tetracycline taken during the month1 of pregnancy

fork

ano possible effects ng doxin pag tinake during the first month of pregnancy? kasi last year nagprescribe ung obgyne ko nun dahil napapraning ako na baka may infection ako. nag-gramstain kami then she prescribed doxin (kahil sa gramstain results eh lumitaw daw na wala naman akong infection... para daw "sure") and i took it for about a week. this was before i learned that i am already pregnant for like 2 weeks. (i believe the stupid doctor should have at least suggested na kailangang siguruhin ko muna na di ako buntis dahil contraindicated pala ung doxin sa pregnancy). now i am worried na bka may abnormalities ang baby ko pagkapanganak. gusto ko sana malaman ang possibilities and kung anu ano ang options ko. please help... thanks...

eyedoc

If I'm not mistaken (do correct me if I'm wrong), Doxin is doxycycline (a subclass of tetracycline). Although tetracyclines have been shown to cause abnormalities in bone & teeth development, most literature shows that adverse effects are usually found if the fetus is exposed to the drug on the 2nd or 3rd trimester.

Please refer to this link: http://www.otispregnancy.org/pdf/tetracycline.pdf

karencorleone

fetus might not develop limbs although i dont know if that's the case if you take it at the first month

Ira

Controlled studies have shown that doxycycline taken in therapeutic doses in pregnancy is unlikely to produce fetal problems, although the data are insufficient to state that there is no risk.

fork

eyedoc, access to the link/file is denied daw eh :( nway, sure ba kayo na mas delikado kung 2nd/3rd trimester tinake? ung nurse friend ko sabi ang alam daw niya (di siya sure) mas delikado sa 1st trimester...

karencorleone, u think ultrasound can verify kung may development problems sa limbs niya?

Ira, what do u mean by "therapeutic doses"? kasi i took the drug for straight 7days...actually im not sure kung 1x or 2x a day pa. o baka ung suppository na kasabay pinrescribe ang tinake ko 2x/day, eh nakalimutan ko na kase...

i brought this up sa current obgyne ko. she told me not to worry dahil according sa ultrasound okay naman daw (2nd ultrasound at 20weeks didnt mention any problems, 3rd and last ultrasound ko recently at 35 weeks explicitly said "no gross abnormalities noted.") I wonder if that's really reliable. but at any rate hindi daw iaadvise ng obgyne ko na pa-congenital scanning pa ko since due na ko very soon... cguro ipa-newborn screening ko na lang daw... pero nanggigigil talaga ko twing naiisip ko ung potential problems...


hmmm... im more or less okay now, but still sometimes this all feels like a mean joke.

anyway, thank you po sa mga nagreply. kung meron pang may additional info dyan, paki-post lang po. thanks!

Ira

Tetracycline is absolutely contraindicated during the 2nd-3rd trim because it causes problems with structures containing calcium--bone, teeth. Doxycycline is a newer, improved form of tetracycline. There have been no published human data showing that fetal exposure to doxycycline causes the same problems as tetracycline, and especially at therapeutic doses--meaning, you only take the dose the doctor prescribed, not at higher than normal doses (e.g. 17x the recommended dose of your physician, say). The ultrasound is absolutely reliable. If it says that there's no physical abnormality at 35 weeks, then you have absolutely no problem. Tetracycline (not doxycycline) only causes physical abnormalities. If it's not in the ultrasound, it's not there. I seriously doubt if you're going to find any problems in the newborn screening, either, since tetracycline causes gross abnormalities, not metabolic abnormalities. Relax. I don't think your doxycycline intake has caused any damage to your kid.

eyedoc

Agree with Ira. I should have qualified my answer to say that the studies that show problems are with the older tetracycline and not the newer doxycycline. Even with tetracycline though, as mentioned, most problems occur when exposure is at the 2nd or 3rd trimester and is usually in the skeletal development. So, I don't think you have anything to worry about at this point, since the ultrasound looks ok.