crohns and recurrent m/c

[becky77]

Hi ladies may i just say thanks so much for all your suppoort you are all truly great and have been so wonderful with all your words of support, especially as most of you a re going through a similar thing.

I have been reading ( i know i know ) and i have suspected crohns disease, i am having a colonoscopy on the 17th march, and i have read that crohns can cause recurrent m/c, i have also read that crohns is an auto immune disease that is were the body attacks the bacteria in the colon. now bare with me , i have been on the miscarriage clinic site and they say that in 50% of secondary recurrent m/c cases that it is to do with the immune system and one of those is where the bodys white cells attack the baby . now the medication they use to treat crohns is the same as the one they use to treat these killer cells in recurrent m/c.
so my question is has anybody else heard of this or had any experience with it.

sorry its long but i just feel so desperate and research seems like the only thing i can control with this .


thanks for reading .
x

 

[Orange lady]

Hello, it's only me.
No answers from me - sorry. Can just advise sitting in front of the net. Someone will know something about it. It just might take a bit of searching
Sorry hun x

 

[becky77]

Thats ok i not sure anyone will know what the hell i am wittering on about lol.Think i will just keep looking.
hope your feeling a little better.
xx

 

[Blondie]

Hi

I have crohns - was diagnosed about 6 years ago - though have been in remission for a while now with the odd flare up. I manage to control mine with diet rather than pills now and providing I don't push myself too much I'm ok as a rule.

I had a mc last month - it was 2nd month trying and my first pregnancy and the doctor didn't mention anything to me about a possible crohns relationship.
My consultant a couple of years ago did say that the only issue I may find is that in some women being pg sends crohns into remission but in some others it can cause a flare up with would need to be monitored carefully but she didn't mention anything about a link to mc either.

When you go for colonoscopy have a word with them about it (by the way colonoscopy not as bad as what you would expect - think of it as free colonic irrigation - you feel so thin and healthy afterwards )

 

[becky77]

Thanks blondie,

i have read on a few websites that if you are having a flare up at the time of conception then you are at risk of m/c or prem birth but if your in remission at the time of conception then your risk is the same as any one else.
hope i have not scared you now, i will talk to my consultant about it and see what he says.
Thanks for that i am dreading it , but that makes me feel a little better.
do you want me to let you know if the consultant says there is a link, or would you rather stay in happy ignorance lol ( sometimes better i think lo )
thanks so much for you reply .
xxx

 

[Blondie]

hi Becky

I'd like to know please if they say anything about it. I won't pass it on to my husband though as he is the chief worrier in this household

At the minute I'm just hoping the last mc was a one off and that I'll get a sticky bean soon but if it happens again I'll definitely bring up the possible crohns link with the doctor.

 

[lulu0504]

My mum has crohns and has done for 27yrs. She conceived me and my brother with no trouble and has never mc'd so all i wanted to say is it is possible, keep a PMA and hopefully things will work out ok for you like they did for my mum.

 

[becky77]

Ok blondie i will add you to my friends list and will let you know what he says.

perhaps i am grasping at straws but i will find out .

xx

 

[Pooky]

HI, I have crohns and had a miscariage in december. I have never heard this about having crohn's. Fingers crossed it is not true as we are going to TTC again soon.

xxx

EDit - not sure if you may mean with active crohn's? It is recommended that you TTC whilst in remission.

 

[becky77]

HI, I have crohns and had a miscariage in december. I have never heard this about having crohn's. Fingers crossed it is not true as we are going to TTC again soon.

xxx

EDit - not sure if you may mean with active crohn's? It is recommended that you TTC whilst in remission.

yeh that is probably what i mean, there is an old thread on first tri about it, one lady who had crohns was told by her gynae that he would not look after cos she had it.
i hope i am wrong but hav read it on a few sites ,but perhaps it is best to speak to my dr and see what he says about it.

Thanks for your reply pooky,good luck with ttc and so sorry for your loss .

 

[Omi]

I dont have crohn's although my oh does. But i have had tests for recurrent mc's and ive done a lot of reading and research on mc's and auto immune diseases.. and all i can say is that short of you actually getting testing for it (mc's) there is no way of knowing whether you could be at special risk or not.

Basically, Crohn's and all other auto immune diseases are only ONE marker for antibodies in the blood ( and such blood clotting issues to do with pg's ), killer cells (which is not widely tested and even rarer treated). As such, you are not necessarily thought of as at more risk of having mc's. However, having one marker certainly puts you in the group of people who sometimes test positive for known mc problems.

I have Reynaud's disease (autoimmune), my mum has psoriasis (autoimmune), my dad has high blood bloodpressure and had a small aneurysm a few years back. All of these put me in the blood clotting problem category- in fact they were quite sure this was my problem. As it turned out i actually have an underactive thyroid- go figure.

Im only telling you this so you dont think simply because you have Crohn's you are more likely to have another mc- its not necessarily so, and even then your Crohn's would only be a contributory factor- not the reason, as many people who have Crohn's have no problems with either getting pg or having babies (Carrie Grant for example!)

Hope this helps in any way..me ranting away, lol!!

All the best, hun!

 

[becky77]

Thanks omi, i guess i am just looking for reasons as to why this is happening and both at such earl stages,and when i read that crohns was a possible reason wondered if that was it. do you think its worth mentioning to my gp about the link and seeing what they say.
good luck for third time lucky.
x

 

[windbloom]

I dont know too much on the subject of this as a whole, however, I can tell you that my OH is the living proof that women with Crohns CAN have babies... his mum has it, and she has had it since she was a young teen (and she has one of the more severe cases of it)... shes now almost 40 and still going strong.

I found it funny, when she was throwing up in the beginning of her pg she went to the doctors and they thought it was her Crohn's acting up, but it turned out she was preggers. There were special lifestyle changes she had to do, and other precautions that needed to be taken because of her having the disease, but she ended up giving birth to my dear OH by C-section (a month early because her frame was so small) but he is quite the healthy man now

It is possible hunny... and I hope it happens for you soon!

 

[Omi]

Thought id add this..

Can women with CD have children?

A healthy pregnancy and baby are both possible. The course of IBD throughout the term of a pregnancy tends to remain similar to the condition of the disease at the time of conception.
For women with UC and CD in remission, the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and congenital abnormality are the same as those for healthy women. A flare-up of CD at the time of conception or during the course of the pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of miscarriage and premature birth.

I dont see why you cannot raise this issue with your doctor, he is after all there to look after you. Also, these things can suddenly appear even in women who have previously had normal pregnancies ( i recently found out Lisa Marie Presley had several mc's over the last 2-3 years while ttc. Turns out she has the blood clotting thing and had to be on baby aspirin, heparin shots and progesterone while pg- and she just gave birth to twins at 41!! And she has 2 kids from before.)

All the best, honey! xxx

 

[becky77]

Thanks omi i am going to raise it with my dr, i would think i am classed as having a flare up at the moment. After the first m/c i felt terrible but thought ok i was unlucky but now i just feel so helpless as to know what to do ,so i guess thats why i am trying to find answers cos you can fix it then.
Thanks again you have been a real help x