pregnancy and meds

i need to hear from women who have taken meds while pregnant.  of course all of the meds say do not take while pregnant but the doctor recommends imuran.  anyone taken imuran while prenant?  what about prednisone? 

I don't know about Imuran, but i will tell you that i was dx w/ my UC right after giving birth to my first child. 3yrs later we started ttc after consults w/ my GI, OB and my perinatologist (high risk pregnancy doctor). They ALL agreed that i should remain on my meds. I was taking 6mp, 75mg per day. They all said that the benifits outweighed the risks. I did speak to quite a few women who used this same med during their pregnancies w/ no problems.

After i got pg, i flared right away. I was told by my GI and Peri that a flare that early highly increased my risk for miscarrage, so i was put on 40mg pred (to be tapered). After that taper, i flared again, and went back on 40mg pred. After the second taper, i flared, and Peri decided i should remain on pred 10mg through the rest of the pregnancy.

I was not to worried about pred, as we delt w/ infertility and pred is used alot in the infertility world while ttc and for the first few wks.

In the end, i went into premature labor (which we knew was going to happen, as i delivered early w/ my first), and at 22wks, i went off my 6mp because i was worried i would deliver a micropreemie and would need to provide breastmilk (which can NOT be done on 6mp). I maintained well on the 10mg pred for the next 10wks. I delivered at 34wks, and flared BAD right after that birth, and had to up my pred again.

I would suggest to anyone who is going to ttc go to a consult with a preinatologit. They have much knowledge about meds and how they affect pregnancy.

I will also say that during my pregnancy, i was watched very closely. (however i do have high risk statis in addition to my UC). I saw my OB one wk, my GI the next and my peri the 3rd, then started over. That way i saw a doctor EVERY week. They also all comunicated over the phone once a month regarding my statis. This is not normal pratcice, however, i would probally want to be seen every other wk in the beginning and then atleast once a month after that.

Good luck ladies!!!!

before i got pregnant, i went to a high risk dr and a dr who specialized in medicine and pregnancies, they have a name cant remember what it is,lol. he had been doing it for 30 years, and told me that, even though lots of these medicines are listed as D class, its because there are no tests, and in his experience there are very few of the drugs that are bad enough that it is better to risk the mother getting sick from whatever she is taking them for. On a side note, please check with drug companies to sign up to have your pregnancy tracked while you are on these meds, thats the only way they can gather info on how it affects pregnanices and babies. I did it, costs nothing, i think they even paid me some, and if they want more tests they pay for those also.
Anyway, i was on phenobarbital, lamictal (not for UC) immuran and asacol (for uc)
lamictal and asacol dont affect babies, the other two are listed as D, with the major problems being cleft palete, easily correctable, and def not worth the risk of flaring.
Taking folic acid is very important, for anyway, but esp for women taking meds like immuran, because it can affect brain development, i cant remember the exact numers, but like every woman has a chance of having a child with sphinabiphida, taking immuran, 6mp, phenobarbital raise that chance, but taking folic acid in the first 3 months of pregnancy can lower it back down to close to the normal.
So, if you are thinking of getting pregnant, start loading up on it now. you cant really overdose, unless you were to take like half a bottle or something, lol.
anyway, after my long speil, i took it, i flared immediately after pregnacy and ended up with surgery a few years later.
I was classified a high risk pregnancy and went more often and got ultra sounds everymonth, woo hoo, lol. And also got to get special ultrasounds. I delivered in a hospital with a nic-u and luckily only needed it for a short while, not related to the meds or uc at all!
i went into labor early, at like 34 weeks, again not related to meds, it was dehydration and heat related. but they stopped it and i made it to 39 and half weeks, when they induced.
Anyway, when i was pushing he got stuck and swallowed a lot of fluid and wasnt breathing correctly when he came out, and had to have his little stomach pumped three times in the first 18 hours. Thats the reason for the nic-u.
Anyway, he is 4 now, no brain damage at all, he has been speaking in sentences for three years now and can spell, read, add, subtract, simple multiplication and division, knows the planets, he is, super smart. No problems at all!
so very long story short, the risk of flaring (and in my case also seizures) was not worth the tiny tiny risk to the baby.

summerstorm,

is it ok to eat cold smoked turkey breast from honey baked ham or is that considered as deli meat? i am in the process of trying to conceive and want to make sure i do everything to have a healthy baby. also why cant you eat ice cream?

UCISNOTMYFRIEND, some docs recommend that you stay away from deli meats (anything you buy sliced, whether in a package or from the deli counter is considered a deli meat) and soft-serve ice cream (like Dairy Queen...I think hand scooped, whether from home or a store is ok) due to the threat of listeria. It's a bacteria that can contaminate those foods, and the reason it's so dangerous is because it's a bacteria that can cross the placenta and potentially kill the baby. So when I was pregnant, I avoided those things. It's not something to worry about until you're pregnant, though.