Progesterone & Nifedipine side effects

[Guest guest]

,

You have an excellent memory! Yes, too much progesterone in early pregnancy is

known to cause birth defects in the fetus: mild hypospadias in males and mild

masculinization of female genitalia when administered in the first 4 months of

pregnancy (ref. Drug Information Handbook (DIH), 11th edition). That is why

anyone taking progesterone during early pregnancy should have their progesterone

levels monitored. I'm assuming that later in pregnancy that this is not so much

an issue because the MA ducts are already formed by the 4th month of gestation

(although not fully developed until the end of the 5th month). I think I will

still ask my doctor what the risks are in later pregnancy. The only thing I

could find is that it could delay labor or cause the body not to go into labor.

I'm sorry that your contractions came back. Progesterone also has the effect of

drying the body out (so not technical, I know) or cause fluid retention. I

wonder if this could actually make the contractions worse? Just kind of

guessing here. Hydration decreases fluid retention as well as contractions so

I'm wondering if there is a link there. Just something to think about. I'm

also starting to wonder if sodium might also be causing my contractions.

Nifedipine has the side effect of lowering blood pressure too low, but that's

all I've found on it. According to the DIH, IUGR has been reported, but that

may actually be caused by the mother's high blood pressure that Nifedipine is

being used to treat. It is a class C drug, which means there are not sufficient

studies to determine the effect on the fetus. As long as I'm not having

recurrent contractions I'm going to try to avoid any unnecessary medicine. So

far, drinking tons of water and reducing my stress level seems to have helped.

I started having some today, but they went away after I drank more water and

took a warm bath.

I should also cross-post to the MA cafe. Thank you for the suggestion!

A positive ANA can be an indication of an autoimmune problem or inflamation. I

think it's also associated with possible blood clots. It's probably nothing,

but I can't help worrying about it! I'm going to start taking baby aspirin just

in case.

Thanks for checking in on me! You made me start thinking a little bit more

logically about all of this instead of being emotional (which can be a challenge

these days!).

Best wishes,

Mikell, 34

t-shape

[Guest guest]

Hi Mikell,

I was on Nifedipine from 26w until my daughter was born at 36w. My

doctor explained that it's a smooth muscle relaxer and this is how it

keeps your uterus from contracting. Fortunately, the nifedipine

worked to stop my contractions. I started receiving the hydroxy

progesterone injections somewhere around 18-21 weeks. I don't really

remember exactly when they started, though.

Anyhow, just wanted to chime in what my Dr. told me about the

nifedipine. It made me feel so awful that I would always try to get

to him to recommend I stop taking it, but he wanted to stop all

contractoins and to also stop all uterine tone (the small tensing of

muscles that is normal in all muscles of the body) that could have

potentially been changing my cervix.

In my next pregnancy I'll be having a double cerclage placed--one up

high and one below it.

Jasmine, 28

SU, resected 7/29/04

1 DD, Laila, 8/18/05

1 angel, 17w, 2/12/04

1 angel, 5w, 11/7/04