Anyone TTC with chronic illness?

[HopeEternal]

Wondering how many of us are out there and how we can help each other manage our special circumstances?

:wave:

[ringneck]

yep i have Crohn's Disease and my partner has Rheumatoid Arthritis.
If you dont mind me asking what is your condition?

[HopeEternal]

I have severe stage 5 endometriosis, adenomyosis as well as undiagnosed chronic fatigue.

How are you managing your crohns? Is it interfering with your nutrition?

My thoughts are with you.

[ringneck]

I have Endo too not very bad though, also have a unicornuate uterus and rudimentary horn.

Have you had any procedures to remove the endo? how long have you been ttc for?

The Crohn's is ok have had a few minor flare ups because i can't take my meds but it's been pretty good.

[Jezabel]

I girls

I am a Chronic Fatigue sufferer. I have had it for about 6 years now and it still gets brutal :( I dont know how the heck i am going to go with TTC, pregnancy and post pregnancy. TBH I am scared sh*tless :(

and there could be a big chance i have Endo aswell, my mum and sister had it bad and I know Endo is a symptom of CFS ..

how are u both dealing with everything?

[HopeEternal]

Wow - unicornuate and rudimentary horn are two things I have never heard of?? My uterus is retroverted.

Yeah I've had 3 surgeries for the endo, one was a bowel resection as well. I can feel it coming back again now and I'm having a scan this week. It's very scary wondering how much fertility I have left.

I've been TTC on and off for a few years, but we have had some real obstacles. Hoping to have the opportunity to get serious again soon.

I'm glad your Crohn's hasn't gone wild ringneck (bird lover?) and I hope you have a smooth time with it in the days ahead.

Sorry about the fatigue Jezabel. I've had mine for about 13yrs and while I am not bedridden it does have a dramatic impact on my everyday life.

I know what you mean about wondering how you'll go. My whole life I've wanted nothing more than to be a mother but I have to wonder whether I will even be up for the task? Scary stuff.

I hope you don't have endo. Have you had an ultrasound?

I guess I'm dealing with things by doing the things that I can do to improve my situation. I've been having a good look at lifestyle factors - improving my nutrition, exercise, etc. I've been seeing all kinds of doctors from specialists to naturopaths to psychologists. It's empowering to have atleast some sense of control when things like this come and shake your life plans to bits.

What about you guys?

Take care.

[ringneck]

Wow that's some major surgery i hope it's not coming back and you get your chance to be a mum soon.
Unicornuate uterus is smaller than it should be kind of shaped like a banana rudimentary horn is my right tube is small unattached and completely blocked.
Jezabel :hugs: i get very scared too sometimes when i think about it pregnancy can either improve or completely deteriorate most conditions.

As for what we're doing, we are both an vitamins, exercise dont drink or smoke, we seen a naturopath but didn't like her so didn't go down that road. I have a fantastic doctor though who i have a lot of faith in.

[Jezabel]

well i just take it easy with every day life, not do too much, do some light exercise, have a well balenced diet, do meditation, QiGong, and take preg vitamins. Ohand try not to stress out - but that is blooming hard not to do! :(

im sorry to hear u girls have had to go thru all this crap, TTC etc is hard as it is, let alone for people like us who struggle thru life day to day :(

I have done chinese herbs throughout the years of my CFS but i havent been on tehm for a while..i am wondering whether i should go back to him and start them for TTC...im only on my 2nd month of TTC, but i dont know i think i may be better off taking them or even do the acupuncture - as i never tried that before.

[Looshkin]

Hi Girls

I have bad endo too hopeEternal
I've had it removed twice so far, not sure if it will cause us to need to go to IVF or not yet..
Also have polycystic ovaries, not confirmed as the symptom though at the moment.. had put that on the back burner while I was getting the endo sorted.

My last surgery was in november, a bit sick of all the doctors telling us different things so we have decided to see a FS soon to really get things under control.

Many of the senior gynies and surgeons have told me that lactating and breastfeeding for as long as possible when we do eventually get pregnant can often cure or stop endo from getting worse - have you heard that hope eternal?

At the moment, I guess one of my biggest problems is having bad mood swings (not sure if its from the pain, or the hormones or if I'm just starting to turn into a b1tch:()

DF is struggling as we both want to TTC but he gets concerned and says - oh god how will i 'deal with you'
I need to work on getting my hormones sorted out, or my moods sorted out so I stop burting into tears over stupid things, and picking fights that aren't productive.
I'm struggling a bit as I'm not working at the moment, dealing with the pain and I guess I get a bit lonely as I haven't exactly been able to see my girlfriends and do normal things..

[Jezabel]

Sorry to hear that Zel - why is it that ur not working atm? (if i may ask?)

[BabyJoy]

Hi ladies!
I just found this thread and thought I'd join you... I have rheumatoid arthritis which didn't rear it's ugly head until I was pregnant with DD (about 5 weeks pregnant to be precise!).

I'm so sorry to read about all of your health issues... I really hope you have good support (both medical and family) and I just wanted to say not to give up hope because I'm proof that you can have children when you have a chronic illness.

I was bedridden with pain for many weeks, and when I could get out of bed, I was still riddled with joint pain right through my pregnancy but I still had a natural birth with no drugs! I was put on meds that were safe for my DD, and then once I stopped breastfeeding I started taking DMARDS and other anti-inflammatories which worked great.
I have been off these drugs for 19 months now as we have been trying to conceive again, but I have been doing very well with only isolated pains that I can manage with fenac. I'm taking Chinese medicine, getting acupuncture, huge doses of fish oil and have cut back on work hours to relieve stress. I do believe my RA is the cause of us not falling pregnant again, but I'm not going to give up trying.

I wish you all the best of luck!!! :hugs:

[Boscosmum]

Hiya... I have ulcerative colitis which is an inflammatory bowel disease similar to crohns. I take imuran every day and have not had a flare up for a year so no prednisolone for me. My gastro said it shouldn't effect my pregnancy until I give birth, then may have a bad flare up.