I am at the point in my life that I would like to start thinking about a family. I was diagnosed with Sjogrens 5 yes ago. Been with my husband for 15 yrs. Married almost 5yrs.
I am looking for advise on starting a family. How does your sjogrens affect pregnancy? Can my symptoms get worse? Complications during pregnancy? After pregnancy?
Lost and confused. Please help!!
People are at a loss for words but if you do search on this site for pregnancy with sjogrens you should get some articles. Good luck. Irish
I believe for some of us the sjogrens symptoms got increased with having our children. There should be a lot of threads for it. My symptoms got worse with each child I had (3) but I wasn't diagnosed for many years later. In fact my youngest was almost 18. Many years of being ill with flares and everything but I was labeled the crazy mother that just wanted attention. pain is real but needless to say I think the hormonal changes in our body can make things much worse. You will definitely have to be followed by your doctor closely.
Take care,
angel dancer
My personal experiences with pregnancy long predate my Sjogren's Diagnosis, but I did have Hashimoto's and Inflammatory arthritis diagnosed prior to all three pregnancies.
I was lucky to find that my symptoms subsided during pregnancy, even to a lessened requirement for thyroid replacement. It wasn't until after the third pregnancy that they came flooding back with a vengeance unfortunately, and it was 6 months after the last pregnancy that I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, Each of us responds to the physical demands of pregnancy in our body's own way, and as women, with Sjogren's or not, our hormones and their reactions are uniquely individual to us. The increases physical and emotional stress of motherhood (and yes, there is no denying them) is something to seriously consider based on your own health, and what support is available to you. many people with Sjogren's find that even the smallest change in their hormone levels, even the natural fluctuations from a woman's cycle for example, has an impact on their Sjogren's symptoms, and those changes are much more pronounced and longer lasting in pregnancy.
Another concern with pregnancy and Sjogren's would be safety for the baby. Sjogren's patients with positive SS A are considered high risk pregnancies due to the low but notable possibility of fetal heart block, which can be diagnosed inutero and treated, but may require a pacemaker for the baby after birth and throughout their life, depending on severity. There is a concern along the same line for babies of mothers taking Fluoxitene during pregnancy, which can have a negative impact on the developing heart, compounding the problems from the Sjogren's. These concerns are best addressed with your physician well in advance of any serious attempt at starting a family.
I will add that you should not panic. Remember that there are a whole bunch of older women on here who had their babies when they weren't feeling well but had not been diagnosed. Nowadays the best thing would be to see a high risk obgyn for a referral and see what the options are and plans entail. I am of the opinion that the more pregnancies one has the more symptoms we have,. My third pregnancy was fraught with autoimmune disease and I did't get diagnosed until 31 years later. Good luck. Irish
I was diagnosed before my last child, he is almost 3 and so far no changes as far as symptoms goes. I had a normal pregnancy with no complications.