OK, this is a long shot, but I wanted to see if anyone else has heard of this happening. I was diagnosed with LOCAH when I was 17 (I'm now 27) and was on Dex .5 mg up until the birth of my child (which took 2.5 years to concieve!). After he was born, I went off of Dex because it's potentially risky during breastfeeding. I'm still breastfeeding him 22 months later, and so I haven't gotten back on Dex. 15 mo. after his birth, my cycle returned (it's typical to have that long of a delay when breastfeeding on demand) and it's been regular - every 35-44 days or so (before I got pregnant, I had a period maybe 3-4 times a year, and that's when I was ON Dex!). My acne is less (though still a problem) and I haven't noticed any change (good or bad) with my excess facial and body hair. I've been charting my cycle and I know for sure that I did ovulate this past month (I finally got it down so I know what I'm doing there, so I may have ovulated the last 6-7 months without knowing when). My energy level is higher than it's been since I was a kid, I'm back to my highschool weight (I gained 30 lbs while on Dex., and another 35 while pregnant, and I lost it all within 6 months of my son's birth - whether because of going off the Dex or because of breastfeeding, or both, I don't know). Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced a decline in symptoms after being pregnant? I'm pretty sure my mom has LOCAH too (just never been diagnosed or treated) and she said her cycles, acne, etc., all improved after having her first baby too, and stayed that way since! I asked my endo about it and she said there's no link, that it's just coincidence.... But I'm not sure sure. I had bloodwork done about 4 months ago and my levels were MUCH better than they've been since I started having bloodwork done 10 years ago (still higher than normal, but not crazy-high) - and that's withOUT any meds. I'd really like to stay off of any steroids the rest of my life (I'll deal witha little extra hair, acne (though if I could get rid of it WITH the steroids, I probably woudl keep taking them, but it's never really helped), etc. because of the potentially big negative side effects of long term steroid use.

Also - I want to get pregnant again soon (if we can), and I'd like to not take any drugs during the pregnancy (that snowball effect of steroids - then needing amnio, and then ultrasounds every 3 weeks, then the stress-dose IV of steroids during labor, needing a hospital birth, etc. - I don't want to be in that high risk category if I don't have to, darnit I teach natural childbirth classes!!!). From what I'm seeing though, even if a fetus is a BOY I do need to keep taking steroids during pregnancy to prevent my own higher levels of testosterone from impacting him. ANd if it's a girl, then doubly so. Last pregnancy, we did genetic testing and my husband is NOT a carrier - then we did amnio and found out it was a boy, and even then they made me keep taking dex for the rest of the pregnancy (mind you, they did not run blood tests ONCE during my pregnancy to check my levels :P) because they said I/my son could "die" if I didn't (which I think is total B.S., now, honestly). Anyway - my other question is if my husband is NOT a carrier, and my levels are reasonable, do I need (a) do amnio, if the child is not likely to HAVE the disease since my hubby is not the carrier - amnio is risky and I'd rather not do it again if I don't HAVE to, and (b) start up the steroids again during my next pregnancy, regardless of the sex of the baby, even if my levels are fairly reasonable? Would it even matter if the baby was a boy, if my levels were high - how much of an effect could it have on his development (would it just be that he'd be a little "more endowed" in the male sense?) I get that if my levels DO go up again when I get pregnant, and it is a girl, that the girl could be virulized by MY high levels, so controlling MY levels is important. But if it's another boy? I have asked all these questions of my endo but the answers don't really answer my questions... and no one else can tell me... I don't want to avoid all meds and procedures (amnio and ultrasounds) in the attempt to do BETTER by my baby, only to have them suffer for my avoidence of the drugs. But if the drugs aren't that beneficial to them, I'd rather avoid them because of the potential negative side effects to them in utero. Help??? Thanks!!!

Shanna: Pregnancy and LOCAH - 2 questions, input would be very helpful :) (Jan. 24th, 2007   9:09am)
Kat: re: Pregnancy and LOCAH - 2 questions, input would be very helpful :) (Jan. 25th, 2007   9:45am)