Did you take anti depressants whilst breast feeding?

[OnlyWantsOne]

I have a thread in chat (I'm SO lonely) and have been gettin some amazing support. I need help. I'm off to see my GP today and I want to know, did you take anti depressants whilst breast feeding?

I know I'm depressed. It was diagnosed as severe depression & anxiety when I was pregnant and I was signed off work. I have spend time on citalopram prior to being pregnant but never taken any thing while feeding LO.


I want to arm myself with info. What can I take?

GP seems very insistent that all I need is a chat with some one to make it all better but this isn't getting better and I'm not ok.

[OnlyWantsOne]

Should have said, I'm really worried about the effects on dd3 if I take drugs to help me

[cowardlylionhere]

Yes, I took citalopram for a week but it made me even more anxious than I already was. I then switched to Trazodone which is a bit of an old school med, but it works for me. I took it when ds was still bf exclusively at about 12 months til he was about 2, I bf all that time and he is fine. I have a 6 month old and I've just had another doctor prescribe it for me again. CBT has its place, it helped me enormously and my PND this time is nowhere near as bad as I have learned coping mechanisms, but the medicine also has it's place, particuarly while you wasit for further therapy. Kellymom is a good resource to find out what you can and can't take while bfing.

[reindeerjumper]

Yes I took sertraline and me and my baby were both fine.

[Slothlorien]

Yes. thousands of women do. See a different doctor that understands depression. Hope you feel a lot better soon.

[OnlyWantsOne]

Thank you. Am waiting for the doc to phone me

[Crawling]

Yes i take quite a few meds two of which are anti ds one is seroxat and the other is trazodone both from birth to a year no ill effects.

[OnlyWantsOne]

I have citalopram 20mg. Scared to take them.

[Crawling]

I was very scared at first but once i did i was very glad i did.

[Jollyb]

Yes - paroxetine

[Millie2013]

Some AD are perfectly fine in breastfeeding and I wouldn't hesitate in taking them (the risk is absolutely minimal and if it means that Mum is happier, it's a no brainer). Because AD are taken orally, they undergo absorption and metabolism in the liver, so by the time they reach the general circulation (and breast milk), they are perfectly safe for baby. When they have been measured in breast milk, they only appear at a small % of the maternal dose, certainly not enough to do any harm.

Please don't be scared of taking them, if your GP/psych suggests it :) Lots of luck

[ElphabaTheGreen]

On 20mg Citalopram all the way through pregnancy and EBFing - all cleared with midwives and GPs. It's fine and effective for me

[thunksheadontable]

Feeding now exclusively. On 100mg sertraline and my psychiatrist has had women on 200mg (max dose) with no ill effects to baby or mother. Ds2 is 18 weeks, rolling 360 degrees, saying baba, dada and mama noises and bringing his legs up under him in readiness for crawling... totally bright and perky and smiley and sociable.