TTC/ pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar

[freelancegirl]

I am not sure there are enough people here to start a thread but have been chatting on one on the pregnancy boards and was wondering if I could find any fellow ttc'ers on Prednisolone or similar?

I have just received a diagnosis of very high NK cells. It was a bit of a shock actually as it turns out I have some of the highest levels - 3.79 when anything over 1.8 is considered 'very high'.

Am trawling through Dr Beer's book and Dr Google and trying to found out more. I have been recommended 25mg prednisoline steroids for two weeks starting with ovulation, increasing to 40mg if/when BFP and then Intralipids Cyclogest too. I still have 13 days until I pop my first Pred.

There now just seem like so many hurdles - actually getting pregnant being the first one. I was prepared for high NK cells as I have high thyroid antibodies but it was shocking to be in the top 5% of people treated at the clinic. I am not sure if that gives me much less of a chance of being successful.

It would be great to hear from anyone else who is undergoing treatment and of course also if you've had successful treatment.

Hi all, am back and all went well. The nurses were so lovely, I really have never been treated so nicely by hospital staff. Maybe because it was a smaller hospital than my usual one. I was fine until I was wheeled down to surgery and then I did get a bit teary. I was just a bit scared of the anaesthetic and also a bit scared of anything going wrong with the operation. I said to the surgeon, please try to be careful with me as I have had four miscarriages and have no children and I am really worried about this causing problems! And he was really sweet about it all. DH picked me up afterwards and I am here at home having eaten 10 hobnobs and drunk some tea and wondering whether to get on with some work or just go for a nap.

So there we have it, second miscarriage of the year done and dusted. Hopefully a shorter recovery for this one, definitely emotionally better already as the last one was such a shock and so awful. And just getting myself together for the next go!

Hope all is well with everyone else xxx

so glad to hear it went well free. FWIW I would take this opportunity to 'recover' and not do any work. Despite not needing it physically, I took 2 weeks off work after my ERPC this year and would go as far to say I felt 'amazing' when I finally did go back to work. I treated it as a holiday. It was nice to just live life for a bit and not think about responsible stuff. I know it's different being freelance, but I think you deserve some time off.

Aw freelance, I'm so sorry it's ended. You've been so brave about it. Don't even consider doing work- have a well earned nap , girl!
You've got to try and enjoy this month or so's break now- eat loads of pate, sushi, raw eggs even(!) and lots of wine. I would say take a break from the metalling too but I can't even follow that advice myself!
We will prob end up ttc at the same time as I'm still leaving it a bit longer. Although I have made the decision not to take any prednisolone although I might go ahead and do intralipids, possibly before ovulation too.

freelance Glad it went as well as it could, I agree- have some time off. I felt ok physically but it did me good to have 2 weeks off to try and get my emotions in check xxx

Free glad it went as well as it could, and I'll echo what the others have said ... although you might feel physically well enough to work, you need to take it a bit easy - even without the physical trauma of any kind of operation, GA takes more out of your body than you might realise. I've taken the day off work the day after both of my ERPCs and literally just sat around and vegged, and even after that I think it took a good week at least before I started feeling vaguely human with this last one, although that might be because the pregnancy was further along this time, I don't know.

So take it as easy as you can (I'm not one for taking it easy much, but you know, sometimes you owe it to yourself!), and rest as much as possible. Hope OH is looking after you properly!!

Ari x

Hi all, thanks for the nice comments. I was definitely pretty woozy yesterday and also still a bit so today, I guess also coming off the steroids might have an affect too. I am tapering down by 5-10mg a day and can't wait to be off them! Should be finished by the end of next week. It will be a good 6 weeks until I start taking them again so it will be nice to get them out of my system. Intend to really sort my diet and exercise out again and hopefully lose a few pounds and feel nice and strong.

I am working, I have to, but my work is different to actually going to work as I can sit and veg at the same time. Just writing at the moment with no need to see anyone, although today I am going this from DH's offices in Kent so I can drive with him down to Brighton for the weekend after. Got to work all weekend to catch up really, but I can do that slobbing around from home.

How's everyone else doing? xx

I admire your resilience, I was in bed/sofa for days afterwards! Look after yourself.

Today is somewhere between day 9 and 11 po, so have tested - bfn but I will of course not take one test as final! So wondering, what day do others accept you're not pg, and come off the steroids?

Hi Iggii I tested 10 days po and got my BFN. I stopped the pred then as test says up to 6 days before your due period. Saying that i still have no sign of AF! I ovulated later this month which is unusual for me so guess that is why my regular as clockwork cycle has just changed! You could take pred for a couple of more days I guess.

Good to hear you're bearing up ok freelance. I was going to suggest giving yourself a couple of days off but I understand what it's like with deadlines etc. especially being freelance. I'm glad you managed not to work yesterday though as I was going to suggest that if you did end up doing any writing there would be a good chance you'd have to re-do it due to post anesthetic delirium!

iggii Mr S's midwife said I could test on day 10 and stop taking the Pred if I got a BFN, but since digi and freelance both got BFNs around day 10-11 and then got BFPs later on I am inclined now to just bite the bullet and carry on for the full 14 days.

Hi ladies, yes you are right in that I only got a BFP on day 16 I think. I had ovulated later than I thought and got a negative on Day 11 and 12. Then I was away for a few days without a test.

Incidentally does anyone have any opinions/theories/knowledge/experience of faint positives? Am wondering if mine were only faint as the pregnancy wasn't going well from the start? Or is that silly. Dr Google tells me lots of people get faint ones and a positive is a positive. I did get a Pregnant 1-2 weeks on a CBD and that would have been accurate at the time, but then did no more tests as I didn't want to drive myself mad.

Hmm My own experience (and YMMV) is the only time I ever got a faint positive was when I had what they term an 'early miscarriage' .. ie, I tested the day my AF was due and it was positive, but not strong. I then tested every day for the next 4 days including a CBD and they were all positive, but again not strong. CBD showed Pregnant 1-2 weeks, but then on the fifth day of testing I got a BFN and started cramping, miscarried the next day (and no way it was normal AF, it was way worse than that).

The other two times I've been pregnant I got massively strong lines 11 DPO both times (when AF was due 3 days later).

My own theory, for me personally, is exactly as you say ... I don't think the second pregnancy was any good right from the start and that's why I got only faint positives. But like you I've seen plenty of posts from women who say they got faint positives and went on to have a trouble-free pregnancy, so maybe it really does only hold true for me. Dunno.

Oh, tricky one. I put faint positives down to how ridiculously early I usually test! I have had "perfect" hcg levels (which is what pg test measures of course) with three pg, 2 of which then mc. So I really don't know.

I always start with faint positives at 10-12 dpo. It's not till I'm 5 weeks (21dpo) that they get really dark. On the internet cheapies that is. I have heard of some women who's tests stay faint and then go on to miscarry but it's usually around week 4-5 that happens. If the hcg isn't rising then I think your body knows quite early on that it's probably not viable.

It's so hard to say. I would hate anyone to get unnecessarily paranoid after having a feint positive. I think a feint line is very normal for early testing but I'd hope for a pretty definite line by the time my period was, say, a day or so overdue.

sorry you're right kittens I didn't mean for that to make anyone worry about getting faint positives. I meant for it to reassure that most positives are faint in the early stages and it can vary from tests and from women as to how dark the lines get as the pregnancy progresses. For me the cbd conception indicator has always been accurate (and I've still mc'ed) but I've read posts where it hasn't been so accurate for others and the pg has been fine. I don't think you can predict how a pg will turn out based on how dark a pg test comes out - but I imagine with hindsight a faint test might look like it was a warning sign. The only real way to check how your hcg levels are rising is with a blood test.

OMG - with a hangover this morning, I was about to take some painkillers and thought just to be 100% sure, do another pregnancy test. On Tuesday 10 dpo it was negative but as AF had not arrived. It is now BFP. A faint line too.

I had stopped the pred so have missed 4 days. Please tell me I have a chance by stopping it and now starting it again?

I think I have to start the cyclogest tonight too. Another question I dont know the answer to, is do i keep taking my metformin 1700mg a day?

And to add more worry I drank too much wine last night. In fact I have had a couple of glasses most nights this week.

So all in all not a great start! Im worried already!

georgie first of all, congratulations! Secondly, just get back on the pred today. In all likelihood it won't have made any difference, a lot of other clinics that treat for nk cells don't start the pred till bfp anyway. In fact, prettyvacant who posted at the start of the thread didn't get her steroids until 5 weeks pg and she's due any day now.
I was told to continue metformin till 12 weeks, it can't hurt and I imagine if it helps to balance hormones when ttc it should help when pg too.
Congratulations again!!

Wow Georgie, congratulations! I hope that is ok to say? I didn't want congratulations last time but it really does feel like the right thing to say. I second what Digi says about the Pred, I am sure it really won't make that much of a difference at this stage. When I am going off it now I am having to tapering it down so it seems that it does stick around the body for a few days and doesn't just leave. Do you have to have intralipids or increased the dose or just stay on the same one?

Cyclogest, yes start it tonight. It's not so bad actually, and if you do it at night it is less messy in terms of your knickers the next day. You will get a bit of white gooey stuff though! I can't tell you about Metformin as that is not part of my treatment. And don't worry about the drinking - everyone I know who has ever had a baby has done exactly the same and more and all have been fine! Just stop now, obviously... . I really hope it all works out for you.

Thanks for everyone's theories/experiences with the faint positive thing too (sorry if this freaks poor Georgie out). I guess it doesn't actually mean anything, I was just wondering if there were any early signs it wasn't working out for me. I wouldn't know if they stayed faint or got darker as I stopped testing as I knew it would just give me something else to worry about.

Am feeling ok here. A bit dizzy and tired, not sure it if still after Thursday or the side effects of weaning off the Pred. I hope by the end of this week to be completely off it, which will be nice. I think I definitely have a slightly moon face thing now! I went back to the gym today and am also starting to try to make a concerted effort to eat really healthily again. I am fed up with not looking like me! I want these damn tablets out of my system for a while and will then be ready to try again afterwards.

Oh Georgie, who would believe it? As others have said, there will still have been steroids in your system and you can start up again today - it would be easy to get hung up on this, but try not to! It is true some doctors don't even say to start steroids till bfp.
Another bfn for me today, though I will carry on with the meds for another day or two.. I find it very hard to accept a neg pg test, I suppose I have seen so many positive ones now I just think they all should be!
Freelance hope you're still ok.

Thanks girls, you have put my mind at rest. Iggii It was 15 days dpo so you never know.

Free sounds like a mixture of coming off pred and the ERPC. Hopefully by the time you come off the pred you will feel more like you. Do take it easy though. Mr S never mentioned the intralipids or increasing dose. He said to just stay on the same 25mg one.

Digi its interesting about the metformin. 12 weeks seems a long time but saying that in the past i can off it as soon as i found out i was pregnant and still had 4 mc's so i dont think it can do any harm. Mr S seems to be a big fan of it!

I am going to join the denial club, I go on holiday for 2 weeks to Majorca next Sunday and not back until 10th Sept. This time I am not planning on getting HGT levels measured (cant remember what its called) or thyroid or any scan until at least 8 weeks as i feel none of that makes any difference. If its not going to work then all of that makes no difference. Infact having good scans at 6 weeks then hearing the terrible news at 7, 8, 9 & 10 weeks was almost worse. I know I sound negative but I guess its my defence mechanism kicking in! I am of course pleased too.

xxx

Georgie- congratulations! I have also been told to carry on the metformin when pregnant. I was pretty sure it was for all the way through pregnancy, not just the first 12 weeks. I'm on 2000mg a day.

Cheerful and Digi were you on metformin before you went to see Mr S?

xx

Huge congratulations Georgie!! I'm told denial is a nice place to be ;)

Can I just ask what you ladies who are on it have metformin for please? Counting down the days to seeing Mr S and already trying to second-guess what (if anything) I might end up having to shovel into my body! :)

Thanks Ari.

I was on metformin as I have PCOS but Mr S doubled my dose as I had been on same level for 8 years and he said it would of lost its effectivness. I think he wants me to stay on it to keep my hormones level. When is your apt? Its really good that you have BUPA cover xx

Ah, ok, thanks Georgie. I don't think I have PCOS (heck, who knows, but I don't think so) so presumably that won't be one for me. My appt is 12th Sept, so not long, I'm waiting for my first AF to arrive anyway so I'm ok with waiting a bit (despite being impatient at the same time).

Majorca's supposed to be lovely at this time of year and of course, you should miss the school holiday rush, so even nicer! :)