anyone been on anti depressants whilst pregnant?

[hayleybop]

I am 18 weeks pregnant. My DD is 14 months old and I have serious insomnia. I have battled with it for one month now and it really is doing my nut in.
I've tryed reiki, accupuncture, homeopathic medicine, night rescue remedy,swimming, walking, excersize....to no avail.
My partner and I aint sleeping in the same bed anymore and we barely speak to each other as I am so tense...
I live in cornwall miles away from my family in the north of the country. I am going to see my family in 3 days time for two weeks to try and sort my insomnia out, hopefully support from family will help.
I really want to know if anyone has taken anti depressants whilst pregnant and the baby has been o.k. I have suffered with PND with DD but was getting better for a good few months untill I found out I was pregnant and still I have been o.k untill a few weeks ago. My heart is racing all day and night. The docters have perscribed me tamazipan but it dosn't seem to work. Any ideas?

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[expatinscotland]

I'm on 50mg sertraline and am 19 weeks pregnant.

[TotalChaos]

yes. ended up on ads (prozac) at 30 weeks, with no problems for my baby. you may find that GPs are not willing to prescribe ADs in PG (mine was completely unwilling, I had to be referred to a psychiatrist for that).

Please don't take any more of the ?temazepam without speaking to another GP or pharmacist, don't think you are meant to take them when you are PG.

[hayleybop]

My docter and midwife says that taking tamazipan wont harm the baby...they have assured me as i was worrid about taking them.

expatinscotland were you already on sertraline before you became pregnant or have you started whilst pregnant and did they spin you out at first?
thanks for your replys y'all.

[expatinscotland]

i'd stop taking that temazepam, tbh. my GP specialises in mental health issues and said it's not for use in pregnancy.

i was on prozac when i fell pregnant. dropped my dose, and my panic attacks got really bad.

went to psychiatric consultant and was switched to stertraline.

i have a long history of antenatal and postnatal depression, however.

[fiodyl]

Its best to try and get along with just non-medication treatments during pregnancy. but if you really can't manage on that alone then I think an AD(sertraline has been tested in pregnancy more than most others) is probably alot better than a temazepan.

temazepan is (midly) addictive and is less effective in treating depression than some of the newer ADs. as your body becomes used to it will be les efective(or need higher dose) and side efects inclue some of the anxiety type symptoms u r describing above.

[expatinscotland]

temazepam is a sedative, not an AD. it's used to treat insomnia, regardless of whether or not the patient is depressed.

[hayleybop]

o.k I will stop taking the tamazepan as it dosn't work anyhow. Is this your first prenancy?
Totalchaos was your baby fine when it was born, any withdrawal symptons? Did you carry on taking prozac after the baby was born?

[expatinscotland]

no, this is my 5th pregnancy and my 3rd child.

[TotalChaos]

yes, baby absolutely fine, no withdrawal symptoms. I was recommended to breastfeed to reduce risk of withdrawal symptoms.

[TotalChaos]

depending on how long you have been taking the temazepam it may be advisable for you to cut down gradually rather than stop straight away. I would again speak to doctor or pharmacist about this.

[hayleybop]

I have not been taking the tamazipan everynight. I have battled with the insomnia and the docter suggested i take it just to get a good nights kip out of many restless nights. I did take 15mg last night however and woke up at 1.30am and managed to deep breath myself to sleep then my Dd woke me up at 3am and then at 5am!!!She is just going through a period of waking up!!!

[Nbg]

I took 10mg of Citalopram right throughout my 3rd pregnancy with the ok of my gp and the baby is fine and was fine throughtout the pregnancy.

[hayleybop]

This is good to hear. I am off to the docters in 1/2 hour to try and get perscribed some antidepressant. I dont think I am very depressed just more anxious about the new baby and having to cope with DD at the same time, dosnt help that I'm miles away from friends and family. I dont really know that many people where I live so I am quite issolated.
I took peroxatine last time for insomnia when I was breast feeding and I know it will cure it. I'm just not looking forward to taking it as it has back side effects to begin with and it makes me a bit sluggish whilst on them...
I have taken sertraline before and cant remeber feeling sick like i did with the peroxatine I can remeber feeling very stoned and a I couldn't stop yawning...It did help me sleep though as soon as I started taking them so maybe it will help me cope better...

[mamalovesmojitos]

i took lexapro which has escitalopram during my pregnancy, also minimal usage of xanax. also took them while breastfeeding.

my dd was fine but I suffered withdrawal symptoms when i stopped taking them, just before dds 3rd birthday. this has made me wary of ever taking them again unless very necessary.

nobody can guarantee that they are perfectly safe, however sometimes there is just no choice. if you need them you need them, dont beat yourself up about it. you have to be emotionally strong to welcome your little baby into your life.

[aiti72]

50mg sertraline (100mg when pregnant with DD1 and she was just perfect), 15mg oxazepam if needed.

[lackaDAISYcal]

I was taking sertraline for PND, but stopped when I found out I was pregnant, and the doctor said it's probably wise to be drug free certainly in the first trimester. Anyway, after three months it was all getting on top of me again so I've gone back to the doc who has put me on prozac as he said it has a longer track record in pregnancy than any other SSRI. I'm now 17 weeks. I've got a referral to the mother and baby unit who saw me for my PND and am fully expecting them to swap me back to sertraline as I'll need to do it after the baby is born for BFing anyway (this was their advice last time around).

Like expat, have a history of AND and PND.

congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope you get things sorted out soon...insomnia is just the worst

[hayleybop]

so can you take tamazipans whilst taking anti depressants?

[lackaDAISYcal]

not sure about the tamazepan at the same time as ADs. Can you discuss with your GP? or is there a mother and baby psych unit where you can get referred to?

[CaptainCaveman]

Hi haleybop

I'm currently 28+3 amd have been taking ads right throughout the pg. Unhelpful male gp said if I got pg I would have to come straight off the citalopram (was taking 10mg daily). Saw my preferred gp (female) who rang one of the psych team and the regional drugs centre to check, both of whom said it was ok to take citalopram as there was very limited evidence of its use in pg (about a 0.05% chance of the newborn having hypertension when the mother had taken 60mg of citalopram throughout the pg).

Was referred routinely to perinatal psychiatric team as I saw them when pg with ds after developing AWFUL panic attacks and AND. She has switched me from citalopram to Clomipramine 25mg which I can take until I finish bfing.

Feeling great. Please don't hesitate in seeing your gp - if they won't prescribe you something, make sure they refer you to motherhood psych team.

[hayleybop]

I have taken a 10mg of citlopram today and feel very anxious, have butterflys in my chest...Will this wear off?

[BorgLady]

I haven't taken Citalopram in pregnancy, I was off it before I conceived, but it really did help my panic attacks, and as you all know, ANYTHING is better than a panic attack!

So far so good during pregnancy, have hardly had any panic attacks at all(touch wood).

Just wanted to say to hayleybop that it takes some getting used to, so don't worry about the initial anxiety. Ime it gets worse before it gets better, but they work well so try to ride it out if you can.

And don't come off it cold turkey, they make you feel very spun out!

[CaptainCaveman]

Agree with Borglady - they take a few days getting used to. Both times I've started on Citalopram, day 3 was always worse for me but very quickly passed. (worse in terms of heightened anxiety and sleeplessness - and quickly passed as in I felt loads better in comparison by day 4).

[woose]

I took Citalopram during my last pregnancy and everything was fine. I was taking it anyway and just dropped my dose. I think I remember feeling more anxious when I started taking it and then I felt really good, and it is important that you don't just stop taking it. I ended up taking half of the tablet a day. This pregnancy I thought I would have to take it again because I have been quite down but I think I will get through it

[tshiretwo2]

Hi,
I was on Venlafaxin XL 275mg whilst I was pregnant with my first son as I have suffered from Clinical depression since the age of 13yrs. I had no problems with the pregnancy at all, no sickness no insomnia, no post natal or anti natal depression even though it was a big worry due to my history. My son is now 9 months old, is exstremly intelligent & a very fast learner. All round I would say yes stay on the lower dossage ones if you are perscribed them as I was fine & so is my son. I'm now pregnant again, 7 1/2 months gone, however I am on 100mg Sertraline now due to the fact that I would like to breast feed this baby. That ws the only dissadvantage with my first.