Posted 8/22/2010 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
I posted several months ago about my ASD closure in May. I wanted to give an update in case it helps someone else avoid what I went through.
In terms of the ASD closure itself, everything went as planned. My ASD was a bit larger than anticipated (1.7 cm) so they had to use the largest Helex device available. I'm allergic to nickel, so we were trying to avoid the other one.
Two weeks after my procedure, I began to get severe joint pain. At first we suspected that I was reacting to the trace amounts of nickel in the wire of the Helex device. My cardio put me on Prednisone which didn't help.
I went to my GP to get other medical conditions ruled out since I do have some autoimmune disorders. Turns out I was PREGNANT. Ack! That was the last thing I expected. Based on my bloodwork, I became pregnant within a couple of days of my ASD closure. I take birth control pills without fail, and couldn't imagine how they would have failed me this time, especially since there was no sex for a while after the closure.
So here's what I think happened--
While I was in the hospital, I was given antibiotics, both oral and through my IV. I know that antibiotics can interfere with birth control, but at the time, I was under the influence of anti-anxiety pills before the procedure, and sedation after the procedure and didn't think to ask how this particular antibiotic could affect my birth control. Since I had sex the day before (knowing there would be a drought), I'm pretty convinced that the antibiotic caused my birth-control to fail.
It was quite an ordeal. I was unable to work due to the pain and had to go on disability for a month. The joint pain was out of this world, and the pain meds I was given interacted with my Coumadin (I'm allergic to aspirin and Plavix wasn't working well enough to rely on). I was on all of this medication before finding out I was pregnant, of course, because Coumadin especially would never be given to a pregnant woman.
I learned that my body had already rejected the pregnancy and I had to have a D & C to help me miscarry. Another ordeal, being that I was on Coumadin and had to stop it before they could do the D & C.
The joint pain went away afterward. No one can really explain it, but my sense is that my body was just freaking out from the procedure, all the medication changes when the Plavix didn't work, and then the pregnancy. My body was not happy with me.
I know that my situation was something of a freak occurrence, but my hope in sharing it is that it may help someone else avoid something like what I went through.