Clexane during pregnancy

Hi all,

I have Factor V Leiden, a blood disorder which increases my chances of blood clots. Unlike most women who discover this disorder following a number of miscarriages, I discovered it before I got pregnant (as my father has the disorder and it's hereditary).

Does anyone else here have a blood clotting disorder? As I've never been pregnant before, or miscarried, it's hard to determine how at risk I am. But I have been told to give myself clexane injections later in my pregnancy, just to be on the safe side. (I'm also currently taking aspirin to increase my chances of a healthy pregnancy.)

I am so anxious about having to have the injections, as I have a phobia about needles - let alone having to give them to myself.

I know a baby's life is worth the pain and anxiety of the injections (and more!), but I'd appreciate hearing about others experience of this.

Thanks!
Margot
(Due 6 October 05)

Hi Margot.

During my 2nd pregnancy it was investigated as to why I was always having small babies. (Not that i was complaining about them being small ;) ) Anyway it turned out that I have a genetic disorder in my blood, (my body doesn't break down protein properly, so nutrients don't get passed on to the growing child) and I am also prone to my blood clotting etc. As it was discovered late in my pregnancy I was told if I was to have a 3rd I would be prescribed asprin from day 1 to prevent the clots. I had a lot of clots during the birth of my 2nd child and passed quite large clots after the birth as well

I was told that I do have a high risk of miscarriage, cause of the clotting, but I have had 2 from 2 successful pregnancies, so I have been very thankful about that.

I didn't have to inject needles into myself or anything in my pregnancy so I wish you all the best with that. Can your DH do it for you so you don't have to look ?

Love

Margot, we actually have another member on BB who has this very same disorder and she is only a matter of weeks away from meeting her little bundle of joy.

Unfortunately she's not online a great deal at the moment, since she is preparing herself for the birth, but I hope that she will see your post, as she has been having injections of clexane. I will do my best to track her down for you so that she can check out your post as soon as she is available to do so.

Hi Margot,

I am the member who Tootie was telling you about that has FVLD.

I am the opposite to you in that i found out i had the disorder in the testing that followed after i lost my first child at 18 weeks gestation in March last year.

Now i want to stress that the opinions differ as to the affect that FVL can have on pregnancy. I have consulted several doctors and specialists about the effects and also the treatment during pregnancy for this condition. One specialist which i consulted in Perth felt that he has treated hundreds of women with FVL in pregnancy without any anti coagulants and they have not suffered any pregnancy losses, so basically the medical community is not convinced that FVL can cause pregnancy loss, however my OB and GP couldnt rule it out in my situation given that i lost my daughter later into the pregnancy.

My mum and dad had nine miscarriages and i am an only child so it was assumed that my mum had passed the gene onto me and that had also caused them to lose so many babies. However it turns out that it is my dad who passed it on to me and therefore wouldnt have had any affect on their other babies and apparently it is just coincidence that he has the disorder and they lost so many children.

Now on the positive side, i am currently 35 weeks pregnant. When i found out i was pregnant with this child i started on 100mg of aspirin daily until i consulted the specialist in Perth at 7 weeks pregnant. He advised me that there is no medical evidence to suggest that Clexane has a more positive affect than just aspirin taken on its own. In the US they tend to be more aggresive with their treatment and usually give both aspirin and Clexane. Im not sure if you know much about these two drugs but they both work in different ways to alter the clotting cascade. My understanding is that aspirin will prevent a clot from forming but Clexane will stop a clot forming and disolve one that has formed. My decision was to go onto Clexane until 20 weeks and then reassess the situation at that time. I figured if they discovered that the aspirin had not stopped a clot from forming then i would be given clexane to disolve it. At 20 weeks when i again consulted the specialist in Perth he advised me that there is no documented evidence to suggest that my staying on clexane for the rest of the pregnancy increased my chances of a healthy baby. Now as you can imagine my anxiety levels about this baby are extremely high because of what happened to our daughter. So my choice was to stay on the clexane for the duration of the pregnancy because all i know is that i have had one pregnancy without Clexane in which my daughter passed away and one pregnancy with clexane which is growing a very healthy baby. Now having said that i also understand that the clexane might not have had any affect at all and this baby is making it on its own steam but i myself cant take any risks because of what we have been through already.

I want to stress that having FVL doesnt mean that you are going to lose a baby, as i said the medical profession seem to have different opinions about the effect that this disorder has on pregnancy. Im sorry that my story isnt a more positive one for you to hear but like i said i am weeks away from having my baby by elective csection on my OB's recommendation and this baby has had the benefit of me having the injections and is perfectly healthy.

Last but not least, the needles are not as bad as you think. They come in prepackaged boxes of 10. They are disposable so that you dont have to measure out any quantaties. I was totally needle phobe (and still am of someone else in control of a needle), my first thought was to get my hubby to do it but honestly it is easier if you do it yourself. My tips are insert the needle in quick, just take a deep breath and push it in, it resists at first but you will be suprised how quickly it will go in. Then push the plunger down slowly, the quicker you do it the more it will hurt and the more it will bruise. The fattiest part of your tummy is the least painful and try to alternate sides so you are not constantly injecting into one side of your tummy. I know how scary it all sounds and i was absolutely petrified but i just kept the baby in my mind and now i have done almost 200 injections which i find amazing looking back on how i felt about doing it in the first place. It will sting after you have taken the needle out for a little while but just press fairly firmly on the spot for a couple of minutes and this will help. Some days hurt more than others but after about 2 weeks you will realise that you can only hurt yourself so much and you will learn what techniques work for you.

Good luck with a healthy pregnancy and conquering the needles.

If you need anything just reply, i hope that i havent scared you with my story but you have an advantage over me, you know about the disorder before you get pregnant. I suggest that you do a lot of research and ask lots of questions of your doctors and then make an informed decision about which road of treatment to take. What was right for me isnt right for everyone.

Love Sarah

Hi Margot,

I think Sarah has just about covered everything, but I wanted to let you know that I am in a similar situation. I have just found out that I am pregnant for the third time and am also taking Aspirin and more than likely, will be doing Clexane injections too.

I am taking the Aspirin as I have low levels of anticardiolipin antibodies which are part of Antiphospholipid Syndrome. Like FVL, Antiphospholipid Syndrome is a blood clotting disorder. Unfortunately, like Sarah, it took the loss of my daughter (followed by a miscarriage) for the doctors to discover these antibodies. They still won't say for sure that they caused my losses but they aren't discounting the theory either and are treating me accordingly.

As I said, I am taking Aspirin on my doctor's orders and will be going for an ultrasound around 6 weeks. Depending on the results of the ultrasound, she will then move me onto the Clexane injections. More likely than not apparently.

Like you, I am due in October, so I will be keen to hear how you go and will be keeping track of your pregnancy. I hope it is a very happy and healthy one for you. :D

Hi Margot

I found out 18 months ago I have FactorV after a 19 week miscarriage. Prior to this I had 2 normal pregnancies with very healthy boys.
My doctor has put me on clexane from 5 weeks. ( I am due on the 10th Oct).
the Injections are MUCH easier than I expected....I am having a scan at 6 1/2 weeks to confirm if the pregnancy is viable on the request of my heamatologist.
I am more worried if the medication can harm the baby. Reading the information on the packaging is a bit scarry! Have you found out anything in your searching?

Regards
TLP

HI TLP

I just want to welcome you to BellyBelly. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I look forward to hearing how you are progressing.

Love

hi TLP, welcome to bellybelly :wave: . Congratulations on your pregnancy. I look forward to hearing how you progress.
I think that usually Drs decide on a medication by weighing up the possible side effects against the benefits of the medication. So probably your Dr thinks that the benefits outweigh the risks. Maybe you can discuss the issue with them and find out if there is another option in terms of medication. I don't really know much about factorV sorry.
Have you checked out the 1st trimester forum and pregnancy after miscarriage or loss? I'm sure you'll find that the girls in there are really supportive.

Welcome to bellybelly TLP. Coingratz on your pregnancy.

I'm Tegan, mum to Lily(2mths).

Look forward to hearing how your pregnancy is going.

Take care,

TLP - welcome to BellyBelly. I hope that you go well with your pregnancy, as well as you other girls.

I am expecting my DH's and I's first bubs - next week his is due to to come and hopefully he'll arrive before then!

nellbe

Thank you all soooo much for your replies. I feel a lot better now. Just have to get past that first injection (the thought of doing it is probably worse than actually doing it). Each time I've had surgery I've had to have the injections as surgery poses a risk with blood clots. So far, my husband has given me the injections, but I can't rely on him doing that for months and months, so I'm going to have to learn myself. Shame that!!

Isn't it strange how the medical community can't come up with a tablet or powder-injected system that works just like an injection but isn't an injection??

I haven't been to my haematologist since I've gotten pregnant, which I need to do soon. At my last appointment, he mentioned going on aspirin for the first trimester, then injections for the second and third. I'll let you know if this is still the case.

I remember reading an article on the web, that showed that without any assistance (eg aspirin, heparin, clexane) that the chance of a healthy pregnancy was as low as 10%. With the addition of aspirin, it rose to 40%, and with clexane it went up to 60 or 70%. I wish I could remember where I read this.

It looks like a few of us are due the same time - I'm 6th October. It'll be great to see how we all go! I have my first early scan next Thursday which I'm really excited about.

Thanks again for all your support. Here's to healthy pregnancies!

Cheers,
Margot.

Welcome to Belly belly TLP,

My sister lost her baby at 15 weeks after having a clot form in the uterus. She was test for this blood thing too but all has come back clear. Our grandfather died from clots following a tripple bipass & turns out he had this factor 5 thing. So did his mother. I have had 2 healthy pregnancies but thought it be in my best interest to be checked for this & mine was all clear too. \:D/

I'm suprised at how common it is.

I also have leiden factor v and am currently pregnant and injecting clexane into tummy. Was on aspirin up untill 17 weeks pregnant and have been injecting for 2 weeks, currently 19 weeks gone. I am terrified of needles myself and i took my mum with me to learn how to do it, so i look away now while she does the job for me. It's not as bad as you first imagine although the bruises can be quite bad. So good luck and try not to panic too much. Just think, it could save your life and your unborn childs. :)