Steriods and pregnancy
 

Hey, y'all!

My daughter who has two herniated discs in her back and was just healing, just found out she's pregnant.

Her back is started to show some old signs and we're all kind of freaking out. Her pain was so intense that it was unbearable for her.

My question is...medrol dose pack about saved her life there with the pain. Does anyone know anything about her possibility of using any type of steroid with pregnancy that might be able to help? For instance, her doctor said if anything started again to come in and he'd give her injections to see if those helped.

She'll be seeing an OB dr. on Jan 11, and needs to get into her regular dr. as well. I have a feeling the two will be working close together.

Any personal experience or knowledge on this would be so appreciated!

Thank you!

KD

I have to go back through my files but I was on a steroid for a couple of months during my pregnancy with Michael.

Celestone is what I took.

benefit vs risk..
 

for patients has to be evaluated.

As pregnancy progresses, normal steroid levels become quite high.
The mechanism of this is sensitive. It is thought that they rise this way,
as an adaptation to foreign DNA of the fetus. Many women with autoimmune
disease, find remissions because of this fact. Only to have the RA, or whatever, come back with a vengeance after delivery. Oral steroids have more risk than
locally injected ones. I had, for example, local injection in the wrist for my right hand for severe carpal tunnel. (it was dexamethasone) (I lost 80% of my hand functions while pregnant) I elected however to only have one hand done, because I was worried about the amount of drug 2 would create.

Most of the data on steroid use during pregnancy comes from treating women
who have asthma.

I found some papers you can read to help clarify the question:

http://thorax.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/56/4/325

http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.co...lts,1:109087,1

http://www.annalsnyas.org/cgi/conten...ract/997/1/136

The typical side effects from oral steroids are increased blood sugar and possible elevation of blood pressure. Later in pregnancy, increased risk of infection, may occur. Early in pregnancy there is a slight risk of cleft palate.

So I would discuss any drug use, for the back, with her doctor carefully.
OBs tend to be strict these days, and I would follow her doctor's recommendation.
Some women find using magnesium, helps with back spasms. A friend of mine had hers resolve completely during pregnancy. She used SlowMag.

This monograph gives magnesium doses for pregnant women.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocente...ium/index.html
And also gives
suggestions for food sources. Magnesium also helps with the NMDA receptor, and helps reduce pain. Many OBs use it for women who have severe Braxton-Hicks contractions as well. I have more general info on my magnesium thread, including types of magnesium that are better than others.
This can be discussed with the doctor as well.

Congratulations for the new baby!

Thank you so much for the information!!!

I'm so glad to know the in's and out's of this...experience-wise as well as learned knowledge of the drugs.

We want to go into this as informed as we can be. As I said before, the steroids were paramount in her pain management...even morphine barely touched it.

Thank you again!

KD

kimmy...what about cross posting this on a few forums? i know some of the members like Cake on RSD, had a baby while being on meds.

steroids & pregnancy reply
 

My obstetrician told me that steroids can be used throughout the pregnancy and are not harmful for the fetus apparently.
I take Depo-Medrol weekly (my adrenal gland will not function without it) and he said that we would continue those injections throughout the pregnancy.
However, the injections are not a large amount (equivelent to 3mg of prednisone daily).
Good luck and congrats
Julie

Had to take prednisone throughout my 2nd pregnancy
 

for Crohn's disease. We could not get the flare under control. It turned out to be a good thing for my baby as well. She came 6 weeks early and the prednisone helped speed the development of her heart and lungs (and appetite).