is just getting worse and worse.
i am afraid that all my vitamins, nutrients and food are not going to be absorbed properly for the baby.
im going to the toilet like 15+ times... all blood and yuck.
pain sucks, but cant take pain meds.

i just started entocorte (dr said its not absorbed like prednisone so safer for baby)
im on colifoam (pred foam enemas)
and mesalazine (3g a day)
plus my vitamins etc....
(except turmeric cuz its not safe while preggers)

im gonna start freakin out here soon. and that just makes things worse.

do any of you have experience wtih bad flares while preggers?
was baby okay?
did it get all its nutrients etc.... or did you have to do something to help that?

arrgghhh help!
Posted 10/23/2009 12:17 AM (GMT 0)
That's hard--to be pregnant and flaring. What about ginger? Can you have that instead of turmeric? It's almost as good.

Do you know what causes or makes your flares worse? Diet, stress, not enough good bacteria in the colon? Fecal transplantation can put a flare immediately into remission if you are flaring due to an imbalance of bacteria in the colon.

Try to get as much rest as possible.
Posted 10/23/2009 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
One is NOT to have ginger supplements or drink ginger tea while pregnant apparently.

Hope your flare gets under control....

q

Posted 10/23/2009 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
well, vsl#3 doesnt work for me. been there done that.
i do eat salmon....

and i have tea with ginger in it. dr said ginger is fine. but im not sure it does anythihg for colitis. does it?

stress is usually my trigger. not diet or food. im not stressed though. my life is great.
i own my own company, i have other people doing the work. i just project manage etc.. and i can sit around and do nothing or take my naps everyday etc.. maybe my body is stressed with being pregnant and all the changes happening.
not sure.

i cant even imagine what it will be like 8 months preggers with a big fat belly sitting on the can 20 times a day straining.
hope i dont push the baby out!
Posted 10/23/2009 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
Just try to stay calm and give the entocort some time to work! If it doesn't, then maybe you can switch to prednisone. I think docs prefer you're out of the first trimester before doing that, though. How far along are you?
Posted 10/23/2009 2:24 AM (GMT 0)
OMG you poor thing. I completely know what you are going through. I actually had my first UC flare ever starting in December of 2008 when I was 5 weeks pregnant. I didn't know what it was at first...I thought I just had a tummy bug. My OB referred me to a GI doc and she had me collect a stool sample. It came back with no infection so my doc suspected UC. I refused all medicine except for Rowasa enemas and I didn't use them for very long. I didn't really understand the disease and didn't have an official diagnosis until I had my colonoscopy after my baby was born. I somehow thought that 15-20 bouts of bloody mucousy diarrhea was just a pregnancy thing and that it would go away once he was born. It got worse after delivery and I ended up hospitalized for 5 days to get IV steroids and get my flare under control.

The good news is that my son was completely healthy. I gained 30lbs during my pregnancy and he is absolutely perfect. I learned to deal with the 20 bouts of D a day. Through trial and error, I learned that fresh fruits and veggies gave me much more pain but less blood and that a lower residue diet gave me more bloody D but it didn't hurt as bad. I stuck to low residue (without really knowing what a low residue diet was) because the pain was the worst.

Anyway, please be smarter than me and keep taking your medicine. I don't think I would have landed in the hospital if I had taken this disease seriously and taken what was prescribed. But it is possible to have a perfect baby...my baby Griffin is proof!

Posted 10/23/2009 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
I was flaring during my last pregnancy. Around 12 weeks I went on a short course of pred (pred is safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding, I checked with my OB and Pediatrician). I came out of the flare thanks to pred. I took fish oil and probiotics and maintained remission. I completely forgot about UC for the rest of my pregnancy. I hope the same happens to you. Rest as much as you can and congrats! :-)
Posted 10/23/2009 12:55 PM (GMT 0)
My pregnancy sent me into such a huge flare that I was hospitalized for five weeks. My suggestion would be to get admitted to the hospital. This way your health will be monitored on a daily basis and if the endocort isn't working, they will adjust the treatment plan sooner. I lost 30 lbs, was on Remicade and prednisone and needed 5 blood transfusions... but 9 months later I had a perfectly healthy little boy. As others have mentioned, rest is very important!
Posted 10/23/2009 1:28 PM (GMT 0)
Like Bobella, I first came down with UC when I was pregnant - about six weeks. By the time my OB realized I had something going on and I was able to get in to see a GI, my flare had become extremely severe. The baby stopped growing and the OB said I would likely miscarry, which I did around 10 weeks. Was it caused by the UC flare? I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe it was and my GI said that could have been the cause as well. This was going to be #3 and I'd never miscarried before. When my GI did the colonoscopy he said my colon was the worst he had ever seen. So when I got pregnant again - one year later - and started to flare-up again, they put me on prednisone which I stayed on throughout the pregnancy. Prednisone is safe for pregnant women and my OB was telling me that they often prescribe if for women who have major morning sickness - which I assume would be in the first trimester. The main thing is making sure your flare is under control. I was never in complete remission during the pregnancy but the prednisone did help. Was it fun to have a large moon face attatched to a large body? Not really, and the pictures from that time still make me laugh but we got a healthy little boy out of it so it was worth it. Ironically, the way I knew I was pregnant with my son was because I started to flare. I shouldn't have even bothered with the pregnancy test.
Posted 10/23/2009 1:49 PM (GMT 0)
I also flared when pregnant. I was around 22 weeks. I was hospitalized for 2 weeks started on prednisone which i remained on through out the remainder of the pregnancy. I delivered a healthy 8 lb 3 oz boy. I gained 24 lbs in the pregnancy and most of it was post flare. i did end up on insulin due to the prednisone but he was healthy as can be. Try to stay calm...i know it is hard but stress definitly did not help me out and try to get as much rest as possible. The baby will take all the nutrients from you that they need...so don't worry. And if it doesn't get better i would get hospitalized to get it under control. Good luck and keep us informed. Just to let you know i also flared post pregnancy...hormones do a number on us women.
Posted 10/23/2009 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
I was diagnosed in Feb 09 with a horrible flare then found out I was pregnant March 1. I had my flare the entire pregnancy (and it's now getting worse a week post partum) My flare kinda went in ups and downs, it would be bad for a few weeks to a month and then get somewhat better. I was kept a close eye on the entire time by my GI and OB. Our healthy little girl was a month early, but that was for different reasons than my UC.

I wouldn't worry too much about baby getting enough nutrients. Its you who should be worried about getting them. Baby will get its nutrients before you do, you get the left overs :) Keep taking your prenatals and eat as healthy as you can (hard to do with cravings) One thing I will warn you about, if you can stay off of prednisone, stay off it. You will be much better off w/o the side effects. It gave me gest. diabetes and I gained 45 lbs (yikes!!!) and the only way my sugar could be kept somewhat level was through insulin. Pred also kept more sugar in my urine which made me more prone to UTI's. I had to be put on Macrobid for the rest of preg at around 22 weeks.

Good luck with everything! if you have any questions ask and I can try to help :)
Posted 10/28/2009 7:55 AM (GMT 0)
well, i had my 12 week ultrasound today where they check for down syndrome and other problems as well as look at progress...

baby is perfect. everything is great and we are considered super low risk at the moment!

the little bugger was bouncing all over the joint! dancing around and shaking its legs, swingin its arms and shaking its tush. so cute!
im just stoked that its still there and ticking! not sure what my UC is doing and when you dont know its nerve wracking.
was good to see it live!
very reassuring.

now, time to get better! might be trying the fiber thing.
Posted 10/28/2009 8:46 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Kazygirl

I am in Australia too, over in Perth.

I started flaring around week 17, and was hospitalised for a couple of days for IV fluids and steroids, then oral pred.  Didn't settle, so landed back in hospital for a week on IV steroids and iron infusion, and postassium. Came out of hospital on 40mg pred, started flaring again.  Cranked it back up to 75 mg with my obstetrician's approval, and things are settling a little.  Have also been making a real effort to eat anti-inflammatory foods the last few days - having salmon and sweet potato and garlic every night. Also fish oil tablets and some probiotics.  Seems to be helping a little.  I probably weigh less now than when I fell pregnant, can't keep weight on at all, but all scans show the baby is fine - she is a week ahead of herself in size, which is exactly the way my first two were.  The ladies are right, baby will suck you dry and thrive.  Just make sure that you get regular blood tests to check all your levels and make sure you aren't getting anaemic.  Electrolytes also get all out of whack.  If you are having trouble eating or keeping weight on, it was recommended that I take sustagen a few times a day, which I try to do.  Lots of goodies in there for you and bub.

I totally understand your fears and anxieties. It's a terrible time to be flaring uncontrollably.

Take care, and try to rest.  I am finding at the moment that I can slow my foods transit time if I lay down alot rather than running around trying to get things done.  I presume that means that I might actually be absorbing some nutrition rather than spitting it straight back out again....

Amygrace

Posted 10/28/2009 11:41 AM (GMT 0)
i do a whole lot of laying down thats for sure.
i am so not stressed. i own the company and finally have designers and developers doing all my work. i just project manage.. so i get to lay down lots.

i wake up at 8am, then i lay back down for a nap at 10 am to about 1pm, the do some work, then lay down and watch tv and then i go to bed early.
or i nap at 2.30ish and then go to bed early.
i am horizontal for a major portion of the day. i cant believe how incredibly tired i am. its crazy. and i wake up tired too.

i drink sustagen as well. the chocolate one with water. lots of good nutrients and vitamins and minerals etc.... good for when i have no appetite.
dr. said no iron infusions while pregnant, so i have to take supplements. i have a history of being anemic a lot with UC cuz i bleed constantly.

the only time ive been puking is when i have to poo. or swallow pills. i have a bad gag reflex when im flaring. so bad in fact, that im gagging now just thinking about swallowing a big pill. omg!

do you take fiber supplements at all?
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