26yrs MS & pregnancy!!!

[RoziePozie123]

Hi everyone,
I was diagnosed w/ RR MS on March, 12 2012. It was the worst month of my life It all started when I woke up with blurred vision, peripheral vision was distorted, my equilibrium was off balance, and dizziness. Also, I was so nauseas that I quickly ran to the bathroom. At that point I had no idea what was wrong w/ me. It's natural for the person experiencing symptoms to expect the worst & hope for the best. Many thoughts enters my mind... brain tumor, any/ every type of cancer, diabetes, and Chron's Disease (my mom has). Also, the morning i threw up I questioned, Am I pregnant?!? Boy, was I WRONG! So, the next step was getting into a neurologist (luckily he got me in later that week). In the mean time, I went to a ENT (Ear, Nose & throat) doctor to check for vertigo. Eye doctor & got contacts for my blurred vision. Also, my regular physcian ran several blood tests & ordered a MRI of the brain. The radiologist that read the images stated "several lesions appearing to resemble multiple scelerosis." I was freaking out!! A few days passed & went to the hospital to pickup the images from the MRI & all the bloodwork results to show the neurologist. When we met, his personable & caring demenor gave me the confidence I trusted in a doctor. After the thorugh 2 hour eveluation he confirmed that I indeed have MS. I had a 5 day infusion of methoprednasone. I was taking 50mg of Seterline. I was on rebif from March 2012-September 2012 when I approached my neurologist about discontinuing Rebif to start a family. He recommended me waiting 1 month (December) and starting January 1,2013. I tried naturally in Jan. In Feb I met w/ an Endocrinologist and had an IUI (intrauterine insimination) & no luck. My March cycle hasn't come yet, & I hope it doesn't! I'm trying to get pregnant in a timely fashion as I don't have a large window before continuing MS medication. I need your support. Has anyone been through pregnancy with MS. I'd love to hear your stories

[SNOOPY]

Hi RoziePozie123 and welcome to MSWorld

I was married at the age of 20, diagnosed with a infertility problem at age 21(symptoms since early teens) and diagnosed with MS at age 24 (symptoms since childhood)...Whew! We went on to have 2 children after my MS diagnosis who are now 21 years old and 23 years old.

My pregnancies were uneventful MS wise and I didn't have an exacerbation (relapse, attack, flare-up) post-partum.

Regardless of what you may read or hear pregnancy does not protect you from having a relapse. A relapse can happen during pregnancy and/or post-partum.

Best wishes on getting pregnant!

[lorib]

I have had two kids since my diagnosis and they are both perfectly healthy. Make sure you talk to your neurologist about trying to conceive so you can talk about the risks of medication while you are pregnant. The bad news is that you can't be on any of your normal MS meds while pregnant. The good news is that pregnancy may make you less likely to relapse. Make sure you have a good neurologist and also a good Ob gyn so when you do get pregnant you won't have to worry about the baby anymore than usual.

There have been lots of posts about MS and pregnancy on here so you may want to do a search. Wishing you the best of luck!!

[tracibk]

hi, I have two kids (9 and 3)and stopped taking Rebif during both of them. They were both normal pregnancies. I have read that people had a relief from ms symptoms when they were pregnant but I wasn't having any before I got pregnant so I can't say from personal experience. 7 months after my second child I had a really bad flare which my neurologist said wasn't surprising. Best wishes and good luck!!!

[RoziePozie123]

Tracibk,
I'm so happy that your pregnancies went smoothly and you are blessed with two healthy babies. Sorry for your flare up after your 2nd sweetie arrived. How long did it take you to get pregnant & how long were you off Rebif? Also, did you breast feed? If so, for how long? Sorry for all the questions. I really appreciate your posts.

[RoziePozie123]

Has anyone had treatments to speed up pregnancy????

I've been ttc since Jan. 1st, 2013 and

[RoziePozie123]

Trying to conceive! Seeking advice: mom's & mommies to be...

I've been ttc (trying to conceive) since Jan. 1st, 2013. I had my 1st IUI on 2/10/13 & no luck I did some research & found that acupuncture was beneficial for several women ttc. So, I've had 5 sessions w/ my chiropractor. I'm open to trying anything & everything to get a BFP (big fat positive) on a pregnancy test. It's a very time consuming process & added stress on a woman w/ MS.

Seeking advice from other mommies & mommies to be!! How long were you off MS disease modifying drugs? How long did it take you to get pregnant? Was anyone on an antidepressant (Sertraline/Zoloft) before conceiving? How far in advance did you discontinue? Did you supplement w/ yoga or meditation? How was your delivery? The weeks following your delivery, post baby? Anything else you would share about your experience would be GREAT! The unknown is killing me. Lots of love

[SNOOPY]

I've been ttc (trying to conceive) since Jan. 1st, 2013.

It doesn't sound like you have been TTC for very long Have you been diagnosed with an infertility problem?

How long did it take you to get pregnant?

It took me 2 years of TTC for my first one (we were also going through the adoption process) and I got pregnant with our second (2) child the first month we tried.

How was your delivery?

Both of my children were delivered by c-section.

The weeks following your delivery, post baby?

Nothing except what every mom deals with when having a newborn. MS wise I was fine.

[lorib]

Hi RoziePozie,

I am apparently very fertile. My daughter was conceived while I was still on Betaseron, which is a no no because the interferon's interfere with conception. Luckily my body didn't reject the fertilized egg. With my son I was ttc, but I was taking Copaxone by then. It took me about a month. Like I said, fertile women run in my family. :0)

What my neurologist told me when I was trying for my son was that if I were on Tysabri I would have to stop for 6 months and I think the other drugs are 3 months but you'll want to double check.

I was on Lexapro with my son and I stopped all medications when I found out I was pregnant. My mood swings were horrible and it caused some significant problems with my marriage. At the end of my 2nd trimester I talked to my obgyn about starting the lexapro again and what exactly is the risk to my baby and since it was so late in the pregnancy he said the biggest risk was dependency so I decided to start taking lexapro again.

I actually saw a therapist rather than take the medication to help me deal with the issues I was having with my husband but I'm not sure that really helped. At the time it helped me a lot because I needed to know I wasn't going through this pregnancy along. So there are alternatives to an antidepressant while pregnant.

My deliveries were fine. I had an epidural both times and nothing was unusual. After I had my son (4/13/12) my neurologist had me do an infusion of high dose steroids. Apparently there is some data to suggest that this helps prevent a relapse post pregnancy. So far it's worked for me. I don't remember the specifics about breastfeeding after the steroids but we worked it out some how. I breastfed both kids for roughly 2 months and then got back on my medications.

With my daughter I had a relapse 9 months post partum, but I had also developed antibodies to Betaseron so my DMD wasn't working anymore.

My MS is relatively mild, the relapses are bad but so far they've only been about every 4 years. The only way I know I have MS everyday is by the constant tingling in my left hand and the awful chronic fatigue. That was the hardest part of my pregnancies. I was so tired all the time!

I know it's hard, but you can't worry about it too much! Stress is bad both for your MS and for ttc. Just take it a day at a time. Everything will work out fine. All the best!

Lori

[tracibk]

RozziePozzie
No problem......It took about 7 months the first time and then only about 2 the second time. I did breast feed but only for a few months for each one (I did both formula and breast because I did not have the best experience with breast feeding) I did not start the Rebif again until I was done breast feeding.......so I am guessing I was off the Rebif for two years with each child.