Paging Dr. Melissa......
Melissa--
This one's for you--
Do you happen to know if there are any horrible things that can happen to your baby if you happen to get pregnant while taking a 21 day course of an antibiotic called doxycycline?
Let's say (for fun) that you started the 21 day course on day 1 of your cycle. Would that matter?
Just wondering. I thought in your line of work you might have some idea. Let me know. Thanks:)
posted by ElliottPreciousPants @ 3:06 PM
17 Comments:
Is this really a "just for fun" question?
Well, the stuff to look for is called teratology. Probably antibiotic exposure poses minimum risk, but there's always a chance. Doxy is considered group D:
D: Adequate well-controlled or observational studies in pregnant women have demonstrated a risk to the fetus. However, the benefits of therapy may outweigh the potential risk.
Here's one blurb:
Tetracyclines - D
Tetracycline (eg, minocycline, doxycycline) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that is the drug of choice for the treatment of brucellosis and bartonellosis. It is a second-line drug in the treatment of other conditions. Tetracycline is commonly used for long-term treatment of acne and rosacea and is also used for malaria prophylaxis in drug-resistant areas of Thailand. Use from the 20th gestational week or later causes dental staining in a third of children.
The major factors determining tetracycline deposition are now known to be dosage, duration of treatment, stage of tooth mineralization, and activity of the mineralization process. As little as 1 g/d of tetracycline for 3 days during the third trimester can produce yellow staining of deciduous teeth. After eruption, yellow-stained teeth gradually darken to brown.
Calcification of deciduous teeth begins at the end of the fourth month of gestation and ends at approximately age 11-14 months. Administration of tetracycline to pregnant women in the second and third trimester results in staining of dentine and calcifying of enamel at the time of administration. Because the permanent teeth begin calcifying after birth, they are not affected by prenatal exposure.
While several case reports of malformations (including enamel hypoplasia) have been reported following tetracycline use in pregnancy, findings from larger studies have largely been negative. Despite this, tetracycline has been referred to as a teratogen in numerous publications.
See also:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9083306&dopt=Abstract
and finally:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/penG_doxy/doxypreg.htm
which talks about TERIS, the medical standard for teratogenicity. Let me know if that clears it up or makes it more confusing....
Is there a chance???? I'm crossing my fingers for you!
Well, that makes me feel better. There's a chance, I am just waiting. I don't know why there would be a chance, we've been very careful while I've been on the meds....we'll see. It's probably nothing. But we will find out in a few days I guess...
Thanks for crossing your fingers:)
good luck in trying to get prego...
but what is the drug for that you need a antibiotic. sorry i should not ask these questions.
Have a nice day
AHHH! cool! not to be negative, but keep in mind that the very first time sometimes paves the way for pregnancies that will go to term. Be patient- it will definately happen, and it can't happen to a better mommy.
False alarm. Thought you might like to know. Boo. But sort of--yay. I mean, when it happens, I want everything to be perfect--not involving me worrying that something might be wrong because of an antibiotic....
BTW mike p--it's ok- no harm, after all I am posting about it on the INTERNET:) I went to Jamaica and something bit me on the leg--some sort of bug--it got kinda ugly looking, so I went to the Dr. and she put me on an antibiotic (to prevent things like lyme disease or other neurological problems).
Melissa, thanks for the info. I know about the first time paving the way deal-o, and while it sucks, I understand it.
But now, it's June.....another month to start trying.
I guess all I had to do was stop worrying about what would happen if I was pregnant--and then I would find out that I wasn't pregnant. Hmm.
Thanks though:)
worrying is the worst medicine. i asked the genetic counselors here about it- they laughed and said the only thing it MIGHT do is discolor the baby teeth. prob solved by age 7. good luck, and have fun practicing!
Yes, even tho the only bad thing would be funny colored teeth, it's probably for the best. Now you don't have to worry at all!
Sperm has an amazing ability to replenish. You shouldn't get it on more than once a day if you are trying, but come on, I haven't had that kind of energy since college for sure.
I always had fun trying to get my wife pregnant, you know the time is right lets go and get busy. ETC. We have two friends that were trying to get prego and after a few years and one or two DNC they did and they are some of the best parents around. Since they know how much of a miracle their children are.
BTW I just read your comments on my blog page and they were good. You will have to go back to read the answers....
Mike
Thank you folks! So more than once a day is out? Well, that's ok--we don't do it more than once a day all that often anyhow.
Kari I also heard about the frequency factor, but I, like you, didn't know the limit for what was too often. In fact, (haha, you are probably doing to laugh when I tell you this) we actually were plannning to test that theory out and NOT DO IT again until I ovulate. From day 1 of the cycle to ovulation time, we thought that might be the best way. But that could potentially be like 12 days or something! Kevin was pretty worried about that--but it was actually his idea to give it a try. But now that I know that it's a small amount of time for replenishing--like a day you say, Melissa? Then that's a relief. I'm using those clearblue easy ovulation prediction kits, but I have heard from some women at the gym (who are all pregnant) that they used those and they didn't work. They said it was stressful--like taking a pregnancy test every morning. It didn't work for either of the 2 women I talked to--both said the ovulation predictor sticks told them they weren't ovulating. Hmmm.
Practicing is fun. And now here comes June! Another month of opportunity.
Oooh, one more thing--this one is also mainly for Melissa because she's a wealth of info--you mentioned genetic counselors--do you think people should have some sort of genetic counseling before they get pregnant? I asked my OB-GYN about it, and he told me he didn't think it was neccessary despite the fact that my grandmother had muscular dystrophy. But, then I saw an episode of l&o the other night (USA marathon this weekend--excellent!) and they were talking about 2 parents that passed some genetic kidney disease on to their kid because they didn't know they were both carriers! Ack!
Maybe Kevin and I should do that. Shoudl we do that?
call a specialist and see what they say. esp if you have history of ANYTHING in your family. There might not be things you can test for, but they can tell you about genetic risk and any environmental risk. Didn't you or your family have trouble with PCOS in college? Weird, but seems like i remember that. That can be a fertility (not necessarily genetic) issue.
I have PCOS, and I lost an ovary in college, and yes, it's a fertility issue. Which is why I'm not wasting any time getting started trying.
What kind of specialist should I talk to?
Either talk to your ob (do you get one of those before you are pregnant or is it just your gynecologist?). See your pcp and tell them you have pcos and by itself that should get you a referral to a fertility doc who can at least tell you how to maximize your chances. Last, if you guys have concerns about hereditary stuff, tell the pcp person you also want to see a genetics counselor- they can tell you what kind of testing you should get (probably none, but there might be random screens they recommend).
OK, I've already done what you said then, and they didn't refer me to anyone. They said that there wasn't really a test they could do for it.
I am already seeing an OB/GYN, and there is a fertility specialist here that is supposed to be really good, but having PCOS is NOT enough to get you in--you have to be 1 year of trying without a pregnancy before he will see you.
The endocrinologist, OB/GYN, and PCP all say my PCOS is under control, and I shouldn't have any more difficulty than any other normal person trying to get pregnant. I even asked about my weight, because I have read that excessive weight makes it harder to get pregnant and I have been unsuccessful for so long at losing weight--but they said because my eating habits are good, I work out all the time, and my actual body fat percentage isn't ridiculously high, they don't think that is going to be a problem either. We'll see what happens.
Hmm. It was just the docs that said I didn't need to see a genetics counselor...maybe I should see a genetics counselor and have them make the call.....
I just asked one of the gcs here, and she says the muscular dystrophy thing depends on what kind runs in the family. There are some kinds you can look for apparently with genetic testing, so you can know if you are a carrier or not. It only becomes an issue if both of you are carriers, and it helps to know what kind of testing (if any) was done on grandma. The gc here says you have to try for a year, PCOS is nothing they have testing stuff for, that you are just as likely as anyone else, and the only sequelae is a possibility of earlier menopause then you might normally expect. Somehow that doesn't seem like a bad thing to me....
Little to no testing was done on grandma, she has limb-girdle MD, and my mom and dad went through genetic counseling before they had us (because of that) and found out that neither of them were carriers. So, if you do the punnett square--that should mean that I'm not a carrier. Right? Or can't you do L-G MD in a punnett square?
Of course, their testing was done back in the 70's, so, I guess it depends on how much improvement has been made there.
Can you believe this: My poor mom, her whole life she grew up believing that she had caused her mother's illness by BEING BORN--that's what the doctors put on the record before they knew what it was--a complication of childbirth, then later said she had limb girdle MD, but that it was CAUSED by childbirth. It wasn't until later that they found out it had NOTHING to do with my mom being born--they just happened to notice the symptoms because she was in the hospital giving birth. Of course, my grandparents told her it was her fault.
On a side note--I had my first test last night! Yeah! I got a 94%. Not bad. I was one of 10 A's. Lots of people failed. It was weird how many people failed (over all the monday classes, only 35 people passed, out of about 100 students).
Another side note--clearblue easy ovulation detection kit told me this morning that I am sure as hell ovulating. Woohoo!
Hope that wasn't tmi. If it was....sorry. But oh well. Those who know me, know that I have no tmi filter.
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