Meds. and Pregnancy

[Mal]

Last week I went to see my fertility specialist and one of my questions for him was...if or when I do decide to pursue IVF again, how long would I need to be off my meds., beforehand? (Meds. being Imipramine, Vioxx and Elmiron) Surprisingly, his answer was just a few days for Vioxx and Imipramine. As far as the Elmiron, he said that I might could continue it throughout pregnancy, if I got pregnant.

Doctors have so many different views on this! What have you guys heard?

Mal

[jaime15]

My uro and ob wanted me to discontinue the use of elmiron as soon as I found out I was pregnant. (27 weeks now) They just thought there wasn't enough research on it.

Good Luck!
Jaime

[ICNLesa]

There are differing opinions about Elmiron and pregnancy. My doctor advised me to stop taking it. Here is what the fact sheet says from http://www.elmiron100.com/info.html

PREGNANCY CATEGORY B:

Reproduction studies have been performed in mice and rats with intravenous daily doses of 15 mg/kg, and in rabbits with 7.5 mg/kg. These doses are 0.42 and 0.14 times the daily oral human doses of Elmiron® when normalized to body surface area. These studies did not reveal evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the fetus from Elmiron®. Direct in vitro bathing of cultured mouse embryos with pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL may cause reversible limb bud abnormalities. Adequate and well controlled studies have not been performed in pregnant women. Because animal studies are not always predictive of human response, this drug should be used in pregnancy only if clearly needed.