Pregnancy and Hep C

Is anyone else pregnant and hep C positive? I am having trouble finding other pregnant women who got pregnant while on ribovarin and interferon treatment? I would like to email and find other pregnant women who have hep C.

[fishdoc]

Ribavarin is a HUGE problem if you conceived during treatment. I can't imagine they would treat you without ensuring you are using two types of birth control.  Lots of us carried healthy children to term while Hep C+, but NO ONE gets pregnant while on this therapy, at least to my knowledge.

[amommy]

Hi!

Welcome to the forum.  I was pregnant and hep c positive but now I have a 2 year old so it has been a while!

You absolutely CANNOT get pregnant while on interferon and ribavirin.  The ribavirin, from what I understand, alters your rna while on treatment.  It takes a full 6 months after finishing treatment for all of your cells to be replaced by new cells that have not been affected by the ribavirin.  My doctor told me that even if I were to get pregant 5.5 months after stopping treatment, it would be very very bad.

Also the risk of transmitting hep c via vertical transmission (mother to child) is very low.  It is approximately 3-5% and it seems as though the higher your viral load the more likely it is to occur.  

Please post if you have any other questions!

[Cherry2444]

To all those who posted commets to me:

I got pregnant while on tx of ribavarin and interferon so my doc and me got together with Charles Rives labs who runs studies on women who get pregnant while taking ribovarin. So, my pregnancy is being closely monitored by my docs and also by the docs at the Ribivarin pregnancy registery.
I would like to connect with other women who got pregnant while on tx.
Thanks, Cherry

[amommy]

Sorry I can't help you as far as connecting you with others in the same boat.  I have never heard of anyone else who was pregnant on the ribavirin.  Stick around here though, if you need people to talk too!  It's a great group of people :) Best of luck to you.  Please keep us posted on your pg and baby!

[Alady1620]

This doesn't sound safe.  I'm glad you're being monitored closely.

My doc has insisted that I be on two forms of BC while on treatment.  He said he will pull me off if I get pregnant.

[amberank]

That sounds very risky and scary. I hope everything works out okay for you and baby. Best of luck to you. I'll say a prayer for you tonight.

[Snookmiester]

Honestly, I would consider having an abortion.. It is not fair to bring a child into the world because you did not take the necessary precautions while undergoing tx.. The chances of MAJOR birth defects is VERY, VERY high..Not only physical, but mental as well.  
Why subject an innocent child to be a lab rat for the mear amusment of Dr's and the pharmacutical companies... That's all their interested in, a lab rat!!  
You lacked responsibility during tx, try to regain it now!

[can-do-man]

Its odd how spacecoast can make a rude or insensitive comment and he/she is blasted from hell and back.

[can-do-man]

Ribavirin for oral use should not be used while you are pregnant, if you plan on becoming pregnant, or by men whose female partners are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant. It has been shown to cause serious birth defects and other problems in animals. Be sure you have discussed this with your Doctor

[can-do-man]

says..... The danger is to the baby not the Mother who didn't use birth control responsibly............ Where is it said she didn't use it birth control responsibly?

[can-do-man]

says....and she was aready pregnant when he started the tx, so the two cases are not similar.

So your saying its ok if you aleady pregnant to risk it? When theirs no rush to start tx?

[can-do-man]

Have you read the dangers that our printed? If this mans sperm enters his pregant wife then the baby is at risk

[Rogirl]

My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Have you had an amniocentesis?  When you say the docs are monitoring you--what exactly does that mean?  As you can tell from the posts everyone is very concerned about you and the health/welfare of your baby.
I begin tx soon and even as a 52 y/o woman my doctor is drawing routine BHCG (pregnancy screen) tests just to make certain.
In the end everything you do is your decision--please make certain you have all the pieces of the puzzle.
I wish you the very best!

[Snookmiester]

The advice given to a member about tx'g while his wife is pregnant was VERY questionable, and incorrect.
Many of the old timers know that the reason my HCV came back up, was I had just been married. The wife and I were trying to have a child, and this option was gone over, and over, and then over again. My options at the time, where to treat right away and wait at least 6 months post tx to be safe. Or, get my wife pregnant, then WAIT until the pregnancy is OVER to treat. My wife did not want me to wait and jeopordize my health, so I tx'd..
Riba causes SERIOUS birth defects, and most babies are born without brain development.. Still births in particular.
The Riba is secreted in our sweat, so a pregnant mother can absorb the Riba say at night just by sleeping next to her husband that is on tx, or brushing up against him on a hot day. This was an example my Doc gave.  

Sorry if I don't have the beat around the bush dishonest responses so many ONLY seem to find acceptable on this forum, but I believe in the truth.. Nothing but the truth, and in a straight forward delivery. Becoming pregnant while on tx, is just plain IRRESPONSIBLE.. Abortion is the ONLY responsible action..It is not fair to the child to subject him or her to the amusement of pharmacutical reps and Dr's because of an irresposible mistake YOU made. There are enough babies brought into the world for unjust reasons.

[can-do-man]

While i agree with becoming pregnant is a very bad thing. But  things do happen. Even double condoms could break and i have heard of women becoming pregnant while on birth control. Not to long ago a guy was on here and his wife was pregnant but his doctor told him he could still start tx. What if the double condoms don't work? But most here was encouraging to go ahead and tx. Even though he had very little damage. While you might think its alright to call a mothers child a labrat for mere amusement of doctors. I feel thats a bit much. Again just my opinion.

[can-do-man]

Ribavirin for oral use should not be used while you are pregnant, if you plan on becoming pregnant, or by men whose female partners are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant. It has been shown to cause serious birth defects and other problems in animals. Be sure you have discussed this with your Doctor

[can-do-man]

As always your way to kind to me. Thanks for the hug.

[goldyn]

I am really sorry for the situation you are in , they did take you off of the meds right ,how far along are you, are the doctors doing blood work to check for problems , i know accidents happen and being that i am a christian i would be put in the same boat as you are as i do not believe in abortion, you and your unborn child are in my prayers....

[can-do-man]

No its not a moot point. Why should he risk that child when there was no rush. You said it didn't matter if a women was already pregnant. And cleary ribavirin says there is. A man should not tx if is wife is pregant. But most people here said go for it and tx. Even oral sex in his situation could be a problem. So what do we say if we found out his child (god forbid) has a defect. Whose fault would it be

[GoofyDad]

"Even oral sex in his situation could be a problem."

Oral sex in my situation is a problem as of late too, but I digress.
<hr>
Mistakes happen. Lapses in judgement happen. Cherry's conception is water under the bridge at this point (apologies for the unfortunate metaphor).

Since she states she is under the care of a highly qualified medical team, we can surmise the obvious options have been explored. Still, if one felt compelled, raising the issue of abortion seems reasonable. Going further strikes me as being both counter-productive and insensitive.

FWIW: Were this to happen in my family, abortion would seem the correct choice.

[strator]

I

[Rogirl]

Thank you for saying what I was just thinking--and in fact you stated it very clearly and eloquently.
This is a heated topic but Cherry came here for support and connection.
Thanks for putting this all in the proper perspective.

[friole]

cherry -- I am scared for you and for your baby.  I am a product of the fifties and sixties and remember well all the Thalydimide babies -- babies born to mothers taking Thalydimide for I don't remember what.  Badies born without hands and legs.  It burned into my soul and I think of Ribavirin in the same way.  In answer to your question, in the year I have been posting here, I have never seen a post by a woman pregnant and on treatment.  Can your doctors give you any contacts?  My heart goes out to you.

to many of you -- shame on you for finding fault. What this young woman must do is move forward.  Her road is tenuous at best and she certainly doesn't need to be admonished.  There are very few of us who have not made some really bad decisions on our path.

[cuteus]

I hope they did take off the tx, also.  It could be a miracle baby for all we know, with no defects. It is a very scary situation, I agree. that is why she is looking for people in the same situation. If abortion is not an option, and that is understandable, she knows the risks and is prepared for what might come, just as I was when I became pregnant at 36 with what was termed "high risk" for problems. I rejected the amnio, because I was not going to abort regardless. Cherry might have considered all of this already. I just hope she is not on Tx anymore, and that baby is a miracle.

[friole]

Thanks, chev, I appreciate that.  I certainly have enough misgivings about my own path.

Cuteus, I was curious about that too -- surely, Cherry, you have been pulled off of tx?  How much time were you pregnant on the riba?  Maybe, as Cuteus says, the damage didn't happen.

[FlGuy]

I was reading a product information flyer on Rebetol (riba).  In it it asks doctor who have patients who beome pregnant while on tx to contact [phone].  May be there's some information there for you

[amommy]

Strator- Thank you :)  
I hope that some of the responses in this thread that do not directly address your question do not turn you away from this group.  As you may have noticed, you touched on a hot button issue and people feel compelled to put their 2 cents worth in on the topic.  Please don't take it personally.  I wish you only the best!

[goldyn]

I read in a hepc magazine that a christian    woman who was pregnant with hepc low viral load suddenly cleared the virus on her own The Lord has already Blessed you with a beautiful girl maybe his grace will help you spontainously (sp) clear your virus since the doc said it was so low....

                    God Bless
                              
                              Angie

[Cherry2444]

Wow, I cant believe all the responses I got. I was on tx for only 2 weeks when we found out I was pregnant. So, I was taken off tx right away. My doc's are all stumped because my vial load has become so low while pregnant.

Abortion was never an option for me and my husband because we are Christians. I am now 5 months along and they have done a lot of tests and she looks perfectly healthy. NO birth defects have been detected as of yet. We are praying this is going to be a miracle child. I have been doing everything the doc's say.

We were using condoms and I was on the depo shot when I got pregnant, so to me and my husband its a sign from God that I got pregnant. We are looking forward to having a baby girl. We have a 9 yr old healthy son. He is very excited about having a sister.

I appreciate all the feed back from all of you. Thank you.
Cherry

[FlGuy]

Gald to hear the baby checks out ok.  Sounds like you were following the 2 - contraceptive guideline.  Yours is a very interesting story.  I hope you check back often and keep us informed how things are going.  I read happiness in your post, and that's always a good thing.

[Alady1620]

I am very glad to read that you're not continuing treatment while pregnant.  Best of luck to you and congrats on your impending birth!

[can-do-man]

The above post was from this site on riba

http://tinyurl.com/r9954

[cuteus]

Pregnancy has been known to lower or eradicate hcv viral load, so you might get two miracles, but won't know for sure until the baby is born. Since you probably got pregnant soon after tx started or just before, the two wks of riba might not have had a chance to build up and damage anything. It sure looks that way. It does sound like a miracle pushing to happen.
stay in touch, and try to do the breastfeeding as suggested. It is the best thing to do for the baby and you, if you are able.

Maybe  you can sign up at the Roche site and request for people to email you that are in the same situation?

[beamishboy]

don,as usual,a voice of calm reason-my kinda neighbor! how are you holdin up whatwith the hot weather? i thot of yu yesterday,sure hope you weren't inna attic-you don't need that kinda punishmnt,gotta save sumpin for your muse..i gotta feelin there are alot more pictures to be painted yet,my friend....
cuteus,everyday isa minor miracle of sorts isn't it?  hope yu are havin a Goodone cutie!

[friole]

Thanks for filling us all in on the story.  Surely with only 2 weeks of ribavirin there will be no damage.  The very best to you and your husband.   Please do post to let us know how things work out

[strator]

Ahh never mind me, where the Hades you been. I've been a little spordaic here lately but I hope your doing well. You still planting national forests? Yesterday I only had to do attic for a few minutes, but had a lot of physical stuff at ground level, actually was my first day back to work cause of a nasty infection on the back of my neck. Still waitin for it to drain.
Today though just as 1:30 rolled around and I took my antibiotic, he sends me up in the attic. I laughed..wait my ABmed says not to lay down for 30min after taking, wonder if that includes crawling on my belly.
No such luck, it was hot. only bout a 1/2 hr but a long attic. Gonna be a tough summer me thinks. Time to look for one of those wraparound neck fans, just gotta try not to cut my nose off.
Be good, Be Well,  Grab a few smiles when ya can, pass em around,
Don