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.

Oh thanks Battery, glad I'm not alone! But do you think the slow rise meant slow ovulation, or was ov at normal time? I used to get quite strong ov pains, but they've gone too

I had nothing this time - am sure I did OV as I got a positive opk, and some ewcm - but even that was minimal. Pred does supress our immune systems, and combined with d3 maybe the ovulation is not supressed but is less obvious? I don't think it means slow ov - just slow rise in pregesterone - which some women have naturally anyway.This is my thoughts on the subject

Morning ladies ... well now I'm in something of a panic this morning, I'm on CD13 and using the CBFM as always. It's shown low for the past 3 mornings, which is what I expected, then suddenly a peak this morning with no highs before it, which is NOT what I expected! Prior to my 3 MCs this would have been right - I always OVd on CD14 and cycles were 27 days - but ever since my first MC this has changed to OV on CD18(ish) and cycles 30 days (ish). And given that I've only had just the first AF how on earth could my cycles have readjusted themselves this quickly - they certainly haven't managed it for the whole of this year after MCs 1 and 2!

Anyway, flat spin this morning is because we BD last night (thinking I was safe for another few days yet), which may sound nuts but I cannot get pregnant until I've had the tests with Mr S next week. Ok, so what are the chances, right? But we're supposedly more fertile right after a MC, yes? Mad though it sounds it would be terrible bad luck if I managed to fall pregnant from that one time, before (hopefully) knowing what is causing me to MC.

Aarrgghh!!

I am not sure about the chances Ari BUT I would say if you got pregnant you would only just be getting pregnant now and would only be implanting by the time you saw Mr S. If you do show positive for NK cells you would be able to be treated quickly. In some clinics they only treat from a BFP anyway and a lot of people seem to do ok on that. But we all know it can be difficult to get pregnant anyway, so chances are you will be ok! I am using the good old fashioned withdrawal method at the moment, just to be on the safe (ish...) side.

Battery you are, frankly, a werido . No I am sure you aren't really but I have no idea whether Pred makes ovulation less obvious. I feel, post mc and not on Pred at the moment, that I have been spawning an ostrich egg the last few days but I am probably sure (as in clutching at random straws) that this is because I have't ovulated for a couple of months when pregnant. Well done for going to the gym, I have just come back too. I think my moon face is slowly deflating but I am not sure. I should send you all photos really!

As for the Pred and temping Iggi I really don't know either (am not very knowledgeable today am I!) but I did find that I seemed to be a bit warmer than everyone else who was charting, the one month I charted. My pre-ov temps were last 36's and my post ov and triphasic (and as it happened pregnant) temps were around 37.09, 37.10. As soon as I get an AF (hopefully in a couple of weeks time) I will be temping again so I can join you, if you are not already up the duff of course by then.

Free thanks - it does seem rather bizarre to be hoping not to be pregnant after so long of hoping the opposite, but I'm hoping that's the case this time!

I would say, first OV after each MC hurt like the dickens for me ... I always feel a certain amount of OV pain, but that first one each time did indeed feel like spawning an ostrich egg, I laughed when I read your description, that's exactly it! :)

The odd thing is I am getting it in both sides occasionally! Might also be my uterus creaking back into place? Does anyone else get ovulation pain in both sides?

Shall I tell you about my weird symptom of the week? I have kept it to myself as it sees so bloody odd! Every now and then I feel like I am sitting on a vibrating phone! I even looked around for it at first. It is more in the back area rather than a fanny thing. Very, very odd. It last for a few seconds then goes.

Dr Google says it is either nothing to worry about, a minor issue, or I have MS

oh I ALWAYS feel like I'm hatching an ostrich egg, but I think that's the PCOS. Apparently my ovaries are larger than normal anyway, so not surprising I feel bloated and too uncomfortable for SWI whenever I actually ovulate.

ari Not sure what to think about your chances, but echo free on you still being able to get an accurate test result for NK Cells in case you are pregnant. I'm pretty sure that you should be able to get the results pretty quickly. And yes, lots of other clinics don't start the pred till BFP - which has seemed to work for a lot of women. One of whom posted on here at the very start of the thread and has just had her baby, she didn't start pred till she was 5 weeks pg.

BTW I've always found the 'more fertile after a MC' to be a load of bollocks in my circumstances. For a start I've NEVER got pg in the cycle immediately following a mc. Having charted a couple of times in the WTF cycle I've found this could be because I've ovulated too quickly (as in follicles haven't got to be as big as they should) and released an immature egg or my corpus luteum was a bit ineffective and didn't produce enough progesterone. I have got pg ONCE the first cycle after my first AF following a mc. But really, all my successful TTC attempts have involved LOTS and LOTS of SWI. Basically almost every day for a week leading up to ov plus a few days after. I know there are many stories where it's just taken the one SWI to get PG, but I'm not one of those people.

battery well done on the gym! fwiw I think it's possible that steroids could affect how you feel ov. I've always been quite cautious with starting the pred, as it takes me so long to ovulate anyway that I'll be damned if I'm going to prolong it any further by starting the pred too early. So I've always waited till the day after a positive opk, sometimes two days after. Definitely after an obvious temp rise. I don't think it's necessary to take it from the day of ovulation...a few days after won't make any difference. My theory is that its important to make sure you've started before the bean implants.

iggi Regarding temping it's possible that if the pred is affecting your sleep then your temps aren't totally accurate - or at least comparable to non-pred cycles. I'm going to say what I always say and offer 'cervix-rummaging' as a way to cross check ovulation. It's not for everyone, but when CM and temps are playing silly buggers it's one more thing to help you figure out whether it's happened/happening.

digi - I feel the same. Really bloated and like I am laying something huge. I was diagnosed with PCOS as a teenager but my blood tests and ultrasound in the past few months are not showing it. That hasn't changed the ostrich egg feeling though!

hello! Hope everyone has had a good day. Got my bloods today - day 21 progesterone was 46 which is good, and oestrogen was 499. So definitley in the luteal phase. I saw my GP today too - we talked about why i didn't have my af when I should - so I asked to be referred for a scan to check lining etc, then we can go on from there. So he has referred me and will chase it up tomorrow so I should get a scan sooner rather than later.

I am tired today, but felt really hot at work, I amtrying to move house too. Its all go over here!

Good luck digi with your scan tomorrow - what time is it?

Hi everyone, waves from Majorca! Just found a wi-fi so can send a quick post.

Digi- good luck tomorrow, I'm sure it will all go well and I also hope first day at nursery school goes well.

Stogan - welcome, you are such an inspiration and give us all hope.

I am currently going crazy with worry. I am 6.4 days pregnant and dont have any real pregnancy symptoms , nipples bit bigger but that's it. I worry that I'm lying the wrong way, can't feel growth etc etc. Also as my NK levels were 1.79 I'm on 25mg daily of Pred but if I had been 1.8 I would be on 40mg and intralpids. Does that mean it is less chance of working I wonder? The only good thing is I have had no brown spotting and did in last 2 mmc's. Not even tired! I'm driving DH mad as were on holiday and I can't relax for worrying.

So sorry for selfish post, promise I will catch up when I get back on Saturday.
Xx

I want to offer some words of comfort whilst you are still online Georgie but perhaps in the light of what happened to me this time I am not the right person. All I can say is so many people say they have no symptoms on Pred and are absolutely fine!! Also nipple changes are good! Try not to worry and to enjoy your holiday. Very jealous of your trip.

Euro and Digi... How is PCOS diagnosed..? My ovaries were checked in a scan ages and ages ago. They said they were small as I was on the pill. I ask people to look at them at EPU but they always say they can't see them and don't seem to make much of an effort

Oh digi, it's Weds tomorrow. Aggh! Hope you aren't too stressed. Come back and tell us about it when you can xxx

Aw bless u georgie just keep on looking ahead, the steroids totally supressed my symptoms til I started coming off them and the only symptom I had until about 3 weeks ago was swollen boobs and a spotty moon face !!

It's only now that the sickness, bloatedness and tiredness have kicked in so sounds like u could be on track.
Everything crossed for u hunni. I'm off for my dating scan tomorro, doubt I'll sleep tonight for fear that everythings gone wrong but what will be will be just gotta try and be positive (which as we all know is easier said than done)
Enjoy the rest of ur holidays Hun, best of luck to u xx ?

Baby measures 8+3, with a strong heartbeat! Am crying my eyes out anyway!!!

Fabulous, fabulous news digi ... so pleased to see this, gives us all hope!! :) :)

Oh god that's amazing Digi!!! You must be cautiously thrilled!! I can't imagine what is was like in the run up to that appointment, you must have been terrified. But good news honey, hope it continues that way. When is the next one? xx

Thanks! I am still trembling from the stress of waiting. I was fine in the waiting room - read the paper and huffed and puffed a bit but as soon as I stepped into the u/s room I started welling up. The sonographer asked what had happened, she must have thought I'd already mc'ed. Had to explain that I was just nervous. Then she did an external scan which I wasn't expecting so hadn't filled my bladder. So it took her a while to get a clear picture. But there it was.
Measuring a day later than I thought, so maybe I did ov when ff said.

Just wanted to reassure georgie that I've had bugger all in the way of symptoms too. Not tired. No sickness. Just hunger.

Oh and back in 2 weeks for a repeat scan.

That's great news digi. It must be such a relief.

Freelance I went to the dr when I was about 17 because my mum had noticed a strange patch of hair (yuk) on the side of my face. I had a number of blood tests and scan and eventually and laproscopy. I ended up with a diagnosis of PCOS but I get the feeling it was a "well we can't find anything else so it must be that" diagnosis.

It's a syndrome and there is disagreement about how to diagnose but it usually means having a selection of the symptoms (hormone levels, multiple follicles on ovaries, unusual hair, no periods or irregular periods, etc). If you google you will struggle to find two sites that agree on how it should be diagnosed! My latest blood test results didn't indicate PCOS and the sonographer couldn't see multiple follicles on my recent scan, but I still have strange hair growth and insulin resistence so I am not sure what is going on there.

hooray hooray for digi :)

Digi- I have been thinking of you all day as I lay on that bloody sunbed! I am so so so happy for you. You give me hope and made me cry! It must of been such a relief xx

Free and Stogan- thanks girls for reassurance too. Slogan, how did you get on hon? I just can't wait to get home, know that sounds mad but feel I worry more here! Free it's a real personal thing and only my opinion but I wouldn't want to go on holiday outside uk if pregnant. If I could of cancelled or changed this one I would of.

Hope everyone is doing well?

I'm I'm wi-fi place again and DH just walked in, Digi told him your good news and even he looks hopeful xxx

Great news

Brilliant news digi. So pleased for you!

euro, I am rather erm, furry, especially on my face and neck and have suffered from cystic acne on and off for a lot of my adult life and yet I have had a few scans and blood tests for PCOS and each time have been told I don't have it. Very mysterious! I guess there can be other reasons for these things that we don't know about. Another thing they test for when you have these issues is thyroid problems. Have you been tested for that?

Well, I'm on day 14 and am a bit baffled with my OPKs. I had a double line a couple of days ago but they weren't quite the same darkness so I was expecting the test line to get darker the next day but it's disappeared now for the last couple of days. I don't know whether this means I'm ovulating now, or whether they will show up again in the next few days (which has happened to me in the past) so although I am SWI regardless I'm not quite sure whether I need to start taking the pred now or later! I guess I'll do another OPK tomorrow and then if a second line doesn't show up then I will go ahead and start my 14 days .

Kittens- I get an almost double line on the opk quite a lot. It's your body trying to get the lh peak , but it doesn't quite happen. Then it goes lighter again, then a few days later will try again and you see another almost positive ( or if you are lucky,a proper positive)etc. This often happens 2-5 times before I actually get a proper positive opk each month. It's quite common with pcos and why cycles can be irregular or longer than other people's.

Congratulations digi!

Hello to everyone else!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday guys was such an emotional day !
Massive Congrats to digi ????

As for us we have a very happy and healthy 13+5 w baby with a little pot belly and big feet like his daddy !!!!! It was so amazing we could see it's fingers and it's hands moving and it's spine and my due date is now 10th march although I still think must be 17th and the steroids etc have made baby grow bigger !
Were back seeing Dr S in 2 weeks to hopefully be signed off and then have a 19 week scan and then will be treated as a normal pregnancy (which is scary)

Amazing , I'm sure digi will agree all the effects of the steroids ate totally worth it.

Cant wait to hear some more happy tales ladies xxxxx ?

Firstly huge congratulations to Stogan & Digi-great scan news it must be such a relief. Also tentative congrats to Georgie

Sorry for barging back in-have been reading but not posting. I posted a while back when i had been to see Dr S and got borderline results for thyroid antibodies and NK cells. Anyway he put me on the 'roids-bizarrely i quite like them-they have given me loads of energy (with a slightly manic edge!!).
Surprisingly got a BFP first round although not hopeful as had a little bit of bleeding at first and CB digis not showing correct no. wks.

Anyway think am going to ignore it for now and go for a local scan at 7wks and see Mr S at 9wks if there is anything in there. Will that be OK do you think? Have you had your blood pressure monitored whilst on the 'roids?

Really sorry things didnt work out for you Freelance-its so disappointing isnt it and i really cant get excited anymore in those first few dreaded wks.

Hi to everyone else going down this slightly scarey route, Euro, Battery, Iggi, Kittens and Charlie.