advice please , pregnant with lupus , no symptoms

[Glassart]

Hi all of you...

I am so woried.

I finaly got my positive pregnancy test after my daughter Joana was stilborn in January this year at 36 week, the reason unknown. The doctors said if it wa=s a blood clot or umbrical cord accident, the cord was only once around her neck.

Now I am 8 weeks and i made same blood tests and the results shown that i have positive results for lupus anticoagulant (max 42 sec i have 51) .

I have no symptoms but i read for lupus and know i am too frightend because i might lose this child too.

The doctors are stll not sure that this was the reason because Joana;s heart stoped.

2 of my doctors said that i should take aspirin 100mg and i started from yesterday .

Does aspirin have side effects?

One of my doctors said i dont have to take aspirin first 12 weeks. (I visit 3 doctors this time .)

Is anybody has lupus anticoagulant positive ?

Please give me your advice , i dont want to lose this child ....

I am frightend that i will never have children.

lots of love

Sanja...

[lupus-support1 Administrator]

Dear Sanja,

I am very sorry to read your post and how traumatic this must have been for you.

I am not a medical doctor and therefore you really need to speak with a specialist. The test you refer to, the lupus anticoagulant test is NOT a test for systemic lupus erythematosus. It is a very confusing name because it is a special test for clotting of the blood. This is called "sticky blood" or Hughes Syndrome. Hughes Syndrome is named after Dr Graham RV Hughes, who was the Consultant at St Thomas' Hospital, London.It means that your blood is too thick or "sticky" so that the blood cannot reach parts of the body like the brain, lungs. In the case of pregnancy, this can mean not enough blood and oxygen going to the placenta which causes a miscarriage.

The good news is that this is very treatable by thinning the blood using baby aspirin or in more severe cases, low molecular weight heparin injections. The experts are at St Thomas' Hospital Lupus Unit which has a specialised clinic for pregnancy. Perhaps your GP can refer you to St Thomas where you will be monitored. Dr Munther Khamashta is the consultant in charge of the pregnancy unit. There success rate is very high.

I can understand how worried and anxious you are feeling.

We also have another website called the LuPUS Message Board where you can also post questions and talk to other people. Registration is FREE and we offer free information and free online psychological support. We specialise in psychological support with our own counsellor/psychotherapist available.

By becoming a Member, you will have access to the private forums and because they are private, only Members have access and even bots and search engines are forbidden.

When you register, please use the following format for entering your date of birth: nn-nn-nnnn where n=number. Please use the "-" separator and not "/".

Finally, please go to: lupus-support.org/LuPUSMB and Sign Up.

With good wishes,

Ros

[sylviaweller_79]

Hi. How are you? I managed to have 2 healthy(ish) babies a boy and girl. My boy was born blue and my daughter stopped growing after 5 months of pregnancy but they are fine. My son is 18 and my daughter is 16.

I was advised not to take aspirin for reasons unknown but I have heard of taking it whilst pregnant for those with lupus.

Basically just take things easy, try to to stress about anything, and if you feel some things not quite right go straight to A&E and tell them you have lupus and your pregnant and they should see you quite quickly ( going by my experience).

I hope you and baby are OK and I wish you all the luck in the world.

Take care and look after yourself x

[Caljase]

Hi,

I know I may be unable to help in this matter. Since I suffered from the same loss a year ago at the end of 5 months. I am pregnant now again and diagnosed with Lupus Anticoagulant positive but with my Antibodies tests coming negative. I've had two doctors tell me two different things. One says I should take Heparin injections right away from conception. The other doc says those tests previously done cannot be solely relied upon and has taken another blood test and says I wouldn't need those injections if everything comes out negative this time. I am on Aspirin 75mg and taking Folic acid tabs daily. Since I have known I'm pregnant, gynac told me to take Duphaston (hormonal replacement to prevent miscarriage). I just do not want to go through all of this again and I totally understand your fear in this regard. These forums do help us share things with each other and grieve from our losses.

Let's just pray for the best.

Lots of love and prayers your way!