TTC with autoimmune illness « Hellobee Boards

TTC with autoimmune illness

By Sapphiredays May 23, 2017

Hi, I'm new here.
I was wondering if anyone else on here has had an autoimmune disease while TTC and if they have any specific advice or considerations. Obviously medication is a big consideration but I'm working with my doctors for that so I'm asking about any other non-medication things I should keep in mind.

Specifically I have psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune arthritis that is somewhat similar to rheumatoid arthritis. But many autoimmune diseases have similar issues so that's why I'm asking the broad question. For example, do flares cause issues with trying to temp and chart because of temperature fluctuations?
I'm not even sure what else I should be considering or how my illness might affect the TTC process. Any tips or suggestions?

You might also enjoy...

Tags: (no tags yet)

5 comments

tiramisu
apricot / 409 posts

May 23, 2017

@Sapphiredays: welcome to HB!
Hopefully someone else can chime in... I don't have an autoimmune disease but i am at risk for developing one and see my rheumatologist regularly. I have 2 children and before TTC, my doctor wanted to make sure I wasn't having a flare. Have you talked to your rheumatologist recently about TTC? He ran a ton of blood work on me before TTC and once I found out i was pregnant to check if the pregnancy was causing a flare.
Mrs. Goose
pear / 1737 posts

May 23, 2017

My friend has rheumatoid arthritis and just had her first. She didn't temp, but did opks and things were a little bumpy at the beginning of pregnancy, but I think that was just how the pregnancy was and was unrelated to the medical condition.

Have they said there will be any potential issues while ttc or pregnant?
Sapphiredays
apple seed / 2 posts

May 23, 2017

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I've been talking to my rheumatologist. I'm still trying to sort through the whole medication question and figure out what to be on while TTC, so there has been and will continue to be a lot of discussion. It's kind of annoying that because I have this illness, I can't be as discrete and spontaneous about TTC like other people can.

@tiramisu: what kind of blood work did he run? If you had had a flare, would he have wanted you to hold off? I do blood work every month but it's mostly routine testing.

@Mrs. Goose: too bad she didn't temp. I'm quite curious to know if flares, even minor, will affect temping accuracy. I'm just starting to temp now so I hope yonhave an idea soon. Well, the biggest issue that I know of is getting my medications in order. Otherwise I don't know of anything specific and my doctors haven't said anything. But that's mostly why I'm asking here, to see if anyone has an experience to share
MaryM
pomelo / 5129 posts

May 25, 2017

I have Celiac, so my "flares" are probably easier to control than yours (I'm only sick if I'm glutened). I'm not sure if it affects temping or not, but I do know that being glutened can be really harmful for fertility and pregnancy.

When I was temping, I wasn't aware of the celiac, so I'm not sure if it impacted anything or not. Now I chart a mucous only method (Creighton)

One thing you might want to look into if you're not already taking it or aware of it is Low Dose Naltrexone. I've only just been put on it (so I can't share too much about how it's affected or helped me), but people I know of who've taken it think it's a miracle drug.

This interview explains how my doctor is using it (this isn't my doctor, but mine is also a CFCP) https://www.ldnscience.org/resources/interviews/interview-phil-boyle
tiramisu
apricot / 409 posts

May 25, 2017

@Sapphiredays: I can't remember all of it but besides the usual CBC and urine tests, he tested for rheumatoid factor, lupus antibody, anti double strand DNA, sedimentation rate and clotting factors and a bunch of other antibodies. A while before that I had a positive ANA test so he didn't check that again. Between the pregnancy blood work and my rheumatologist blood work they took about 15 vials at the start of my pregnancies. If I did seem like I was having a flare i believe he would have told me to hold off TTC till things had calmed down. He did mention if I had a miscarriage he would put me on baby aspirin for my next pregnancy.

Hang in there. I know its hard not being able to spontaneously decide lets try for a baby. But it is important to be on safe meds and for your body to be at a good place to grow a pregnancy. For what its worth, I had one normal pregnancy and one complicated one that resulted in a very premature baby. I often wondered if my immune system did something wonky to cause it but so far they haven't diagnosed anything.

	Today	Monthly Record
Topics	0	1
Posts	1	3

Hellobee Boards

TTC with autoimmune illness

You might also enjoy...

Reply

most popular tags

most recent archives

Recent Blog Posts

Recent Board Posts

Classifieds

Deals

Today's Leaders

Trying To Conceive

Today's Posts

Site Basics

Features

Series

The Team

More