Questions

[Krisi]

My IC/Vulvodynia/PFD specialist told me I should take some prenatal vitamins before TTC etc. He said the preservatives and dyes shouldn't bother me but I know that preservs are a big trigger (or at least I think). I also know for a fact that I have an intolerance to soy products... Do you know of any that don't have either?

He also told me that I could take elmiron until I found out and that I should stop after that even though it is a class B drug. I was planning on stopping it anyway.

I guess the most frightening thing is that he doesn't want to see me once I get pregnant, instead just go to the OB. He was going to give me a list of people he deals with, but they are so far from my house he said he would give me a different list ... The hospitals they are at are like 35 mins (when traffic is good) at least from my house where there are like 3 on the way there that are also good. I told him I was concerned about the pain coming back and not being able to do much about it ... He just said it would be ok.... He also seemed like most OBs would do just fine with the medicine etc.

I guess what I am asking is has anyone had this problem before?

Also, I have orthostatic hypotension ...... and actually I also for the most part seem to have hypotension without symptoms the rest of the time. My avg varies between. 80-110/50-70? Like today it was 105/55 and 2 weeks ago it was 85/50 ... :) I am just afraid I might faint because I heard of it going down at least with the orthostatic type in the first few months......

Thanks,
Kristin

[ICNDonna]

Have you selected an OB doc yet? That would be a good place for your questions. We're a half hour from all the doctors' offices and at least that far from a hospital.

Donna

[Krisi]

Donna,
No not yet. He was going to give me a list of names next visit, because he wants to get my other stuff under control. He said I didn't need a Maternal-Fetal medicine specialist just a regular OB. My concern is probably the same as most people that have IC and other conditions is the medicine and the pain levels and what you can do about it. I am also slightly concerned about my BP. My GP told me I had orthostatic but I have also been getting BP readings low when not standing up. There is not much information on hypotension ... as there is for people that are hypertensive because I guess there are less people with hypotension? If that makes any sense at all. Most doctors consider any number under 90/60 as hypotension, that includes just one number being low. I also know that you want your Mean Aterial Pressure to be higher, therefore a greater drop between the on beat and between beat reading (systolic and diastolic).

Oh, he also told me that I didn't need to see an OB before I was pregnant because he was an OB for like 30 years. Anyway, I am confused... and I think I would like to talk to one before then. I might see what my GP says... I sure they will just say the same thing ....

Thanks,
Kristin

[shvlnose]

Despite what your Uro says, I would find an OB first, if you have the opportunity! You really don't want to be in a situation where you are already pregnant and in pain, and having trouble finding someone who will work with you. Hopefully this will not happen, but remission is not guaranteed, so...There are some regular OBs who are comfortable enough with chronic conditions to handle IC and pregnancy. Some however, are in the "no meds while pregnant, ever, under any circumstances" camp. It would be good to have some idea where your OB is in the spectrum, before the issue comes up. Some will have you do a 1 or 2 time consult with a perinatologist to discuss meds.

I can't offer any help on the hypotention. It's not anything I'm personally familiar with. Another good reason to talk to an OB, though. They may be able to tell you what is normal to expect with pregnancy and offer some ideas on how to handle it.

For prenatals, I take one from Whole Foods that has "food based" vitamins in it. It doesn't seem to cause flares for me. Most of their items also will list clearly if a given product contains soy or not, so you could easily look to avoid that. Most "health food" stores should have similar items and policies. ''

Good luck!
Aly

[Krisi]

Aly,

The weird thing is he used to be an OB .. now he is a pelvic pain GYN specialist. So he gave me the I have delivered thousands speech. He also put me on elavil which can cause more orthostatic hypo ... but I haven't really experienced anymore than usual. No one really has looked into hypotension in pregnancy except for 3 studies which seemed to link it to low birth weight and stillbirths... I try to drink enough water and eat enough salt it just sometimes won't go up. I am afraid that if I get pregnant it will go down too .... because apparently it goes down in the first 24 weeks for some women. This is at least the diastolic. The systolic changes normally with emotions etc. You need it though for a mean aterial pressure estimates. I know that if that gets low below 60 for too long you can go into organ failure. It usually happens when the ratio between the numbers is too close. I don't know I will just ask my GP. I was supposed to go back to him like a long time ago for the orthostatic hypo I guess I can ask him about the other too.

Thanks for telling me about the prenatals. I planned on going over to wholefoods and looking to see what they have, because I will not buy ones with preservatives... I don't even like to buy food with that junk in it.

Well thanks for the help ... if you have any other advice please PM or send a reply :)

Thanks,
Krisi