Re: new and pregnant (+ side effects)

July 1, 2009

Regarding Xolair and pregnancy, we had 3-4 women last year posting that they

were on xolair and pregnant. We asked them to share Xolair and pregnancy issues

directly with each other. I've emailed one of them and asked her to contact you.

Addy

Group co-owner

>

> Hello there, everyone =)

>

> As the subject says, I'm new to the group and pregnant. I found this group

through a Google search for articles, etc. regarding Xolair use in pregnancy. I

am 5 weeks 2 days pregnant (due March 1, 2010) and started Xolair last November.

I'm given 2 shots every 2 weeks. I'm on Advair 250/50 and Xyzal as well (+ some

emergency medications, which are rarely used now).

>

> I am a bit freaked by the lack of information on this topic... My

allergist/immunologist has advised me to continue with all my current asthma and

allergy medications, though. I have not seen an OBGYN yet.

>

> Anyway, while I'm here, I love Xolair, but the side effects have taken some

getting used to. For the first month after starting Xolair, my hair was falling

out in clumps. Thankfully, I had a TON of hair to begin with, so it wasn't too

noticeable. The hair loss has tapered off since then. It makes me super sleepy

for 2-3 days after the injections too. It kind of makes me feel a teeny bit

" high " too. Around day 12 after the shots, I start to feel really weird...

It's difficult to describe, but I start having difficulty sleeping, and feel

very jittery... like a craving kind of jittery... I've had a lot of soar

throats since starting Xolair too. All in all, it's been worth it, though. My

high peak flow before starting Xolair was 420-450 and is now 510-560.

>

> I'm so glad I found this group and look forward to getting to know you all and

sharing experiences and whatnot!

>

July 1, 2009

Interestingly, Xolair has a pregnancy category of " B " , and that's about as good

as you can get, besides an " A " category, but very few drugs fit this category.

category " B " is widely accepted as 'safe' while a patient is pregnant.

The more interesting thing is that albuterol has a pregnancy category of " C " ,

which is considered more dangerous than " B " , and in some instances has been

considered the 'worst' category (compared to " D " or " X " / " E " ) because it's

dealing with the complete unknown (whereas " D " , " X " / " E " are known to be

harmful).

Yet, albuterol is used frequently in pregnancy, and is even in the latest asthma

guidelines (NHLBI, 2007). however, here is a direct excerpt from the prescribing

information of Proair/albuterol:

" During worldwide marketing experience, various congenital anomalies,

including cleft palate and limb defects, have been reported in the

offspring of patients being treated with albuterol. Some of the mothers were

taking multiple medications during their pregnancies. Because no consistent

pattern of defects can be discerned, a relationship between albuterol use and

congenital anomalies has not been established. "

However, Xolair/omalizumab has no mention of use in pregnancy in the guidelines.

It's curious/funny/ironic that experts have made recommendations in the

guidelines to utilize drugs such as albuterol, which as a pregnancy category of

" C " but give no mention to omalizumab, which has a 'safer' pregnancy category

( " B " ). It's a bit of false comfortableness with one drug versus another.

> >

> > Hello there, everyone =)

> >

> > As the subject says, I'm new to the group and pregnant. I found this group