Autoimmune conditions and pregnancy

[FlutteryButtery2]

Hi everyone,

So I am currently 12 weeks pregnant with an absolute miracle who is making me feel like absolute poo 😂

Anyway, about 8 weeks in I was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia and very low folate levels
So I am currently on high dose folic acid, have had 6 doses of b12 injection and now going every three months, Midwives want me to start aspirin this weekend to help prevent pre eclampsia as I’m an older mother, very long time between previous pregnancy and this one, BMI and auto immune condition

How do you manage with pernicious anaemia and has it affected your pregnancy/birth/baby?

How did you find taking the Aspirin, did you bleed lots? My SIL had a baby at the beginning of this year and she haemorrhaged and she’s convinced it was from the aspirin as they told her to take it right up to delivery

When do I get a bit of energy back as I am still struggling with day to day stuff

Thanks all :)

Pernicious anaemia here too, I didn't get told to take aspirin though. The B12 injections help me for about 4-6 weeks and then after that I am knackered - this is when I am not pregnant. I don't feel that my symptoms got any worse when I was pregnant but I had hyperemesis and that zapped me and that was the worst thing for my pregnancy. Not really sure how much that helps you to be honest but thought I would share. I also had an iron deficiency and had iron tablets for that

My hyperemesis started at 8 weeks and carried on until the day that my son was born

It does help because I’ve no idea if I’m so tired because of the PA or pregnancy 😂 everyone told me I’d be bouncing off the walls after the loading doses but I barely feel a difference if I’m honest
I’ve gone from being a rice outside up to 12 hours a day, riding 5 times a week and running 5k at least twice a week to barely being able to get out of bed to feed and muck out 😩
Its getting better very very slowly

I was so ill to start with, couldn’t eat or drink, lost around 9% of my body weight and I’m still not great but I’m not in the league of HG my best friend and my sister had it and they really suffered way more than me. I’ve been lucky it was just severe nausea, dizziness and migraines

I never felt amazing after the 6 loading doses and I definitely don't feel full of energy after my 12 weekly ones 😂 just less knackered, joints are less painful, less pins and needles, can get my head off the pillow without a 10 minute build up etc. I don't think pregnancy made it any worse for me though, I think pregnancy in itself is just tiring but like I say, the hyperemesis was all consuming for me so I might not have noticed it as much.

I wouldn't recommend joining the PA groups on Facebook, it seems like a race to the bottom with everyone one upping each other on symptoms and it can make you a bit paranoid

I have a different auto immune disease and took aspirin in both pregnancies.
Also had increased risk of pre eclampsia due to my own mother suffering with it and being overweight in first pregnancy
however first time was a very long time ago and they told me to stop aspirin a few weeks before due date. I suffered with pre eclampsia in the end and had to be induced. Not great.

2nd time I took it all the way thru. No pre eclampsia.

no excessive bleeding or anything like that.

I’ve not heard of it causing that. It is a very low dose and supposed to be very safe.

ask your dr more questions if you are concerned.

Hi I also have pernicious anaemia was diagnosed about a year before I got pregnant. I felt really tired for my first trimester, but I understand that’s quite normal.

I choose to have extra b12 injections privately in between my NHS ones meaning I get a dose every 6 weeks. A pharmacy local to me does them for £40. The NHS ones I am going to start having every 8- 10 weeks now rather than every 12.
I really recommended getting extra private ones if you feel you can afford it as it’s been a life saver for me!! I get my dose now before I start to feel rubbish and it’s just much nicer living that way.
another option is the sublingual spray- you can use that to give you a boost. Don’t bother with tablets as in PA you can’t absorb b12 from your stomach (the spray bypasses this by going directly into your bloodstream). You won’t overdose on b12 as it is eliminated on your urine quite quickly so don’t stress about overdoing it.

as for the pregnancy - congratulations! I haven’t found my PA affected me at all and here I am low risk at 40weeks just waiting for baby to make a move :) I did have a telephone appointment with the consultant obstetrician and she felt the PA wouldn’t affect the pregnancy as long as I kept having my injections.