Chrons Disease

[Charlottex]

Hi Everyone,

I'm very new to this! I have just found out that I'm 7 weeks pregnant
Whooooo!
I have chrons disease and just wondered if anyone else has or is taking Mesalamine (brand name Pentasa) whilst pregnant?

Thank you xxx

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I've had two children since being diagnosed with Crohns, and while I wasn't taking Pentasa for either I was on infliximab and mercaptopurine for my last pregnancy. The most important thing is to get in touch with your consultant if you haven't already and they will mostly come up with a medication plan for you.

I was told that in general the risks of having uncontrolled crohns during pregnancy are higher than the risks of continuing most of the medications so you may well stay on yours throughout (although they stopped infliximab for me at the end of the second trimester).

I didn't have any problems with my crohns in either of my pregnancies. In fact after my first, my Crohns didn't come back until a year or so after I stopped breastfeeding. I wasn't so lucky second time round and unfortunately it flared with a vengeance when my second child was a few months old.

Be prepared for midwives to not really understand your condition. The midwives in my first pregnancy tended to dismiss any concerns I had about symptoms as just being my crohns even if it wasn't something usually associated with it. You will have a better knowledge of how your crohns affects you and you may have to push back to get them to listen to you.

Best of luck with your pregnancy and I hope all goes well for you. Anything that puts stress on your body on top of an underlying condition can tough going so don't feel bad about taking things as easy as you need.

Hi,

Thank you for congratulating me and also giving me a great reply with amazing advice, I really appreciate it.
A doctor gave me a phone number for Gastro Nurses so I think I will give them a call like you said just to ask the question.

I hope your feeling better now and all is well with your children [ssmile]

Thanks again x