"Wolf Warrior" Handbook | I am a SLE patient, can I have my own baby?

Like many people,

I have always dreamed of having a baby of my own.

But I wasn't so lucky.

because,

I am a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

SLE has been called the "immortal cancer".

It is also rumored to be one of the top "killers" in the fertility world.

so,

I always thought that I might

I can't be a mother anymore.

But just now, I actually tested positive for "Squadron Leader"!

Just when I went to consult about card opening with great joy,

My sky is falling down...

The joy of pregnancy was instantly overshadowed by deep despair

Because the doctor told me,

Taking medicine may have an impact on children...

My dream is shattered

But I am not willing to give up.

Muster up the courage to find the medicine baby pharmacist,

Want to make a final struggle...

Q: Can SLE patients get pregnant?

answer:

The disease itself does not affect the patient's fertility, so we cannot generalize and conclude that female SLE patients cannot get pregnant normally. However, SLE patients need to pay more attention to pregnancy than ordinary women. For example, some drugs for treating SLE, such as cyclophosphamide and tripterygium wilfordii, do affect women's fertility; blindly stopping the drug in order to get pregnant is more likely to lead to adverse outcomes such as miscarriage and stillbirth.

Q: If SLE patients want to get pregnant, what preparations do they need to make?

answer:

First of all, we must face the disease and actively treat it! Keep the disease under control in a relatively stable dormant period (generally more than 6 months). Some expectant mothers are impatient and start trying to conceive before SLE is well controlled. Once pregnant, it is easy to worsen SLE and induce complications (such as miscarriage, premature birth, eclampsia, fetal SLE, etc.), increasing the risk of pregnancy for expectant mothers, and even life-threatening in severe cases. Therefore, in addition to basic pre-pregnancy examinations, SLE patients who want to get pregnant should also go to a specialist to assess the disease status during pregnancy and whether there is any damage to important organs, such as the kidneys (late pregnancy will increase the burden on the kidneys, accelerate renal function decline, and even lead to renal failure in severe cases). If lupus nephritis has been diagnosed, it is recommended to postpone pregnancy and control renal function to a reasonable range before trying to conceive.

Secondly, if you cannot stop taking the medication completely before pregnancy, you must consult a specialist to adjust the medication and choose a relatively safe medication during pregnancy. Do not stop taking the medication as soon as you find out you are pregnant. Some pregnant women with SLE stop taking the medication blindly because they are overly concerned about the effect of the medication on the fetus, but they do not expect that this will cause SLE to relapse or worsen during pregnancy, and they eventually have to terminate the pregnancy.

Q: What are some relatively safe drugs for SLE patients during pregnancy?

answer:

If pregnant women with SLE need to take medication during pregnancy, the safest drug currently is hydroxychloroquine, followed by low-dose aspirin. The effects of hydroxychloroquine on expectant mothers mainly include ototoxicity, retinal hemorrhage or pigmentation, all of which require active monitoring and prevention. For the fetus, although animal experiments still show that hydroxychloroquine will cross the placenta, the limited clinical data currently do not show that hydroxychloroquine will directly cause fetal malformations. The most common effect of aspirin is bleeding, which may also cause anemia in expectant mothers, prenatal or postpartum hemorrhage, and prolonged pregnancy or labor. However, there is no data showing that low-dose aspirin is directly related to fetal malformations. It must be emphasized that whether to use medication and which medication to use need to be evaluated by specialists and pharmacists.

Although SLE is terrible,

But being a mother is every woman’s right.

SLE mothers are also very great.

Follow the doctor's advice and monitor frequently.

Welcome the new life with a relaxed and happy mood.

May every SLE mother achieve what she wants.

Have your own little baby.

Author: Yang Jia, Department of Pharmacy, Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital

Review expert: Liu Guiyang, Chief Pharmacist of the Pharmacy and Pharmacology Department of the Fourth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital