Pregnant, just found out

RLS occurs more frequently in certain populations, including people with end-stage renal disease, women during pregnancy, and people with iron deficiency. Also, RLS/WED in the elderly and children brings other challenges. Sharing your experiences may be extraordinarily helpful to others.
SquirmingSusan
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Post by SquirmingSusan »

Wow, what an ordeal. But you don't need to be embarrassed about it all. Home pregnancy tests are pretty accurate. Maybe the early detection ones aren't as accurate, or maybe the hospital ones aren't made to detect pregnancy as early. If you're still feeling pregnant in a week or two I'd check again...

But in the meantime, you have time to plan, and can relax a bit. No need to suffer needlessly without RLS meds!
Susan

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woodsie357
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Post by woodsie357 »

I've had false pregnancy tests before. The ones at the Dr office were false positive. So I can understand how much of a mental roller coaster of emotions it can be. Some of the medications I was on were causing the false positive, a very rare side effect I get. A lot of meds out there make me stop my period and gain weight, and give me a false positive. I don't take these meds anymore. They make my RLS worse too.

I'm sorry you had to go through that, my heart goes out to you.
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Neco
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Post by Neco »

I definitely wouldn't stress myself out over it, no need to suffer needlessly. I suppose you could call your doctor or the hospital just to ask how accurate their tests seem to be, an explain you're just concerned about continuing to take your medication.

I'd still keep taking it in the meantime though.

sarahjj
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Post by sarahjj »

OMG, you guys are right. I totally wrote it off. But maybe I should take one more home test and see what it says. First thing tomorrow morning (best time). But in the meantime, I am back on my Requip and getting some sleep finally. My body still hurts so bad, but I know it will heal.

I thought the same about the hospital test....how could it be wrong? But who knows?
~Sarah~

Neco
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Post by Neco »

I googled around and came across a Yahoo Answers subject about hospital accuracy and it was explained like this..

If you had sex and the test was given before 10 days was up (from the time you had sex) it could possibly miss it. But if you haven't recently had sex then it would be pretty accurate..

So if 10 or more days has passed between having sex and getting tested you probably aren't pregnant, but if it was less than 10 days, there is a small chance you could be.

Hospitals usually do some kind of hormone test, looking for a hormone that only shows up as elevated/present in pregnant women. It seems 10 days is the magic number when the change can start to be accurately detected.

sarahjj
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Post by sarahjj »

Zach, I think I read that same post this afternoon. It has been WAY more than 10 days. It has been more like 25 (ish). I'm planning on retesting at home because I read that it is almost as likely that a dr test could have a false negative as a home test. Crazy, isn't it? I can say that now that I am rested. LOL!!
~Sarah~

sarahjj
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Post by sarahjj »

What a mess! Its been a wild ride over the past 2 weeks. Remember how the hospital test came back negative? Well they only did a urine test, never a blood test. This past weekend, I believe I miscarried. HORRIBLE!! But I will never know the truth because urine tests can be so subjective and give so easily a false positive or negative.

So I went to a new OBGYN and discussed it all with him. He knows very little about RLS (no surprise there) but is willing to work with me if I decide to go thru a pregnancy. He is torn about staying on Requip (taking my chances since the studies are just not relevant) vs. going onto Methodone (because of the withdrawls for the baby). He doesn't understand how severe my RLS is and suggested I try to suck it up and go without for the sake of the baby. I told him I would be rendered non-functional....not an option.

So, because of my age (40) and RLS, I will be with high risk specialists anyway. I have to find a neurologist to discuss the options with and change my meds around before becoming pg again and then take it from there.

I feel a little like a guinnea pig. But that's my story and I'm stickin to it! Have a great day y'all.
~Sarah~

ViewsAskew
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Post by ViewsAskew »

Sarah, I am so sorry. How are you doing?

I hope you find something that works. It is a huge problem that obgyns have no idea what severe RLS is like and how it affects a pregnancy.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

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Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Neco
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Post by Neco »

That's terrible.. Being so old and miscarying makes it so much harder for the hospital to be found negligent in a case like this as well, especially after doing no blood testing and then telling you the same test they gave you, that your took at home was correct. I don't know how common those kind of mistakes are, but it sounds like the hospital could easily have been negligent in telling you that you weren't pregnant, causing you to continue to take a drug they knew would be harmful in case their results were actually wrong.

Of course everyone would just blame it on your age and shirk responsibility.. :roll:

If you have doctors that are willing to work with you if you become pregnant in the future, you should make sure that you use the time now, to give them as much info about RLS as you can, so they can understand that it is very serious and devastating to quality of life. Maybe get a written and signed statement from them as well, acknowledging that they understand opiates are the best and sometimes only solution for pregnant women with RLS, and that after trying other reasonable measures they will not refuse to prescribe you the necessary medication.

RLS all by itself is torture, I don't even want to imagine what it would feel like trying to cope with the chemical changes during pregnancy on top of that.. Methadone is used by many women during pregnancy, especially in cases of recovering drug addicts and has been recognized to be far more safe than other opiates and obviously, other RLS meds. The baby may go through withdrawal after birth, however a competent specialist should be able to ease the babies suffering with medication too, as well as try to taper you down before birth as low as you can stand.

sarahjj
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Post by sarahjj »

Ann, I'm ok. It was a frustrating and a little bit of a frightening experience. I didn't expect to miscarry after a negative test result. So Saturday morning when I woke up hemmoraging, all I could think was WTF? But I'm healthy and fine and have learned some valuable lessons through this whole experience.

I have some serious educating to do with my doctor.

Oh, and Zach...thanks for saying I'm old! :shock:

LOL!!!
~Sarah~

ViewsAskew
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Post by ViewsAskew »

Sarah, my thoughts exactly (about being so old). LOL.

I can imagine it being frightening - you thought you were not pregnant. Good that you are OK physically - hopefully emotionally, too, though I imagine there is a lot to process.

The educating part makes me crazy....
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

SquirmingSusan
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Post by SquirmingSusan »

sarahjj wrote:
Oh, and Zach...thanks for saying I'm old! :shock:

LOL!!!


ROFL! Forty is so not old! But when it comes to pregnancy, they consider you "elderly" at that age. :P Problem is, you can't spend a whole lot of time thinking about what to do.

I miscarried my last pregnancy, and was "old" at the time (ripe old 37 or so) and went to a specialist for help, but she pretty much blew me off. I've always regretted not being more assertive about getting help in conceiving one more time.

I'm not saying that you'll be like me and regret waiting or not going for it, though. I'm just saying that time passes so quickly.

But wow, what a roller coaster. And really, how lame is it that you have to even take these things into account - that you might not be able to get the treatment you need during pregnancy because of the ignorance of doctors! It seems like you should be able to decide whether or not to become pregnant and trust that the doctors will take care of you.

Bass ackwards, our system.
Susan

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