Decided to come off AP whilst trying to conceive and flaring

[spacehoppa]

Hi guys,

About two weeks ago I decided to stop taking minocin whilst I try to get pregnant, as I'm on so many drugs – morphine, humira, losec, prednisolone and now metformin (as prescribed by my fertility doc for PCOS), and I looked up all these drugs the other day, only to find that minocin is the only drug which is category D (causing known birth defects).

I think this relates mostly to tooth problems, which would happen later on in pregnancy, but I'm not certain enough about that to be confident to stay on it.

Anyhow, the upshot is I'm now flaring quite badly. Has anyone else taken minocin (I was only taking 100mg M W F) whilst trying to get pregnant and not had any problems doing so?

I'm in such a dilemma. I had made a lot of progress taking the minocin for the last eight months, but don't feel I have enough info to be able to decide that it's safe to stay on it whilst trying to conceive. I keep thinking, well, I'll have to stop it whilst pregnant, so I may as well stop it now. But I hadn't bargained on the fact that it was actually making a big difference to my joints and contributing to keeping me well (which will help my fertility too). *Sigh*

All advice appreciated!

ruth

[whaleharbor]

Spacehoppa,

I have no clue…but

I actually recall someone else on the board telling me that there are other antibiotics that I could take while trying to get pregnant.  Perhaps ask your AP doc if there is another antibiotic that would be better to take when trying to conceive.

— whaleharbor

Minocycline 100mg every other day with food...lots of food: Zydus brand. Celecoxib 200mg twice per day: Greenstone brand.

[Maz]

[user=415]spacehoppa[/user] wrote:

I'm in such a dilemma. I had made a lot of progress taking the minocin for the last eight months, but don't feel I have enough info to be able to decide that it's safe to stay on it whilst trying to conceive. I keep thinking, well, I'll have to stop it whilst pregnant, so I may as well stop it now. But I hadn't bargained on the fact that it was actually making a big difference to my joints and contributing to keeping me well (which will help my fertility too). *Sigh*

Ruth, really sorry to hear about your predicament and the very challenging decision-making you're having to face at what should be a happy, carefree time of life. These diseases truly aren't fair.

I can't really help except to second what whaleharbor suggested…to ask your doc if there may be a substitute abx that is known to be safe for longterm use during pregnancy (which I know may not be easy to do in your neck of the woods, either). 

Such as it is, anything we take when pregnant probably carries some degree of risk. This may be of no comfort, at all, but back in the mid-80s and early 90s, I was told to even stay away from OTC pain pills for headaches when pregnant.  Even certain cheeses can be harmful! In fact, when we lived in Montreal and I had my second child there, even though following these warnings rigidly, the tap water did a number on her teeth and she wound up with quite severe fluorosis (hard yellow patches on the enamel) when her big teeth came in. Not pleasant for a teenager to have to contend with, but we have had to wait till she is old enough to have dental veneers. So, there is really no telling what harm can be done by what is thought to be even fairly innocuous – even our bloomin' drinking water, but how could I have known?  🙁

I really do wish you well in your search for answers, Ruth. Please let us know how you get on.

Peace, Maz

 

[Pip]

Maz, my daughter has that too!  Some times kids can be cruel.  Sigh.

Ok, I'm going out on a limb here and suggesting it might be better in the long run to not do any antibiotics while pregnant.  The more I learn about the gut connection to all this, the more I question the advisability.  We can replace our gut bacteria fairly easily with probiotics.  But is that enough for a growing fetus who has an incomplete GI system?

Sorry, but hopefully you'll get pregnant quickly and get the 'pregnancy remission'.

Hugs,

Pip

[spacehoppa]

Thanks for the advice (and sympathy) guys. It seems like there's no obvious alternative, as I just looked up all the tetracyclines and they all have the same risks.

Pip, it's a good thought about the effect of antibiotics on the fetus's gut flora. I hadn't considered that. Although, I certainly wouldn't be taking the antiobiotic whilst knowingly pregnant, only up until getting a positive pregnancy test.

But still, even those first few days seem rather risky. I guess I'll just have to hope that the metformin and clomid do their thing and help me get pregnant quickly.

I so want another child, but I'll be so relieved to get my body back afterwards, and be able to resume the AP properly.

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