What if You are Pregnant or RA and Lupus

The excitement of the positive pregnancy test, for most pregnant women, Dimmable with concern for a healthy pregnancy and baby. But if you have RA or lupus, it can be multiplied. This article addresses two issues, many conditions, arthritis: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).

RA and lupus are autoimmune diseases and autoimmune diseases of the immune system, which is supposed to protect your body against foreign substances that may harm, malfunctions and attacks its own body tissues. If you have lupus or rheumatoid arthritis is probably taking medicine that reduces the activity of the immune system to a greater or lesser degree. Your pregnancy will also affect some markers of inflammation, doctors use blood test to measure your rate inflammation called erythrocyte sedimentation or ESR, which is often high if you have RA or lupus. What if you have RA.

The first thing you want to know if you have RA and are considering having a baby, is whether your arthritis will break during your pregnancy. Fortunately, there are about 70% - 80% of women with RA go into remission during pregnancy, other words your symptoms go away. Develop a plan with your rheumatologist for this medicine you will take if you have an outbreak during pregnancy.

If you plan on breastfeeding should talk to your rheumatologist, obstetrician and pediatrician before time. The good news is that the RA does not have a negative impact on the baby, do not increase the rate of abortions, and will not cause problems in the baby.

And if you have lupus

If you have systemic lupus erythematosus, which is a bit more complicated. The reason is that it is more complicated Lupus can affect many parts of the body, including the skin, joints, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs. Doctors of the past, often advise women with lupus to get pregnant on the assumption that pregnancy would always cause flare-ups of lupus, flames, possibly severe, and that babies are too. Furthermore, during a period of nine months, you can have a flare or flares if you are pregnant or not, flares during pregnancy are not exactly related to your pregnancy. Headache, fatigue, shortness of breath and joint pain are symptoms of a lupus flare, and the opportunity to be part of your pregnancy. You will probably break and not do so well during pregnancy if your lupus was active at the time of conception. This will happen if lupus affected your kidneys because pregnancy will also focus your kidneys. The blood test will also establish a baseline that your doctor can refer to later, during your pregnancy if there are difficulties. You will also want to consult an obstetrician who has experience with the treatment of women with lupus or perhaps a specialist obstetrician for high-risk pregnancies. It is also a good idea when you're pregnant, you take medication for controlling lupus and you can continue to take them safely during pregnancy. Although, if you have RA you are able to stop taking their medication during pregnancy, this may not be the case if you have lupus. You and your rheumatologist will need to plan what medications you can take if you have a push lupus during pregnancy.

If your blood tests show that you have the antibodies called anti-Ro (SSA) or anti-La (SSB), you will have a small risk of having a baby born with a rare condition called neonatal lupus. There is a very small percentage of babies with neonatal lupus, about 2% to 5%, which will develop heart block, which causes the heart to beat abnormally. If you are known to have anti-Anti-RO or properties, you probably have an ultrasound at 18-24 weeks of pregnancy to see if heart block. The doctor may prescribe a corticosteroid in an attempt to treat heart block, if any. There are other complications that come with lupus and including preeclampsia, premature rupture of membranes, which means that the baby will be born prematurely and babies born with low weight. Preeclampsia is thought to be more common if you have lupus and most of the time, it can be difficult to distinguish between pre-eclampsia and a lupus flare. But if not properly treated, preeclampsia can damage the kidneys and liver, as well as increase the risk of premature birth or miscarriage and even cause the baby to be very low. If you have preeclampsia your doctor may recommend that you deliver the baby early, either by induced labor or C-section.

The same advice applies if you have RA applies to you if you have lupus, and the period after the birth of her baby. Planning makes all the difference and make online help if you have a lupus flare prevents them from taking care of your baby.
 
Your medicines

There are many drugs that are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are relatively safe during pregnancy, but some drugs used for rheumatic diseases increase the risk of birth defects, and it is also important to remember that birth defects They occur in about 3% of pregnancies in which the mother did not take drugs. When considering whether a drug is safe during pregnancy, you should determine whether the risk of birth defects is higher than 3%. NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory steroids treat pain and inflammation of arthritis. You can take these drugs safely during pregnancy until the third quarter. Born to mothers taking corticosteroids during pregnancy are also more likely to be born prematurely and smaller. They will also increase their risk of hypertension induced by pregnancy, gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy and pregnancy-induced osteopenia or weakened bones. Corticosteroids are often a reasonable choice in pregnancy in the management of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus despite the potential side effects.

Sulfasalazine: sulfasalazine, or Azulfidine, is considered safe to use while pregnant.

Azathioprine and cyclosporin: These drugs are immunosuppressive drugs that are mainly used to maintain organ transplants. Doctors will also subscribe to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. There are many doctors use these medicines if they need to control RA or lupus activity in women who are pregnant.

Methotrexate, leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclophosphamide: These drugs can cause birth defects and early fetal death at a higher rate than you expect. You should not take during pregnancy and also if you are planning a pregnancy, you should stop taking methotrexate or CellCept at least one menstrual cycle before trying to conceive. In almost all cases, if you have RA or lupus, you can be sure it is safe to get pregnant because you are sure that your RA and lupus are under control and her pregnancy is planned. If you have lupus is particularly important to maintain open communication with your rheumatologist and an obstetrician you who is experienced in the treatment of women with lupus or high-risk pregnancies. With careful monitoring and proper use of your medications, you can successfully manage your pregnancy when you have RA or lupus.