MS and Pregnancy.... - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

dorothy81 · 04-24-2007, 08:17 PM

background: at age 21, in dec 02 i woke with numbness on my left side. i put it off as a pinched nerve or sleeping in a wierd position. within a couple days it was gone. a week later i had bad double vision and the numbness was back. scared, with my boyfriend at my side, i went to the doctor. got referred to a neuro, several tests were taken. my spinal tap had complications, had to get a "patch" which was worse than the actual "tap". and after the mri results finally came in i was DX'd in feb 03. the symptoms had left and i was "fine". and i started betaseron right away. i was relapse free with clean "contrast" mri's at my annual checkups. married in sept 05, things were still good.

at my annual checkup in 06, i told my neuro we wanted to have kids. he informed me about having to drop the MS drugs if pregnancy was in the works. after some thought, we decided to go for it. Aug 06 i stopped the pill and stopped the betaseron. knowing what was at stake, i wanted to rush the pregnancy. i knew my cycles would not be regular and i might have a hard time getting pregnant. my family doctor wanted to wait a year before talking to a fertility spec. well after 3 months of irregular cycles i called the FertSpec. she understood the urgency and allowed me to take some tests to see if everything was working right. well low and behold my ovaries were not producing eggs right. i started some treatments to help them along. after a couple of months of that, there was no improvement. we took it to the next step, more hormone drugs to help ovulation. THEN BAM!!!! woke up with tingly right hand. monday morning, 2 days later, i called my neuro. met with him and he confirmed what we already knew. it was another attack. he suggested the steroids and we reminded him that we were taking steps to urge a preganancy and at any moment we could get pregnant. he said there was no way he would do the steroids if i was pregnant. so after talking to my OB, she said she would take a preg test and issue a month of birth control. well the preg test was negative and i started the steriod IVs for 3 days then 5 days of a tapering dose of pills. on the 3rd day of IV prednisone my hand was was feeling good. it seemed to be "healing". but a week after my last pill my hand returned to the tingly/pain/numbness.

right now im sitting at a crossroads. i could start the next step to push for pregnancy next week, or i can try to prevent anymore relapses by getting back on the betaseron, which for 3 1/2 years seemed to be working all along.
i really want to have kids and know now is the time but i dont want to leave myself fulnerable to MS either.

Have any of you been through this or have any input/opinions?
Anyone here have kids while dealing with MS?

MSNik · 04-25-2007, 06:54 AM

HI Dorothy-
Unfortuantely, I have been through much of what you are talking about,; only I am on Rebif and not Betaseron. They are very similar drugs though, both being Interferon ...I want you to search, on this healthboard both pregnancy, and more importantly serach "estrogen and MS". I just wrote a very long post about my experiences.
First let me tell you, that after 15 years on the pill, my doctor (GYN) is adamant that I stop it. MY MS doctor is ADAMANT that I do NOT stop it. THe latest in MS news is the estrgoen in the pill, protects us from relapses and that when we are on the pill, it is essentially tricking out body into being pregnant and we are safer then if we werent on the pill...not to say we wont relapse, but studies are showing that as soon as we go off the pill, within 60 days, we have a major relapse. Sound familiar?? I had one, wound up in the hosptial for weeks on IV steroids and all sorts of problems.
Now I wanted kids. More than anything. My husband and I have only been married for 3 years. I have only been dx for alittle under one year. Having tried everything (praying, counseling, talking to doctors, venting here) and then having severe relapse when I tried to get off the pill, I have become aware that getting pregnant is never going to happen for me. First of all, everyone who does get pregnant feels great, but within 6 months they have a very serious relapse. Also, I have now been put on the progressive MS level- which means I wont keep recovering fully from my relapses. All I need is an infant, or todler, a relapse and a bad day. Ill lose my mind. I cant count on anyone to help me get thru this...

Studies also show the ratio of birth defects from Steroid use, especially IV steroid in babies born of mothers who used them. Betaseron should be stopped a minimum of 3 months, however most will say a year before pregnancy is attempted.

I know this isnt what you want to hear. But, you really need to weigh the pros and cons of this. Chances are you are going to have a major relapse by stopping the pill, and if not, definately from giving birth....other risks are birth defects. Can you handle that?? Only you know, and only you and your husband should make the decision; however please do serach on this healthboard for pregnancy and estrogen links...many people have written in about this and it might help you to read other's thoughts.
Good luck.
Nikki

Stotz814 · 05-01-2007, 09:24 AM

I think i can help a bit with this post. I am currently 16 weeks pregnant. My body has a the reverse effect to ms and pregnancy. When you are pregnant and have MS your symptoms and relapses are supposed to subside, reason being your body no longer attacks its immune sysmtem, well with me my body does and it causes more symptoms and relapses. There are only about 15-20% of people who have ms attacks and symptoms during pregnancy, i am one of them. I recently was in the hosptial due to a bad attack and i did undergo steriods. I am being monitored by maternal fetal medecine and when i went in the hospital i was skeptical about getting steriods well aftertalking with them and my docs, steriods do not pass the placenta which makes them okay to take during pregnancy, they are concidered class b-c drugs....those classes they administer to people and have done no harm to babie, mothers or developement of children inutero. i was told that i will have a 40 percent chance of having another attck before i deliver and a 75 percent chance of having one 4-8 weeks pp. I have a 2 year old and that is how i found out i had ms was by being pregnant. It is your body, your life and if you want to bring another child into this world that is your choice. Children are blessings and i knew what was at risk with me and this pregnancy but i love children and i though taht if god wants me to have another then i will be blessed iwth one. Just cause we have MS, it should not stop us from being what we are meant to be, mothers. I dont let MS get in the way of anything in my life. Its hard, and there are some days that i dont want to but i have to. The only thing that is not recommended during your pregnancy is the injectibles. There is a chance that you can have a misscarraige due to the injectibles. You however are allowed to take certin meds too, such as flexeril, percocet, baclofen, lyrica, and small doses of provigil. these are concidered class b-c drugs, they do not however give pregnant women class d drugs, these do pass the placenta and can cause problems. this is what i am going through as we speak so if you ever need to talk i am here. good luck with your decisions and i wish you well