“You absolutely cannot get pregnant while on this medication” that is what the nurse said to me as I was having my first Remicade treatment. They had wanted me to take a pregnancy test and I had said there is no way I could be pregnant, it was really a waste of a test. I had been so sick with a huge flare-up due to my colitis, I hadn’t gone out with friends let alone dated anyone. My days had consisted of going to work, eating and straight to bed afterwards! I barley even watched TV, I had no energy or strength. After the nurse left the room I looked at my mom, neither of us knew I couldn’t have children with this medication. I didn’t have a boyfriend at this point in time, but I still hoped I’d find someone, get married and start a family. I was only 29, I had a little time yet. Well we were going to have to talk to the doctor about this at the next visit, right now I just wanted to feel better.
At my next appointment with the Gastroenterologist (let’s call him Dr. G) that my regular GI doctor (Dr. S) sent me to for a second opinion before putting me on Remicade we were sure to tell him what the nurse had said. His exact words were “Don’t listen to the nurses” they don’t know the latest medical findings. It was perfectly find for me to still get pregnant on Remicade. I had gotten the same response from my regular GI doctor (Dr. S), there is just extra precautions that need to be taken when trying for a baby and while pregnant. In fact the doctors keep in mind a women’s age when prescribing medications and try to only prescribe those that they could get pregnant on if possible. I felt relieved. Now I just needed to wait for prince charming!
Fast forward to when I started dating Chuck, actually a about 6 weeks prior to him proposing. I knew our relationship was heading towards a life together and we both really wanted children. I had my annual GI appointment with Dr. S and the topic of getting pregnant comes up each time just because of the age group I am in. Previously it was just something to keep in the back of my mind, now it was becoming more of a reality. So right after my doctor said something along the lines of staying away from kids as they are full of germs, I asked him about having children. He told me I am fine to get pregnant that our concern is really to stay in remission so staying on the medication is the best. Perfect! I was all set, I just wanted to check with my OBGYN at my next appointment which was in a couple of months.
Well before my annual OBGYN appointment, Chuck proposed so there I was filling out the annual health form and actually able to mark the “yes” box next to trying to get pregnant in the next 12 months. How exciting😊 It was December 2016 and our wedding was already scheduled for end of September. Everything was all set, at least that is what I thought. I saw my GI doctor at the beginning of September, just a couple of weeks before the wedding. This time when we had the conversation of kids, I said we would be trying right after the wedding. We were in our mid-thirties, we weren’t going to wait. Well this time my doctor said we should be good to start trying but he was going to refer me to a GI doctor who specializes in pregnancy and medications. (Let’s refer to her as Dr. P)
They were able to get me in with Dr. P three days before my wedding. Talk about some added stress right before a wedding. Since Chuck couldn’t get off of work as we had the following week off for our honeymoon mymom went with me. It was only about a 50minute drive so not too bad. This doctor ended up postponing our plans to try for a baby. She ordered labs that day, luckily for me the nurse was good at drawing blood and I didn’t bruise. I had purposely pushed back my Remicade appointments by a day or two for the past couple of months so that I wouldn’t have the injection right before the wedding and end up with a big bruise on my hand onmy wedding day. She also gave me two different blood tests to have my Remicade levels tested and I needed to have a colonoscopy. Both tests required that I would have to have blood drawn on the day of my Remicade appointment before I received the medication. This is when the medication is at the lowest. For the one test, I would have to drive about an hour to Milwaukee but was free. The other test I could have at any Aurora lab but it could possibly cost $2500. Ouch…so of course we did the free test. My next Remicade appointment was scheduled for mid-October, the week after we got back from our honeymoon. Chuck took the morning off to drive me to Milwaukee. And then we just had to wait for the results….the results came back that I had no Remicade in my system and I had developed anti-bodies to the medication. It was hard to believe as I hadn’tbeen experiencing any symptoms, I felt great. So the Dr. P wanted me to take the second test. Well I had to wait until my next Remicade appointment which was every 8 weeks. Ugh another 2 months for tests plus waiting to do my colonoscopy before we can try for a baby! The torture!
Well I passed my colonoscopy! It was actually the first time I had one without being in the middle of a flare-up. But the results from the second blood test to check my Remicade levelswere the same. We needed to switch medication. I’d have to start Humira. With this medication I no longer needed to go to the hospital for 4 to 5 hours with an IV every 8 weeks, I was able to give myself an injection at home every two weeks. Me?! give myself injections?! I’ve passed out a couple of times with blood draws and IV’s, I had just conquered those and now I’m going to give myself a shot! They give you a test pen and a nurse does come to help you the first time. I did it! I actually was able to give myself a shot, well actually 4 shots. I was really determined😊 The first time it was 4 then the next time 2 then just one every other week. I was all set, after almost 6 months of appointments and tests plus another levels check to see how the Humira was working, Dr. P cleared me and we could finally try for a baby!!
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