Florinef And Pregnancy

[Brwneyedchica]

So I am a little over 11 weeks pregnant now. I've had more and more POTS symptoms as i've gotten older. I'm getting married next Saturday and we had planned to start a family soon. I've had one problem after another and after being told that I may not be able to get pregnant after all, we decided that I should stop taking the pill and we would see what happened! Lo and behold we are expecting our first little one on April 16!

Up until the past week or so I have had severe nausea and was actually diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum. I did nothing but lay on the couch and vomit day and night. My doctor put me on Reglan and a prenatal vitamin called Premesis with lots of Vitamin B6 and that helped. I have been taking Inderal and Florinef the whole time. The Neurologist I see for POTS told me prior to me getting pregnant that once I was pregnant he wanted me to stay on the meds during pregnancy. My OB/GYN referred me to a High-risk specialist who I saw today. He wants me to stay on my meds as well. He did tell me that Florinef MAY cause a cleft lip in a baby. I know the chances are slim to none but I want to hear from anyone that took this med during pregnancy with a successful outcome!

[Sunfish]

congrats on your pregnancy, as well as your upcoming wedding! i'm sorry that i don't have any answer for your specific question, but i still wanted to add my congrats, as well as my empathy for all the nausea you're dealing with. a nursing student (and friend) who used to work for me struggled with hyperemesis gravidarum during the first part of her pregnancy, actually just about this time last year, which i know it was very tough on her, and i deal with nausea to varying degrees on a chronic basis, so i know how not fun it is! trying to keep a sense of humor in the midst of icky health issues we were both dealing with, we would laugh about the irony of the fact that i had hired her to help with things related to my being on IVs for my nutrition & hydration (organizing supplies & meds, moving equipment, etc) so that when she then ended up having to utilize some of the same things herself she was already familiar with things. sort of bad humor, but true...she knew about all of the nausea meds, about having a PICC line, etc.

i'm glad to hear that your nausea seems to be letting up at least a bit & hope that it remains that way (better) if not entirely gone moving forward. nausea is bad enough to deal with at anytime, and i can't imagine trying to plan/ have/ enjoy a wedding with it! i can ensure you that my friend, despite having what was considered a pretty severe case of HG, had a relatively easy pregnancy & birth in every other way, and now has a beautiful healthy baby!

regarding your question about medications, i do think the fact that both of your doctors have the same opinion - that you should stay on them - carries some weight. obviously it's a decision that you have to make & feel comfortable with yourself, but at least you don't have different doctors telling you opposite things! i'm sure you can't help but be concerned about the mention of the cleft lip risk, but i'd be curious to know what kind of chances the doc was referring to. of course statistics mean only so much when it comes to your child, but might you be able to ask the doctor who mentioned it to you for a bit more information? like is the chance something that he feels is significant, or is it one of those ridiculously unlikely things such as the release forms that are filled out when someone has surgery wherein they have to inform you that there's a risk of them cutting your arm off when you're having surgery on your nose? i don't mean to make light of something that i'm sure is a huge decision for you...just trying to show what i mean by something that's extremely unlikely to the point that it's almost impossible versus something that's a very real possibility. i don't think it's unreasonable for you to try to get in touch with the doctor to follow up on the question so that you can feel better about your decision. you could also ask a pharmacist if they have any information that would help you understand the risk more clearly; while s/he obviously can't comment on your specific situation, the right pharmacist should be able to give some input about his/her experience/ knowledge about the use of florinef in pregnant women.

the only other thing that comes to mind for me regarding the medication question is that florinef is a first-line treatment for those with addison's disease. i know that women with addison's aren't, by having that diagnosis in particular, prohibited from having children and i also know that people with full-blown addison's aren't able to simply take a break from their medications without incurring complications that would certainly be harmful/ dangerous for a pregnancy. as such - and this is only me extrapolating and NOT any official medical information - it stands to reason that women with addison's would likely take florinef throughout their pregnancy, which leaves me thinking that the risk, while there, might not be too incredibly great? and, as i'm sure your doctors (and you) have taken into account, going off of medications that improve your overall health & functioning is obviously not without risk in & of itself.

but anyway...not sure that my thoughts are particularly helpful but i do wish you the best with your decision...both that you feel good about the decision you make & that things work out wonderfully with your health & the little one growing inside of you regardless of what you decide. enjoy your wedding this weekend too. what an exciting time in your life....new hubby & new baby on the way! i certainly hope & pray that you are blessed with better health that you could even hope for in the coming weeks & months so that you're able to enjoy everything to its fullest. if you have a chance i'm sure we'd all love to see pictures of both events!

good luck!

melissa

[Brwneyedchica]

Thank you Melissa! I will definitely post wedding pictures once I get them back! In regards to actually stopping the medicine...it's not really an option. I have been taking these medications for 10 years now and have been severely ill when the doctor has tried cutting them back even the tiniest amount. The cleft lip is just something that could happen that basically he had to mention. He didn't seem concerned about it at all and mentioned it more or less to just cover his own behind. I recall hearing from others on this board in years past who took Florinef while pregnant but of course I am not able to find those threads by searching. I just wanted to hear from others who have taken this medicine to kinda make me worry less!