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Nan, I have ANA and it was discovered after 2 m/c's in 1999. I had to take Fragmin and 1 baby asprin a day until the end of 38 weeks. I have a beautiful healthy 4 1/2 year old boy. Heprin, Lovenox, and Fragmin all do the same thing. I had to start the blood thinners the day I ovuated so everthing had to be very planned. I started the 1 baby asprin way before. Now that they know what's wrong you shouldn't have any trouble. This is easily corrected with blood thinners that stop the clotting when the embryo begins to implant. I wish you all the best.

Sue z, thank-you so much for answering . You have made me very happy. I also found out today that i don't have an autoimmune disease. Docs thought that i may have lupus. Thank-god I don't.

You may not have an autoimmune disease, but you must have a disorder. That's what my doctor called it, a disorder. There's a reason why you miscarried 5 times. My doctor tested me after the 2nd miscarriage. My doctor checked me for Lupus too, but I didn't have it. Is your doctor aware of how to treat your disorder with blood thinners. I don't understand why after the 2nd or 3rd miscarriage he/she didn't test you. Who really knows, but at least now you can move a head and do what you need to do to keep the baby implanted. Good luck and I wish you all the best.

last post, I know I have a disorder, i miscarried 3 times, not 5, but your right, a good specialist is the way to go. I;m a div 1 R.N and am well aware of the importance of being accurately treated. Pregnancy is now on hold until i'v spoken to a rheumatologist, find out the risks a__sociated with a pregnancy. I'm aware that having ANAs could mean that if i dont have a autoimmune disease now, a pregnancy may trigger one, as hormones play a key role. I have to weigh up whether its worth the risk.I am so very fortunate to have 2 children already and its a big possibility that i won't take the risk. Did you have a successful pregnancy with no complications? I would love to know, thaks for your input, i appreciate it!

Nan, I'm sorry I misread the m/c's 5 instead of 3. To answer your question, I did not have any complications with the blood thinners at all. I was on bed rest a 6.5 months, but that was due to my weak cervix. Also my doctor did say I was never out of the woods with my ANA disorder. Knowing that, every time I went to the bathroom, I was scared I'd see blood and I dripped red blood at 4 and 5 months right around when my period would have been due. Only a couple drops and that was it, but it was stil scary and my doctor did not have an answer as to why it happened. But I have a beautiful little boy who I totally love with ALL my heart. I think he's that much more special to me because of all my trouble. Sue

sue z, I'm interested in what your ANA t_tre was before you got pregnant and did you have any symptoms of connective tissue disease after the baby was born? My t_tre is now down to 1:80 which they consider to be negative. Did you know that if you have a family member with a autoimmune disease you have a 40% chance of being pos ANA but only a 3% chance of ever getting sick? ( not sure if that includes pregnancy, will find out) Your story is very encouraging to me. congratulations! I'd be interested to know what your ANA t_tre is now!

Nan, after reading your post I went to read about ANA. I know that I have an autoimmune disease (Grave's) so I know how to manage it if I become pregnant. I am wondering though because it sounds that there is a test to check all possible antibodies. I had troubles getting even underlying antibodies test for my Grave's AFTER I knew what was wrong. What kind of a test(s) there is for all the antibodies? Thanks.

look up fish oil miscarriages on google, fish oil capsules are a natural suppressor of autoimmune problems and tests have proven to lower m/c rates.... i have taken them from the start of this prgnancy and am now 10 weeks, last scan with h/b good size etc (other three pregnancies where i m/c growth was slow, behind dates and stopped at around six weeks). The fishoil (and i took well over the dose on the bottle) has also stopped what i guess was mild excema... i dont have scaley skin now... :-) i am 44 and due when i am 45

in the woods, once they found out i was ANA pos, they went on to check my anti-Double Stranded DND antibodies, which is specific for Lupus. They also checked antibodies to extractable Nuclear Antigens, which indicates the presence of antibodies to scleraderma, sjogrens, and five other autoimmune diseases.The other one is rheumatoid factor,( rheumatoid arthritis) and esr,crp which indicate inflamation. I don't have any of these, so I think I just have ANAs because my mum has sjogrens. My rheumatologist does't believe my m/cs were related to an autoimmune disease as they were too early. 4.5 weeks, never got to 5. He states that women tend to m/c much later if they have an autoimmune disease. I'm not convinced, but i'm not t.t.c. for a couple of months. KAT,I started fish oil tabs a couple of weeks ago, just because they help with sore joints, i didnt know about their ability to suppress autoimmune disease. Thank-you for that. I have terrible excema as well. Good luck with your pregnancy!

Nan, I don't know what my ANA was before I got pregnant. I just know that it was higher than normal. I do not have any symptoms of connective tissue disease either. What is it? I don't know what my ANA is now, but my doctors are a__suming that it has not changed and would keep me on blood thinners if I was to become pregnant. However, I do know of a person that did have 1 m/c many years ago and went on to have two children before these disorders were ever discovered. (Her children are full grown). She has APA and probably had it many years ago because of the lost pregnancy. And now she is having all kinds of problems with her circulation and she will have to be in blood thinners for the rest of her life. There are some days where she can't even get out of bed and the tips of her fingers were turning black. There are a few different disorders out there ANA, APA, ACA, and I don't know if there are any more than that. As far as fish oil goes, I was was pregnant, I'd use the blood thinners and baby asprin. I would never risk a miscarriage on an uproven method. It may very well work, but the risk is way too high for me.

Sue z, I'm so glad you don't have any problems since the birth of your baby. That's very positive for me. The main symptoms of CTD ( they include all autoimmune disorders and can be triggered by pregnancy) are very sore, sometimes swollen and red joints. Its wonderful that you are fit and healthy after 4.5 years. I don't think that is going to change now. Are you going to try for another baby?

Nan, I would love to have another baby. I told my husband shortly after my son was born that we couldn't wait because I was just turning 35 and he didn't listen to me. We are in marriage counseling right now and it's not going well at all. He's been emotionally and verbally abusive for years and it has finally taken it's toll on our marriage. I've shut down emotionally to him, which is a very natural reaction to abuse of any kind. The past couple of years have been the worst. I do very much resent my husband for not listening to me, but it was all apart of the control. Abuse is about control and he controlled the whole second baby thing. He didn't care that I had problems (at least that's how I see it an he didn't think that they were that big of a deal.) My doctor said that ANA has to do with age. She also said why did you wait, you had problems? Everything I ever said to my husband about what happens to a women's body after age 35 haunted me. Alls I could think was everything I said meant nothing, he didn't care. My husband use to say if you don't start working out we're not going to have another baby. I'm not over weight or anything. I'm beyond the tears now except over the second child I've wanted all my life. I've always wanted two children. So my life is pretty much hell. If it wasn't for my son I would have left. It's just so much more complicated when there is a child involved. It makes it that much more messy. If it was someone else telling me that they were in my shoes, I'd tell them to get out, leave, etc..., but it's different when you are in the situation.

I cut and pasted this study on fish oil... not an unproven treatment at all, i have taken heaps of fish oil this pregnancy and am getting near 11 weeks and all looking good, this is after having three miscarriages in the last 18 months (development stopped at around six weeks). I have not had any tests as my partner is not interested but decided to try this, dont know if the fishoils have helped but i have excellent looking skin now (tended to get dry itchy bits). More information on fish oil is on drmercolas website. Also not to be taken in conjunction with blood thinners (though if you take this you probably wont NEED the blood thinners). Fish oil derivatives as a prophylaxis of recurrent miscarriage a__sociated with antiphospholipid antibodies (APL): a pilot study. Rossi E, Costa M. Department of Haematology I, Ospedale S. Martino, Genova, Italy. Since 1989, 22 patients with persistent antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) a__sociated with recurrent miscarriage (defined as three or more miscarriages) were treated with fish oil, equivalent to 5.1 g eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at a ratio of 1.5 EPA to DHA. Twenty-two patients had 23 pregnancies (one patient had two pregnancies) over a period of 3 years. There was only one intrauterine fetal death at the 27th week a__sociated with pre-eclampsia. Twenty-one pregnancies, 19 of which ended after the 37th week, produced a baby. Two pregnancies ended with cesarean section for pre-eclampsia at 30th and 35th week of gestation and one is ongoing at 32nd week. All babies are well. The weight at birth of babies delivered at term was always > 2500 g. These encouraging results favour a therapeutic role, without any adverse reaction, of fish oil to prevent recurrent miscarriage in PAPS.

In the woods...jumping in on this discussion. I am pg and just diagnosed with Graves. What do you do for treatment during pg? Did you take meds with previous pg? I am on PTU, also take baby aspirin, and they upped my folic acid. Some of those were due to other factors, PTU for Graves. I am 35. 7.5 wks pg.

Tryingx3, At 38 years of age you shoud have your FSH and E2 tested. The Clomid Challenge Test is what I took. At age 38 every month is critical. I learned the hard way and I've been in tears ever since. I have a four year old that I adore, but I so much wanted two children. All my life I wanted two children.

What do the FSH and E2 tell? I have had many many blood tests done, but neither of these.