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Crohn's, Pregnancy, and Imuran

Wed, July 02, 2008 12:25 AM

I am starting to consider trying to get pregnant with my second child.

I have a daughter that will be four this July and with her pregnancy I

stayed on Asacol and Immuran the whole time, due to my disease and the

flare up in the beginning due to trying to go off the medicaton for

pregnancy but not able too. Since, then I have stayed on Asacol and

Imuran but when reading articles and talking with my OB it seems that

Imuran has been moved by the FDA to a category "C" drug now. Which

means not recommended during pregnancy, and has shown birth deffect in

animals. Now, with my first child it was a category "B" brug because

studies werent shown either way, now though it does appear that some

more studies have been down and shown birth deffects. So what do I do?

Granted, I was on it with my first child and she is fine, but with the

drug class changing it really scares me! So, staying on the Imuran

during pregnancy can cause birth deffects, or what about going off the

medicine and having a "flare" then being unhealthy and that causing

problems too? what do you do?

thepinkp
Joined Jul 1, 2008

Thu, July 17, 2008 12:00 AM

Reply posted for susan11.

Susan,
Thank you so much for your response. After, consulting with 3 different docs, I think they have come to the conclusion that my body can't handle going off the Imuran. It just seems to be the drug that works for me. Yes, I was on it too with my first daughter that was born in 04. I tried to go off of it then and was not able to , I got so sick that they were worried it was going to hurt the baby that way, because my body was getting so dehydrated. It is just so scary. I can't find a lot of ppl on this forum that stayed on it though. So, your doc is ok with you staying on it too?

thepinkp
Joined Jul 1, 2008

Tue, July 15, 2008 7:24 PM

Reply posted for thepinkp.

Woman's intuition. Do what you feel is right for you and your unborn child. It's seems to me that you are leaning towards not taking Imuran during your second pregnancy. Just remember that you need to be healthy so your baby can thrive and be well. I took Imuran throughout my PG in 2007 and no complications. At that point it was a Class C Drug. I plan on getting preggers by the end of this year with Imuran on board again. Good luck with your decision.

susan11
Joined Apr 27, 2008

Wed, July 09, 2008 2:22 PM

Reply posted for thepinkp.

I tried Imuran before the Remicade. It landed me in the hospital with swollen kidneys within 3 days of starting it. They thought I was going to die because I continued to get sicker and sicker each day until they finally decided to stop the Imuran. They said they had never seen such a high sed rate, CRP, etc. I couldn't even keep water down and had no food for the entire time I was in there until the last day. I was in the hospital for two weeks. So after that they started the process to get my insurance to approve the Remicade infusions for me.

crohnsmommy
Joined Jun 19, 2008

Wed, July 09, 2008 12:00 AM

Reply posted for crohnsmommy.

So, you did not take Imuran at all?

thepinkp
Joined Jul 1, 2008

Mon, July 07, 2008 12:00 AM

Reply posted for thepinkp.

I was on Asacol and Remicade when I got pregnant last year. I immediately went off the Remicade since there was no long-term data available on it and pregnancy. I did have at least one injection while pregnant (before I knew). When you are pregnant your hormones increase to the equivalent level of being on Prednisone so most likely you can make it without anything of the Imuran level until after you give birth. My doctor had said if I got bad (1/3 of patients do while pregnant) then he could still safely put me on steroids until I gave birth. I couldn't take the prenatal vitamins though so they just had me take a regular vitamin and extra folic acid. My little girl is doing great.

Good luck!