TTC/Pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 8

[Arianrhod]

A positive thread for all those diagnosed with High or Very High NK Cells and looking to start TTC or already pregnant on Prednisolone and/or Intralipid treatment.

Newcomers very much welcome!

Part 7 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1452035-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-7

Part 6 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1419032-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-6

Part 5 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1391787-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-5

Part 4 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1366323-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-4

Part 3 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1348773-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-3

Part 2 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1323594-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-2

Part 1 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1236324-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar

Oh no LJ :( I am so sorry - crap crap crap. God why is this pregnancy lark such a rollercoaster? Much love to you and your DH xx

euro I have looked after ladies that have had a LLetz and gone on to have normal pregnancies. I think you have to do some research and make your decision, but ultimatley your health should be your main concern, but I say that knowing I would be exactly the same - not knowing what to do xx On the other hand, if it was CIN 1 - I would be tempted to leave for 6 months as a lot do resolve themselves,, but ultimatley thats up to youxx

LJ I am so so sorry to hear your news. Life is so cruel sometimes. Thinking of you and Mr LJ xx

Euro sorry to hear your news too. Can't offer any advice I'm afraid, but thinking of you nonetheless xx

LJ I'm so sorry to see your post.

battery thanks for that. It was CIN1 and the initial letter just said to retest after 6 months but I pushed for a referral because I had already started my (now abandoned) IVF cycle. Apparently the presence of HPV16 makes it less likely to correct itself. Fvksticks. This is a ngihtmare.

LJ So sorry to hear your sad news. Hope things happen as quickly and painlessly as possible - thinking of you at this awful time - bloody hell life can be cruel.

Belly try not to worry - I had absolutely no sickness with either of my pregnancies until around 7-9 weeks and even then it was just a passing feeling of being off colour in the evening to which anything fizzy worked to get rid of it. I also think I felt warm/sweaty on the pred.

Bertha glad you haven't fainted again and you're feeling ok.

Buster Good luck with the IVF.
Duggs glad to hear that all is well and that the drugs appear to have worked their magic. Good luck with trying again and also with your meeting iro adoption.
Euro sorry I can't help but may be worth discussing with your specialist and also mentioning that you are trying to conceive but don't put your health at risk. Difficult decision.

So sorry LJ; just can't believe this is happening to you again. It's just so unfair. Try to get some rest on holiday. I wonder how many of us associate going on a plane or going away with miscarriage: I certainly do xxxx

Oh no LJ that is so, so sad. So sorry to hear that. Most of us know exactly what you're going through with a lot of us having miscarried when on the treatment so please do feel free to talk about anything at all. So sorry you have to be going through the ERPC. I hope it's as quick and as pain-free as possible so you can come out of the other side at least on a practical sense (of course it takes a lot longer then that both physically and emotionally) as soon as possible. AM so glad you have a few days away, yes have plenty of wine xxx

Euro I have had laser treatment but don't remember anything much about the details apart from it was all done quite smoothly. I hope battery's advice helps a bit. I realise it must feel like one thing after another for you and that must be a heavy burden to bear.

Thanks for the nice words everyone who said nice words about the support on here! I do think it has been so beneficial for all of us. After all I actually found out about killer cells on the miscarriage boards here and without that I might have taken a lot longer to find out any answers.

I am back from Epsom hospital - just went to do some pre-CS blood tests and yes feeling rather nervous and apprehensive about the fact that this has all become rather imminent. We have had potentially negative news about the house buying so Plan B is being instigated - moving everything but the essentials out of our current flat so we will be streamlined down completely for the baby. It means my parents can't come and stay with us (they live abroad) so that is very frustrating (hotels are thin on the ground over Olympics and also expensive!) but if we have to pull out of the sale and stay here longer that is something we will have to work around. When people are getting proper bad news like LJ it puts these things into perspective. All I hope for now is that the baby is ok and I am ok after the op on Tuesday. Everything else can be managed.

Sorry for not a lot of name-checking/direct response, am in a hurry to vacate the flat whilst people come to check it out for letting - even though of course we might have to cancel that side of things imminently!

LJ I am so sorry to hear your news but I think you had a feeling all along that this pregnancy was not progressing well. Don't give up though as I also have had two early losses on the treatment plan (bleeding at 6 weeks but knew the pregnancy had failed at 5 weeks). I then added hydroxy to my treatment plan and hopefully will be successful. You may not need an Erpc as it was so early on.
euro I also had laser treatment but can't remember the strain of hpv but I agree with mercator to speak to the consultant about TTC.

free I hope the house move does go through as you could do without the extra stress!

So sorry to read your news LJ, I hope you have a restful holiday. TTC can feel like such an uphill struggle. As sue says though, don't give up hope. She and free, PQ and others have succeeded after miscarrying on the treatment.

euro, sorry you're in such limbo and are now faced with yet more tough decisions. I can't offer any advice I'm afraid. I had laser treatment about 20 years ago and not had a problem since. I hope you can get some anwers from your consultant.

free, bloody nightmare with your move. Not good timing at all! Hope all is resolved before too long.

Thanks for all your messages of support.

Louise has suggested an outpatients erpc so they can analyse the "products".

I'm going to log off for a few days now to enjoy my holiday.

Good luck to all of you with fingers crossed for succesful tests/scans, and to those of you about to have your babies.

xx

LJ am so sorry to hear your news, it's such a nightmare. We all unferstand how you ste feeling so if you need a rant you know where we are.Sending you a big hug and hope you can try and enjoy your holiday.

Euro I had my cells zapped about twenty years ago so I am not of much info wise as was so long ago. I hope you find some good advice to help with your decision.

Free what a bummer about the house but thd most important thing right now is you and the baby. Can't believe next time I see you it will be with a baby!!

LJ so so sorry to hear your dreadful news. It's a dark place that most of us have visited & seem to constantly live under the cloud of returning to. Ditto the comments regarding hope everything is as quick & pain free as possible physically & hope the break away gives you some space mentally
Euro such a worry - I can't offer any advice but seems wise to chat through options with your consultant. Good luck with everything

euro how stressful for you, its not fair is it, we have enough to worry about with pregnancy issues and now youve have this as well, i was reading this book the otherday and she was saying they way she deals with huge problems is to not to look at the "whole" problem all the time , just the next step and when thats done, the next and so on, this way she can cope with it better.
LJ what a nightmare, esp the relief you would have had when she said everything was ok first, im so sorry and if you need to vent about how unfair it is please do, your holiday is godsend, enjoy the sunshine for a few days

So sorry LJ

Can any of the pregnant ladies recommend a doppler? How early on can you detect the heartbeat yourself? I never used one with DD1 but I know I will want the reassurance with this pregnancy if all goes well at my nuchal scan next week. If anyone is interested in selling one then PM me!

Also what are everyones thoughts on going abroad on holiday whilst pregnant? We want to go away to escape the awful weather here but I am in 2 minds as to go or not with the risk of flying and food poisoning/picking up a bug etc. I am probably being paranoid but dont want to put this pregnancy at risk in any way! I would only be around 14 weeks if we do go away (if I get to that stage of course).

I think you should go sue. Once we reach 14 weeks we are at the same risk as everyone else, and a holiday is good for the soul when you spend so much time worrying!

There are lots of last minute deals around at the moment for Canaries and Balearics if you don't want to go too far (we're off to the Canaries in a week - it's 25 degrees there and sunny! Yay!). Take the same precautions with food that you would here. Unless there's a good reason not to go (that your consultant agrees with) then I think you have to be brave and try to be as 'normal' as possible. I'm slightly worried about Lanzarote but only because it's going to fall weeks 6-7, which is of course prime miscarriage time. But I had a miscarriage a couple of years ago while flying to America and even that wasn't so bad because it was early. God, how blase we get.

LJ so sorry to hear your sad news. My thoughts are with you and Mr. LJ.

sue I have a wedding to go to in France on the 20th and am going to fly. My early reading on the subject is that flying poses no risk. I am also going away for 2 weeks in September to visit my family, so will again be flying. I did fly before my last miscarriage, but I don't think the two were related as I already had spotting/cramping before I flew.. I did ask the hospital at the time and they told me that if I was going to miscarry there was little I could do to stop it, and that flying would make no difference.

Had a tough day yesterday/night last night and woke up feeling decidedly not pregnant this morning. Took the day off yesterday and slept almost all day due to some sort of digestive bug I picked up. (there is a disgusting individual in my office who is always sick and fondling everything with his unwashed grubby hands- i like him even less now that I am on these steroids) For the first time since my last pregnancy I am really anxious about things and am terrified of bad news at my next scan on Tuesday. I almost went to the hospital today because my limited 'symptoms' have all but disappeared but after discussing with my OH we decided to wait as there is no pain, spotting or bleeding. I am really hopeful that its just the pred in my system masking everything, but, man, it's going to be a long 5 days...

sorry to hear your news LJ. With one of my ERPC's we had chromosome tests on the "products" which showed a clear cut chromosome problem with the embryo which helped me deal with that particular mc. Still horribly sad though.

sue I have lots of experience flying when pregnant! With this pregnancy I didn't fly as scheduled for a work trip at 7 weeks, just because I had had a big bleed (burst heamatoma) at 6 weeks. But for the bleeding I would have flown. And Mr S was clear that he advised not to fly not because it would cause a mc but because it could potentially be very upsetting if I were to have another big bleed by myself abroad. I then flew to Florida at 12 weeks and survived a 9 hour flight looking after a toddler by myself - didn't get a chance to think about being pregnant at all! I have flown in other unsucessful pregnancies but also flew three times in my first trimester with DS with no ill effects. To be honest I would be more nervous flying now at 25 weeks (and in fact the prem clinic advised me not to travel out of London after 22 weeks!).

euro tricky decision for you - sorry you're having to deal with this. At my prem clinic they have asked lots of questions about my treatment for abnormal cells - it seems that if you do have the procedure you will get special attention and monitoring in a subsequent pregnancy (at least at St T's) and in some circumstances may be a candidate for a cervical stich or other "strengthening". In my case I just had the cells burnt off but it was a very simple procedure and didn't involve cutting away any of the cervix.

bertha i feel for you and your grubby workmates! I sat next to someone in a meeting this morning who said that they'd been up all night cleaning up vomit from their family (for which they obviously have my sympathy) but - hold on - surely it is contagious! I edged away...(other than worrying about me and small person inside, my DS has a condition which means straight to hospital and on a drip if he picks up a gastro bug. And my colleague knows that.) Wish people could keep their germs to themselves and stay at home!

Bertha so sorry you're feeling unpregnant. It's an awful, awful feeling. Could you go to an early preg unit and tell a white lie - say you've had some spotting? Might set your mind at rest.

I had a weird day yesterday. I had my company annual health check which was a total farce from start to finish. First they couldn't get any blood from me (I have crap veins, but come on, they're doctors!) and had to keep sending me away and telling me to drink more water. It made no difference, so I ended up havng no blood tests. Then they seemed totally freaked out that I was pregnant so lots of tests were not available. The doctor couldn't answer any of my questions about avoiding bruising on clexane and what the strange lump on my hip was (I worry that I've injected a lymph node or something, it's a small lump that's quite movable and not sore). They told me lots of stuff about nutrition that i know inside out, and kept running out of paper for things like the ECG machine or cotton wool for all the blood pricks. This is meant to be private health care! Shabby.

Then I blew off work for the rest of the day and went for a pre-holiday shop on Oxford street. Halfway round John Lewis I got the most atrocious cramp in my left foot - I'd had it a bit the night before, too. My middle toe stuck straight up and I couldn't stop it with massage or shaking or anything. In fact it got worse, so I had to grab a top and limp into the changing rooms and sit on the floor trying desperately to make it go away - it sounds funny but it was so bloody painful. I was almost in tears nad about to call for help when it faded.

Got outside, googled severe foot cramp, adn the first thing that came up was a page about potassium deficiency and how this can happen when taking corticosteroids. So now I'm paranoid about potassium and stuffing myself with bananas and apricots. Has anyone else had these weird cramps and is there anything you can do? I've sent a message to Louise but not heard anything back.

sarah Louise is on a training course until Monday so you won't get a response. I haven't had cramp but have had aching feet from where I broke a bone years ago. Maybe it's a salt deficiency as that can cause cramps after exercise, not sure what the difference is if you are pregnant.

bertha I have had days on and off of not feeling at all pregnant. Dont forget the symptoms come and go. With all of my scans I have been convinced there will be no heartbeat and have been shocked when it is there! Maybe you should try a cb digi test as it should still say 5 weeks +. I did that in the early days of this pregnancy even though I knew they are not always accurate. At least you will know if the hcg is still high. Or as sarah suggested, why not go to the Epu to check? I hate all this worrying, no wonder I have so many grey hairs now (which are in desperate need of covering up!)

I think we will go away even if it's just for a week. We will wait until after my scan next week before we book anywhere though. I flew to hong kong when i was 9 weeks with dd1 and didn't even think twice about it, plus a long weekend trip to Rome at 20 weeks!

sarah after my fainting spell I looked up other pregnancy symptoms that people may/may not get and leg cramps was one of them! I found a great article about 10signs your doctor won't tell you. Also included was yellow tinged discharge! (nice) I think I read that drinking loads was key to helping to prevent. Let me see if I can locate article again. I also read yesterday that potassium was diminished with pred, but it was in the context of severe illness and dehydration.

sue thanks for your reassurance with symptoms coming/going. Due to sleeping all day, I didnt wear a bra all day yesterday, so maybe after a day of being cradled my girls will be more sore than yesterday which will offer some reassurance. I don't want to rush to EPU and take a spot away from someone who is in critical condition AND I think I am also avoiding it because if it is bad news I am not ready yet. I think I might take the pregnancy test again though. If it shocks me; I will run to EPU tomorrow!

sarah I woke up in the night with cramp in my left calf. In fact I nearly shot out of bed with it. I think it is just a sign of pregnancy. A lack of salt does cause cramp, and drinking tonic water which contains quininne does help too. I am currently using Elemis refreshing gel for tired legs before I go to bed.

Can I ask you ladies - I went to mothercare today and was talking to the lady about bras. She said underwired bras should be avoided throughout the whole of pregnancy! I always wear underwired and when I was fitted at bravissimo recently the girl said it was ok to wear underwired up till about 38 weeks when I should get measured for my nursing bra?? What do others wear??

battery I started wearing non wired bras at around 20 weeks with dd1 but that was due to the wires digging in. I know that the wired ones can interfere with breast milk production so you shouldn't be wearing them. I am already wearing some of my smaller pregnancy bras as the steroids have put weight on my back so my normal bras are uncomfortable and I don't want to waste money buying new ones. Your boobs will change shape and size throughout the pregnancy so you should get them measured often.

I am really shocked the girl at bravissimo told you it was ok to wear them up to 38 weeks! What happens if the baby is early?!

Eeeek! Now I am panicking! I will order some right away as I do want to BF if possible xx