I was diagnosed with hereditary hemochromatosis recently and just found out I am also 5 weeks pregnant. Anyone familiar with appropriate treatment and effects on the baby? It seems as if there's limited research and lack of appropriate knowledge from some of the docs I deal with.
anyone pregnant with hemochromatosis?
(3 posts)(2 voices)- Started by Tesesmuch ago.
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I don't have it, but from what I can tell I think the major thing is to get regular blood draws (weekly phlebotomy) to minimize the amount of iron in your system (and obviously you shouldn't take the iron supplements other pregnant ladies get).
More severe cases get a medication to remove iron, but I would think you couldn't have that while pregnant.
All of that is assuming you don't have any of the complications of the disease already--like diabetes or heart failure or liver problems.
I would bet you don't because you are young enough to be childbearing and women tend to have milder courses than men because we automatically lose blood through our menses.
There's probably some kind of foundation or support group or something on the web that would have more information
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Thanks so much for responding. Spoke with one of my physicians who informed me to stay off the prenatal vitamins, but to take folic acid and be sure to eat a very well-balanced diet. She also suggested frequent blood draws to monitor the iron levels and which foods to avoid, etc. Thanks again for your help.
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