someone please explain estradiol to me?

[Anonymous]

My doctor prescribed this to me b/c I finally got pregnant -- along with progesterone suppositories. When I googled estradiol it says it's category X for pregnancy -- do not take it. I have not taken it yet, but what is the deal with the conflicting medical information? Doc says he puts EVERYONE on it.

[Anonymous]

There was a synthetic estrogen drug in the 60s/70s that was meant to prevent miscarriage but ended up causing birth defects. What you (and many others, including myself) are put on by their REs or OBs in early pregnancy is natural estrogen (i.e. estradiol, as in Estrace and generics of it). I've been told by an RE it is fine in pregnancy, and the category X thing is outdated, still based on that 1970s problem.

Do you really think your OB (and all the REs who also do) would prescribe this if it was harmful to your pregnancy??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a synthetic estrogen drug in the 60s/70s that was meant to prevent miscarriage but ended up causing birth defects. What you (and many others, including myself) are put on by their REs or OBs in early pregnancy is natural estrogen (i.e. estradiol, as in Estrace and generics of it). I've been told by an RE it is fine in pregnancy, and the category X thing is outdated, still based on that 1970s problem.

Do you really think your OB (and all the REs who also do) would prescribe this if it was harmful to your pregnancy??

NO I do not, but you can imagine my confusion when I read it was category X in many places. I was just confused. I wanted an explanation. So the difference between estradiol and the old estrogen that was bad was that it was synthetic? Is that the only difference? Is that was makes it safe?

[Anonymous]

http://www.drugs.com/pregnancy/estradiol.html So that is what I found when I googled it. How do you tell the difference between the 2? My bottle just says "estradiol". Generic for "Estrace" 2mg.

[Anonymous]

This is what I found when I googled:

http://www.inciid.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31801

The response is from an RE at Dominion Fertility. Hope that reassures you. I was on Estrace for 10 weeks at SG.

[Anonymous]

PP here again. Did you get pregnant on your own or through IVF? Because for all I know you only need it after IVF.

[Anonymous]

I was on it both during and after my IVF cycle. It is fine to be on it during pregnancy as part of fertility treatment. My RE explained that the warning was required by the FDA because it is not recommended for women who get pregnant without fertility treatment. Basically, it is helping to keep your estrogen level where it should be.

[Anonymous]

I got pregnant on my own, and had to take estradiol and progesterone. I freaked what I read do not take if you are preg, but my OB said it was fine.
My son is totally fine.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I got pregnant taking clomid on my own (not IUI or other treatments).