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I have had uc for about 2 years.  I wasn't diagnosed with it until last August when my GI dr. did a sigmoidoscopy.  He was going to do a colonoscopy to, but by that time it was too late because I was pregnant.  I'm very excited about being pregnant.  I'm 5.5 months along and the baby is doing great, but I'm not doing so well.  I'm taking Asacol which doesn't seem to be helping at all.  Anyway, is anyone else pregnant with uc or has been pregnant with uc?  What was your experience like?  If you took Asacol, how did it work for you?

 Reply posted for Sarah2008.

It sounds like you're doing well, being this far into the pregnancy without major problems. 
Here's my story...I'll try to keep it short!
I was diagnosed with UC in 2001 a couple months after I got married.  Medication always kept it under control, never in the hospital.  Eventually, I was able to be off of Imuran for 6 months so my dr. said it was ok to try to get pregnant.  Less than 2 months into my pregnancy I had a major flare that just wouldn't go away, and I was losing lots of weight.  I was hospitalized for more than 3 weeks, and then my colon perforated and they had to remove it and give me an ileostomy.  The good news is that both my baby and I survived.  I carried him to full-term and now he's 2!
I don't share this to scare anyone who is pregnant or trying to get pregnant, but to let you know that babies can sometimes survive even when things seem pretty bad.  During pregnancy I was on asacol, enemas, steroids, and I don't even remember what else.

 Reply posted for Sarah2008.

HI i took only prednisone in small doses during my pregnancies. My doc would do 10 day tapers then put me on 10mg daily. I flared up during both my pregnancies and prednisone got me through them but my daughter born 6 wks premature and son 4 wks premature. they are 5 and 3 now and very healthy. I even breastfed while on prednisone. I think it really helped my kids to be large when they were born and need minimal care. My daughter was in NICU 8days and my son was 7lbs 9oz and came home with me. good luck

 Reply posted for Sarah2008.

It is probably frustrating that nothing seems to be working for you.  Fortunately I was not that bad.

The lactation consultant told me that there were no UC medications compatible with breast feeding, but you should definitely ask... the enemas were working for me so I didn't really question this advice.

No, my little girl was not premature because of my UC... I was actually pregnant with triplets and that is what caused the premature birth.  Unfortunately my identical twins did not make it , they had a rare disease - again nothing to do with the UC.

I suppose my doctors would have let me deliver naturally if I was only carrying one.  My doctors did not seemed too concerned with UC, and my OB doc knew a lot about UC so I trusted him.  I automatically had a C-section because it would have been impossible to try to deliver three naturally!

If you do end up needing a c-section, I will tell you that mine was not bad at all.  Within a week I was up and walking around pretty good with hardly any pain.

Christine

 Reply posted for missbasket.

What meds are you taking?   There is a good site called  http://www.safefetus.com/ where you can plug in a medicine and it will tell you how safe it is in pregnancy.  You can also go to http://ctispregnancy.org/ and call the number on the screen which will get you to a specialist who can go over any meds you are taking.  I hope this helps.  Good luck!

 Reply posted for aquari1979.

Thanks for replying!  I stopped taking the asacol over a week ago and two days after I stopped my diarrhea and cramps stopped.  So right now I'm not taking anything and I'm doing great!  Early in my pregnancy they put me on prednisone which didn't help at all so they tried mesalamine enemas in addition to the asacol and that didn't help either.  Recently my GI doctor prescribed me mesalamine suppositories and they just made it worse so that is when I decided to just quit taking everything. 

I do plan on breastfeeding.  Was it the asacol like medicine that your doctor said would give your baby diarrhea?  If that is so then I definitely won't be taking it in the future either. 

Was your baby premature because of the UC or was it unrelated?  Also did they allow you to deliver your baby naturally?  My OB doctor wants to induce my labor a week early and I'm not too excited about it because there is a risk of needing to have a c-section if my labor doesn't progress. 

Thanks again for your help!

 Reply posted for Sarah2008.

Hello,

I have had UC for 10 years now and just recently gave birth on October 11^th.  For the most part during my pregnancy my colitis was great, but towards the end I started having problems.  My doctor put me on Lialda (pretty much the same as asacol).  It helped a little bit, but what really got me through were the barium enemas.  I hated doing them, but it was the only thing that helped.  Also, because my baby was a preemie (she only weighed 2lbs 13oz at birth) I couldn't take any medicine except the barium enemas while breastfeeding.  The lactation consultant said that the UC medications have been known to cause sever diarrhea in infants.  So if you are planning on breast feeding you might want to look into that.

I had talked to my GI doctor before I got pregnant and he told me that they will even give steroids to pregnant mothers because having a sever attack is the worse thing during pregnancy.  Luckily I did not have to go that route, but it is an option.

If you have more questions I would be more then willing to talk to you.  

Christine

 Reply posted for Sarah2008.

hi sarah-

1. i am trying to get pregnant and was searching on the net for info. on taking my meds with my crohns.  my dr. likes to send his patients to the net to read the precautions then he will chat with u.  whatever.  so although i cant give u any advice i was wondering if u can give me any continuing my meds. or where to find this on the net. good luck with your pregnancy and thanks for any help u can pass on.