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Conception

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Original poster

Autoimmune conditions, NK cells, recurrent miscarriages?

36 replies

Daniki · 08/12/2022 19:50

Hey ladies,

Just wondering if anyone with any auto immune conditions is having trouble conceiving or recurrent miscarriages?

My first pregnancy in 2020 was successful and I had my DS in April last year.

In July we decided to try again and I got pregnant straight away but miscarried at 8 weeks. I got pregnant again next cycle and miscarried at 9 weeks.

Iv been getting acupuncture and the lady ,who was also a nurse for 20 years , mentioned about natural killer cells and how in some people they can actually attack the fetus as if it's a foreign body and maybe that's what's happening to me? I have ulcerative colitis so my immune system is already out of whack.

Thinking back to my first pregnancy I was actually on steroids and humira for the most part, definitely the first 20 weeks anyway, so maybe that's why it was successful?

Has anyone been through anything similar and has any success stories? I'm losing all hope and can't go through another loss, I only miscarried last week and it's really shook me 😢

OP posts:
Twinklenoseblows · 09/12/2022 08:48

Their sticky bfp I mean

Twinklenoseblows · 09/12/2022 08:46

If private treatment is an option there are doctors who specialise in this including Dr Shehata. There are long running threads on here about immune issues where people share their experiences of treatment. I would say the majority of people on those threads eventually get their BFP.

Original poster
Daniki · 09/12/2022 08:43

Congrats @LBF2020 ! Hope all goes well in your pregnancy. Did doc recommend you go off it or did you just want to?iv just emailed my IBD nurse to see can she help but I feel like they won't 🙈

OP posts:
Original poster
Daniki · 09/12/2022 08:42

I feel like this will be an uphill battle to get medication, in the EPU they kept saying my GP would have to prescribe it even tho I asked the consultant after my last miscarriage.
You don't even get to see a consultant until after 12 weeks so that's too long to wait as I miscarried at 8 & 9 weeks. 🥴

OP posts:
LBF2020 · 09/12/2022 08:41

I'm watching this with interest. I have Ankylosing spondylitis and was also on humira. I stopped taking it when I found out I was pregnant. This is my 1st pregnancy and I'm currently 5 weeks. I've also been wondering if there is a link between autoimmune disease and NK cells.

Original poster
Daniki · 09/12/2022 07:14

Thanks ladies! The consultant did mention I could go on progesterone when I get pregnant again but I would have to have a scan first and see there a heartbeat before getting it. My GP won’t prescribe it as he isn’t too sure on the protocol. I will mention about the steroid aswell hopefully they will listen to me and not palm me off!

OP posts:
MissSmiley · 09/12/2022 04:55

@Daniki I'm really sorry for your loss, I also wanted to say I only had to take the steroids until 13 weeks, your situation sounds very similar to mine.

MissSmiley · 09/12/2022 04:50

I had 9 rounds of ivf to have my children, early mc from cycle 2, I was in my twenties/early thirties, it was unexplained infertility, I had high NK killer cells, we had success on cycles 7 and 9 when we used prednisone (a steroid used to dampen the immune system, apologies if you know this)

As it turns out I had undiagnosed coeliac disease all the way through, didn't find out until afterwards, I had had stomach issues and anaemia since I was young but the antibody tests came back negative for 15 years, eventually I got another autoimmune disease aged 39 and one of my kids got tummy problems so I was eventually diagnosed coeliac after genetic tests and duodenal biopsies. I'm convinced that had I been diagnosed earlier before trying to conceive we wouldn't have had the problems we did.

MerryShitmassss · 09/12/2022 04:28

My sister did and she has had bad eczema all her life

i had one MC at a time when my skin was so riddled with psoriasis that looking back, I have no idea why I wasn’t hospitalised.

my only friend who has suffered this has autoimmune conditions - mainly hypothyroidism

MadamMaltesers · 09/12/2022 04:24

High dose*

MadamMaltesers · 09/12/2022 04:24

Hi OP, sorry to hear about your mcs. I have Lupus SLE and have had 3 MC at 7,8 and 20 weeks. I ended up being given aspirin 75mg as soon as I got my next bfp and progesterone both until 12 weeks the next time I got pregnant. The doctor also prescribed me high does folic acid until 12weeks and I've since had a pregnancy to term. I had to go to a private doctor because my GP refused to give me progesterone or get my levels checked.

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