I was wondering if anybody has been kept on plaquenil throughout their pregnancies?
I know the standard Lyme treatments during pregnancy are amox, or zithromax and ceftin.
However, it seems that plaquenil would help reduce the inflammation / autoimmune component more, and I know that they use it for Lupus patients throughout the pregnancy all the time.
In addition, it seems that the plaquenil might serve the other purposes of keeping babs under control, plus cysts, etc...
I am just confused as to why you do not hear of Lyme patients on plaquenil throughout, like Lupus patients.
Thanks
[ 23. November 2008, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: luvdogs ]
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
My doctor has made plaquinil part of his routine protocol.
Posted by luvdogs (Member # 9507) on :
Kelmo,
Does your doctor use it in conjunction with the other abx? I am sure he does, so I guess that is a dumb question.
So, to clarify, he uses it for all of his patients throughout their pregnancy?
Thank you.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Excellent question, luvdogs.
I am hoping to get pregnant some day, so I will definitely consider all options in terms of what drugs will be safe to use. Not that I necessarily want to take anything during pregnancy, but it would be good to know.
I'm hoping that if I get my babesia under control, and my titers come back negative (they have been positive in the past, so I know they can be picked up in bloodwork), maybe I won't need to be on any anti-malarials during pregnancy.
It almost seems like you don't want to bring it out of hiding if it is in remission, if that makes sense. So I would almost be afraid to "stir the pot." I'm hoping it will be in remission before I become pregnant. (I suppose there is no way to know for sure though)
If I still think my babesia is active, and I feel like it has been active for years and years and won't be going into remission, I don't know what I'll do.
I know there are a lot of drugs thought to have some sort of action against malaria and thus maybe babesia too, like clindamycin. I have often wondered if that would be safe during pregnancy.
In terms of Plaquenil....good question. When I took it for 6 weeks in the past, I had bad side effects, that lead me to believe for me it was a "toxic" type drug, for my body.
Honestly, to me it seems like the kind of drug I wouldn't want to expose a fetus to, if it would cross over to the fetus. I am basing that on how quickly I got bad side effects, just on 200mg per day.
But like I said, I am interested in what drugs are available or good for pregnant lymies, so that is good that you are thinking outside the box. Either way, it is a difficult situation and one that needs to be approached with a lot of care and education.
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
You can find out by Googling what pregnancy category plaquenil is in. if it's a D or X, they won't give it to you. A and B they will. C is a maybe, depending on the available studies and who your doctor is.
I don't think Dr J uses plaquenil in his pregnant moms.
Posted by luvdogs (Member # 9507) on :
Thank you CD, Hoosiers and Kelmo!
I just cannot see why they would not use plaquenil in Lyme patients, although I have heard doctors (these were non-LLMDs) say that it was fine for pregnancy and that somebody should stay on it throughout if it helps them to feel well.
I do know, as I have said, that Lupus patients use it regularly throughout pregnancy without complications.
This is interesting to note for those that plaquenil really helps.
The only thing is that Lyme patients are also on antibiotics - either singularly or in combination. I guess, at some point, it becomes a question of how MUCH medicine one wants to be on, and if the increased amounts of meds increases the toxicity of the individual ones.
A fine balancing act, I guess, between keeping symptoms, infection and inflammation down in the mother, and keeping the fetus healthy.
I think that this is a good post for future people who search on this subject bc I do not see any previous discussions about plaquenil/ hydroxychloroquine in Lyme pregnancies.
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