Hi Nicole,
The best thing for you to do is to make an appointment with a Perinatologist which is a high risk OBGYN. If you conceive, you will need to see one regularly anyways if you have lupus. They treat pregnant woman who have had and have all sorts of past and present health problems (auto immune disease's, diabetes, cancer, etc). They monitor the baby closer than a regular OB as well. I was sick for 2 years and on lupus/APS meds. When I got the thumbs up that I was healthy enough to try for a baby, I made an appointment with my High risk OB for a consult. He assured me he could help me have a baby. I was freaked out about getting pregnant, but he was my deciding factor. I now have a toddler.

If your issue is being concerned that you cannot conceive you should make an appointment with a fertility specialist who will do an ultra sound to see if you ovulate and produce eggs. They can answer that part pretty easily. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
Melissa

Some patients DO have trouble conceiving after Cytoxan. That's why most docs reserve that drug for patients who have failed everything else and have severe disease. What was the reason your doc chose Cytoxan when there are so many other non-fertility affecting meds available?

Most docs, however, put Cytoxan patients on birth control pills (IF they can take it; people with antiphospolipid Antibody can NOT because of the risk of stroke). BCPs help preserve fertility.

My second major question is WHAT kind of major organ disease do you have that has necessitated taking Cytoxan? For instance, if you have kidney disease, being pregnant is very risky. Before getting pregnant, you need to have STABLE disease for at least 6 months or more. And you have to be off of the majority of your drugs. (There ARE a few you can take while pregnant, but not many.)

Also remember that the odds for you are 33/33/33: one third of patients find their disease is BETTER after being pregnant, one-third are the same; one-third are worse. Is this a risk you are willing to take?

Another question is will you have the physical ability to handle raising a child. The first year of constant care and sleep deprivation can bring a healthy person to collapse. It's far worse when you have SLE. I had a friend who was dying to have a child. Her doc said no, but she kept insisting. At the same time, she sent her DOG to her parents because the dog was too much to take care of! Please be realistic about what will be expected of you IF you have a child. Other members of this list have babies and toddlers and they can tell you that it's HARD. I'm not saying that you should NOT have a baby, I'm saying CONSIDER the REALITIES. A baby is NOT a doll and you can't return it if it's too difficult. I am embarrassed to say that my child does complain that I can't take her to the beach or do things that other mommies do. Your decision WILL effect your child's life and activities.

Lastly, there is the consideration of passing your SLE to your child. Let me first say that I gave birth to a daughter after having SLE for many years so I personally faced these decisions. The statistics for how often the disease hits your child are deceptive. My docs quoted me 4%, but that's a combined number of boys AND girls. In fact, almost 10% of daughters of SLE patients will get the disease. This statistic scares me to death. Every time my daughter complains that her knee hurts or her elbow or toe nail, I want to take her to the ped. rheumy. She's 12 right now and has no symptoms, but puberty COULD bring out the disease so we wait, hoping that it's skipped her. The number of boys who get SLE from their mothers is VERY tiny.

Nicole, these are the realities of pregnancy and SLE, like it or not. I am NOT telling you whether to have a child or not. I'm just laying out the considerations.

Tracy

I am also taking cxytoxan. I have Lupus with kidney involvement. I've had eight treatments so far with six more to go. The treatment was a very important part of me getting better but in the back of my mind it bothers me that I may never be able to conceive.