Anyone been/is pregnant whilst on azathioprine?

[Katyrah]

So a little about my situation - I have ulcerative colitis, and am on Pentasa and 75mg of azathioprine.

After 14months of JSing me and DH popped off to the gp to get some help and advice really, seems like the biggest problem will be my azathioprine - after being told it could cause low birth weight/premmature labour/miscarriage (something thats a risk with my UC and PCOS anyway) she mentioned about deformities and after researching it on google ive scared myself!

Any real-life experiences out there? Just to help! Theres only scary medical-talk in google land!!!

Thanks everyone =)

I'm not on azathioprine, but am on 6mp (mercaptopurine) for Crohn's disease and currently 22 and a half weeks pregnant. If I understand correctly 6mp is what azathioprine is converted into in the body after you've taken it, and so I would guess that the risks are similar, though I may be wrong as I haven't actually researched azathioprine. For 6mp at least, pretty much all of the published statistics are for people who have taken it for things like leukemia or organ transplants, where the doses are much higher than typical doses for IBD. I had a long discussion with my consultant before deciding to try to conceive, and the conclusion was that the risks from continuing the 6mp were likely to be much less than if I had a severe Crohn's flare while pregnant. I've been taking extra folic acid (5mg rather than the usual 400 micrograms) so that might be something you should think about.

I'm not sure how helpful my experience is, really, as it isn't the same drug, but it's definitely worth trying to evaluate the risks in the context of what dose you're actually taking compared to the studies. For what it's worth, I had my 20-week scan a couple of weeks ago and everything looks good so far...

Thank you that's really helpful!just hearing that someone else is healthy, happy and pregnant with similar issues is good to be honest - all seems a bit daunting at the mo!

Thank you muchly for sharing and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

Hi, Im in a similar position and am scared silly!
I have Crohn's Disease (Diagnosed in nov 08)and take Pentasa & Mercaptopurine6 (@75mg Daily) I am now 6 weeks pregnant with 3rd child and terrified of the online info. I have reduced my daily dose to 50mg but was taking 75 from conception up until about 2 weeks ago, to add to this my GP called today to say there was absolutely no way I could consider continuing the pregnancy!
I have an appointment in a week to see my crohn's specialist nurse but am so worried it seems like forever. The general gist- or what I can work out- is that I am at high risk for miscarriage and the jury's out on birth defects? would love to hear otherwise as I am desperate for some reassurances.