Question
I’m 6 wks pregnant and was taking mtx. I was taking 10mg per week over 10 years. Actually i didn’t it take well regularly cause of forgetting.. but I know I did take it about 1 week before my last menstrual cycle. I then found out I was pregnant but have not taken the medication after that. And I took a shoot Enbrel once in every four days until now. Is there a chance my child will have birth deffects should I consider terminating my pregnancy? What are the chances?
Answer
Hi Monica,
These are important questions that you should discuss very carefully with your obstetrician. Methotrexate is definitely associated with birth defects, but it doesn’t mean that every fetus has a defect. We usually recommend stopping MTX for three months before attempting to become pregnant. With Enbrel, there is less certainty. Animal and test tube studies do not indicate that Enbrel causes birth defects, but human data are insufficient to draw conclusions, so we usually recommend stopping Enbrel during pregnancy. A three month washout is probably not necessary,though, in contrast to MTX.
Again, a discussion with your obstetrician would be the way to proceed.
