Pregnancy and arthritis

Scamp
Scamp Member Posts: 4
edited 18. Nov 2010, 12:01 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi, I was diagnosed with JIA or JCA as it was then when I was 14 years old. 10 years on and I'm still taking mxt, hydroxy and 12 months ago started entanercept.
Think I have known deep down since I haven't grown out of arthur and am still very dependant on mxt in particular that the likely hood of me being able to have children is very slim :( I am informed by my consultant that I can only be prescribed entanercept if I am taking mxt.
I'm trying to be positive but am finding it hard. Has anyone got any experiences to share?

Comments

  • wibberley
    wibberley Member Posts: 421
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hiya Scamp,

    I'm a mum of 3 (all in 4 years, surely that deserves a medal!) and have had JIA since the age of 7. My rheumy advised against having kids but being kinda stubborn, I went ahead. I was lucky in that the JIA was in remission and stayed away too until the youngest was a toddler. I found a way to get round things involving kneeling etc, but can't advise re meds etc as at that time the strongest med I was on was anti-inflammatories.

    Welcome to the forum and I'm sure someone more informative will have an answer for you soon!

    Lois x
  • dutchess
    dutchess Member Posts: 79
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Scamp
    although I don't have the same condition as you I can totally understand where your coming from. I was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease (ra/sjogrens, cutaneous vascultitis, raynauds )aged 21 quite a nice mixed bag of things to deal with and medicate. I'm now in my late 20s and last year me and hubby decided that we wanted to try for a family came off my meds methotrexate but two months in not coping at all. Consultant was very supportive at time and continues to be in terms of us wanting to start a family. A year on health is not great at all and taken off metho and put on new combination of meds so my main focus at mo is getting back to some sort of bearable normality and life. However the drive to want a baby is still there and don't think its helping my physical health at all. Sorry for going on. Have you expressed your thoughts/feelings to your consultant? Its really important to get their backing if you do want to go down that route and also for them to explain what meds would be available to you etc. preganancy has been talked about quite a lot on this forum and there are many positive stories from people who have gone on to have children. Maybe if you do a search. Hopefully more peeps will be able to offer their experiences and support. Pm me if you want to chat further.
    Take care
    Luv Kelly
  • lindalegs
    lindalegs Member Posts: 5,397
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Scamp,

    Try not to despair, Jenzie had our first forum baby this year :D He was only called our first forum baby because we'd followed Jenzie through her marriage and then her pregnancy. There are others on here too, like Wibberly, who have arthritis and have had babies.

    If you put 'Pregnancy and Arthritis' into the 'Search' facility you'll find a huge long thread on there which you'll probably find interesting.

    I have RA and two sons but I don't think I count because my RA didn't start till after No 2 son was born. :roll:
    Love, Legs x
    'Make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing'