newbie - conception/ pregnancy on antidepressants

[axolotlass]

Hi,

I take a fairly high dose of venlafaxine and plan to TTC in the near future. My GP suggests I lower my dosage but is persuading me that I might be best to remain on my meds throughout a pregnancy. Does anyone have any experience of this? Did you stay on meds or try to withdraw? My GP mentioned that one risk could be the baby experiencing drug withdrawal after birth, which sounds really alarming - does anyone know more about this?

Any advice would be gratefully received!

[Bexamundo]

I've struggled with depression for 10 years. At new year I was thinking I might go back on (course of counselling has been sufficient instead, I was keen not to have meds). I discussed it with my friend who is a GP who knows we're ttc she said the safest drug for depression when ttc/in pregnancy is setraline. Worth running by your GP?
What I would say re depression/ttc is it is tough coming off meds and takes time. Have you stopped before? I found ttc has put a big strain on my marriage (no joy after over a year) and my depression hasn't made it any easier. The counselling has helped me learn how to handle things, how to discuss issues with Dh without losing it! So what I'm.saying is if you're ready to stop the meds, Gp.for it. If you're not sure and weighing up the options take into account that if it does take a while for you to get pg, it might make being off the meds a bit tougher.
Good luck with the ttc :). Hope this helps a bit.