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First Pregnancy - on 6mp & very scared

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/2/2013 11:59 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Everyone.

I am a 28 year old who was diagnosed with UC when I was 12. I have been really lucky and been in remission most of my life. I had a bad flare in 2009 and after trying the 5-ASA drugs and having really bad reactions to them, I was put on Imuran (which was my miracle drug). I got off Imuran in October of 2011 and was in remission until about 4 weeks ago when I experienced an acute flare that landed me in the hospital (first hospitalization ever, so a really scary week). Anyways, when I was in remission and off all meds, my husband and I decided to try and have a baby. Wouldn't you know I flare and am pregnant at the same time. I. AM. TERRIFIED.

My GI put me on 50mg of 6mp and 20mg of prednisone. My OB wants me off the 6mp if I can handle it. The pred will keep my symptoms at bay, however, I am worried about the long term effect of a steroids. The 6mp will get me in remission and I will be able to get off the pred (at least this is how it worked last time), but I also know that 6mp is a FDA class D drug.

I am looking for encouragement. I have done a ton of research and have read many many studies that show that women who have babies on immune suppressants are no different than the general population, but some LOVE or personal stories from my UC community would be so greatly appreciated. I am so scared....

Scared but Hopeful,
Megs
Posted 2/2/2013 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
You will get better and you will have a healthy baby. I'm not sure why, when Imuran put you into remission before and was your miracle drug, that they are using 6MP this time around. That seems kind of stupid in my book. You should have never gotten off Imuran as future flares get harder and harder to treat. UC is an autoimmune disease where your body's immune system attacks your colon, causing inflammation. The meds only weaken your immune system, giving your colong time to heal, but the meds do not fix your immune system. If you get off the meds your immune system will go right back to attacking your colon and you will return to square one all over again. If you reach remission again you need to keep up with the meds forever, no matter how good you feel and no matter how long you have felt good. If you are in remission for 30 years and then you drop meds, your UC will return.
Posted 2/2/2013 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
LMegs13, have you been to infantrisk.org? this is a great website to find many study results on medications in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

It sounds like you already have a lot of good info. I'm so sorry that your pregnancy caused you to flare! It happens sometimes. I hope that you get it under control as quickly as possible. Your DRs appear very caring from what you wrote.

Welcome to the forum.
Posted 2/2/2013 4:29 PM (GMT 0)
You should do a search in the search box on the top of this site. I've seen this come up quite a bit between here and the Crohn's board. It's definitely a scary thought but I am sure I've read about a lot of people on 6mp having healthy babies.

www.healingwell.com/sitesearch.aspx?cx=010904608862850737972%3Abe-6h9dblc4&q=6mp+pregnancy&cof=FORID%3A9#1075
Posted 2/2/2013 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with garylouisville, our desease is chronic, DRs said we should not stop taking medications

as afemale, pregnancy was the cause of my UC and proctitice, i was healthy before , all my flares

after that was during my periods,

i wish you will have an easy pregnancy and healthy baby,

my son want a brother or sister, but because i am on Imuran, Dipentum and supp.

i am very scared of being sick again or have a sick baby.

it is always our fears, i wish i could have another baby, but iam a scared too, my GI said it is safe,

but iam still scared!
Posted 2/22/2013 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
I was on Imuran during my second pregnancy - my GI doc was terrified, but I consulted with perinatal specialists and had lots of ultrasounds (bonus!). My docs said my being sick would be worse than the potential drug isks. And I was 37 at the time, so between my age and my UC (which flared even on Imuran early in my pregnancy) and the drugs, I was pretty scared too. But there are really no studies that can be done since they can't test drugs on pregnant women, so what's out there is just based on known patients. My son was born at full term, perfectly healthy. He's 4 now and there are absolutely no indicators that the drugs had any impact on him at all. I did not breast feed, as it is known to go directly into your milk, but I was more than happy to sacrifice that and still have a healthy baby.

Best of luck!
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