cholestasis of pregnancy

[INCR]

Hi! I'm 32 weeks pregnant and my doctor suspects I have cholestasis of pregnancy. Do you know if this can be APS related? Thank you so much!

[MaryF Administrator]

HI there and congrats, you are nearly there, I know this condition appears to flare in the last trimester, however I am not aware of any link with Hughes Syndrome/APS, maybe one of the other admins may know. Hope it calms down, I was itchy but not as badly as that, I used to keep tubes of aloe vera gel in the fridge!! MaryF

[INCR in reply to MaryF]

Thank you for our reply and Happy New Year!

[Tyler3]

Hi there! My daughter is 36 weeks pregnant and she is LA positive. (Recent diagnosis because of my Hughes). They are only treating her with aspirin daily. May I ask if you are being treated? How are you feeling? Best wishes on your last 8 weeks!!!!

[INCR in reply to Tyler3]

Hi! I am being treated with Enoxaparin sodium two times a day and aspirin. This is because I already had a stroke and 2 miscarriages. But I also have a healthy baby daughter (2 years old) and now this one on the way! Happy New Year and best wishes to you and your daughter!

[Tyler3 in reply to INCR]

So happy for you! As a mom to my only daughter, I tend to worry about her and the baby (her first). And it makes me sad that I probably passed this yucky blood down to her.

Take care! Here's to ALL HEALTHY BABIES!

[lupus-support1 Administrator]

Some women experience a very severe itching in late pregnancy. The most common cause of this is cholestasis, a common liver disease that only happens in pregnancy. Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP) is a condition in which the normal flow of bile is affected by the increased amounts of pregnancy hormones.

Pregnancy hormones affect liver function, resulting in slowing or stopping the flow of bile. The gallbladder holds bile that is produced in the liver, which is necessary for the breakdown of fats in digestion. When the bile flow in the liver itself is stopped or slowed down, this causes a build up of bile acids in the liver which can spill into the bloodstream.

ICP is diagnosed when the total bile acids (TBA) or serum bile acids are measured at 10 micromol/L and above. Studies initially showed that this increase in bile acids was due to estrogen only, but recent research has found that progesterone may contribute just as much to this backup.

nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy...

rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-r...

americanpregnancy.org/pregn...

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

I wish you well in your pregnancy.

With good wishes,

Ros

[INCR in reply to lupus-support1]

Hi Ros thank you so much for the info! Seems like anyone who is pregnant can go through this...

I just hope all goes well! Thank you and have a Happy New Year

[INCR]

Hi! Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I'll try not to worry to much, I trust a lot in my doctor...so it is just a matter of taking it day by day! Can't wait to have her in my arms Happy New Year!