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Thursday, July, 09, 2009
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if a patient with rheumatoid arthritis treating with methotrexate can easily be pregnant?any problem

peuli
07/09/08
peuli
Topics:RA and pregnancy

i am a patient of RA.i am 21yrs.i am female.i have taken plaquinil but it does not worked.now i am taking methotrexate and sulfasalazine.and steroid(prednisolone).i am unmarried.if i marry will my disease effect my married life?can i be pregnant easily?will there any complication regarding conceiving?please help me by answering me.

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Lene  Andersen
Lene  Andersen
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Lene Andersen is nursing an injury and going low profile

Lene Andersen is a writer and photographer living in Toronto...

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Wow. That's a really big question. I'll start with a straightforward part. RA doesn't necessarily affect your ability to get pregnant. However, certain medications may make it more difficult to conceive. Methotrexate is one of those medications and as it can cause birth defects, if you're trying to conceive, you should speak to your rheumatologist about other options - they are a number of medications that are safer to take while pregnant/breast-feeding. Pregnancy itself may actually help your RA - I once heard a rheumatologist jokingly recommend that his female patients be pregnant as often as they could, as it can bring about a remission.

You also asked if your RA will affect your married life and that's where it gets a little less straightforward to answer. In addition to the pain, RA can affect your energy levels, your mood (when you're not feeling well, you can get depressed) and your ability to do practical things around the house, as well as participate in leisure activities. However, people in general have different interests and abilities and just because you're healthy person, doesn't mean you like playing golf with your husband. In a relationship where one of the partners is sick, the other partner needs to be a flexible kind of person who can roll with the uncertainty that comes with living with RA. Honesty and good communication from the very beginning are key factors in coping with the third silent partner in the marriage - unfortunately, RA (or any other chronic disease) has a way of having a distinct presence. However, don't feel discouraged - it is very definitely possible to have a good relationship. You just have to find the right man for you, but that's not a unique question when you have a chronic disease - sit down with any group of women, especially single ones, and the question of how to find a good guy tends to dominate the conversation.

Lastly, when people ask if something will affect their "married life", that can be a very polite way of asking about physical intimacy. In case that's what you meant, RA can affect your intimate life, as both pain and fatigue can interfere with desire. Depending on how well your RA is controlled, you may not have the kind of intimacy that involves swinging from the chandelier. In general, however, a bit of creativity, some good painkillers and a bit of research on the Internet on e.g., alternate positions can help you maintain a very healthy sex life. You can read more in this article.

 

Maria
Maria
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I have had arthritis since I was 29 years old.  I just try to...

Friday, July 11, 2008

I have been on Methotrexzte many times throughout my disease within the past 11 years and from experience, methotrexate is NOT a medication you want to be on while trying to get pregnant.  You MUST tell your doctor before you even attempt to become pregnant and he/she will place you on something else.  I had become pregnant without telling my doctor that I was off my medication (I couldn't afford it for about 3 months) and upon hearing that I was pregnant, and I must say how upset he was when I first told him because this medication acts like birth control and he feared that I would have to consider aborting (awful term for killing my baby) but I reassured him of the fact that I hadn't had the medicine for 3 months so he knew that it was completely out of my system.  I thank God for that major time in my life when I couldn't afford my medicine...He knew I was going to become pregnant and helped me through it all.  As far as marriage or any kind of relationship, this disease will affect it SOMETIMES but if u find the right mate, one who is understanding and patient, you will go a long way with that.  May God bless you in all you life's trials and relationships.  Take care of yourself!!!!

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