Doctor was awful with me!

[TheFalconsmistress]

I wrote a post on here yesterday explaining that i have a history of depression and that i'm slipping into it at 23 weeks pregnant. I had a phone consultation with a doctor today he made me feel awful like i was choosing to hurt my baby! I asked if there was meds i could take that were safe and he basically said no it was all about clinical risk. Then he said i will prescribe you something could not tell me what nothing. I have been in bits all day I don't want to hurt my baby but i don't want to go through the hell of being detached and crying all the time and feeling useless i want to be a good mum to my DC I already have a son who is 4.
I am a mess I have booked a mw appointment for next week but i'm lost atm.

I'm really sorry to hear the GP has upset you OP. He sounds very unsympathetic.

I've found some doctors are just v risk averse about promising anything is safe. Even taking paracetamol is about the balance of clinical risk, it's just that the risk is so low that we don't think about it too much! But you do have options - citalapram and fluoxetine are both worth considering. I took citalapram in pg with the blessing of my cons, he was quite happy with the safety of it. Ds is a big strapping 6 yo now!

Can you see another GP? In the meantime, be kind to yourself and remember lunatic is right, you have done the right thing. Hope you feel a little better very soon

No other gps available he was the only one. I wanted my "usual" doc not that there is such a thing these days even then i have only been at that practice a year as I moved. I have booked a mw appointment on Friday hopefully she will be better informed to help and i hope by then i will know what he has chosen to prescribe me so i can discuss it with her. Its a hard thing to do admit you need help they seem adamant on making it even harder!

Sorry that you were treated so badly. you did the right thing asking for help and they should be helping you. Some doctors do just seem to be very scared of prescribing anything to pregnant women. can you ask if there is an antenatal depression service in your area that you could be referred to? or maybe community mental health team might have more experience. Gps are great but they can't all be good at everything but should be able to refer you to someone who is, or it may be that he didn't know the answer and just needed some time to find out what the best option was or what services are available.

Look after yourself x

I am so sorry to hear the doctor, the very person who is there to help you, actually ended up making you feel worse. Please don't give up. Hopefully your Friday appointment goes much better than that.

That's awful and your gp is not being totally accurate!

Fluoxetine you can take but can't breast feed on. Not sure on citalopram.

Sertraline is considered one of the safest and because your past the 12 week mark doesn't pose a great deal of risk. There is a very small (coincidental) chance of problems with the baby's blood pressure at birth and minor withdrawal but neither of these things has been seen as increased due to the drugs simply present in some mothers who have taken them. Basically it could have happened to these people anyway regardless of the medication.

I changed from fluoxetine onto sertraline before I fell pregnant and now at 36 weeks have come off it.

Please go and see another gp who is more reasonable!

Thanks everyone cupcake fluoxetine is my usual anti d not been on it a while he definitely said not that :/ I will find out what he has prescribed me today

he has prescribed me citalopram?? is that not one of the more risky ones???

I'm not sure about citalopram and pregnancy. Sure someone else will!

Is ok in later staged of pregnancy but you can't breast feed if taking it.

Citalopram should be fine. I've been taking it since 9 weeks on the advice of the local perinatal psych team. I'm going to switch to paroxetine once I've had the baby as I get on better with it (less sleep disruption) however the psych doctor was happy for me to continue taking post birth and to breast feed on it.

Ps may be worth clarifying the breast feeding issue. From what I had read I was also under the impression that I couldn't feed whilst on citalopram but the specialist was adamant that this wasn't the case.

Are you known to your local perinatal team or do you know if your GP has sought advice from them?

I have heard it could be dangerous in the last trimester, Oh its all confusing I have a midwife appointment on Friday so i will confirm with her xx

God what a b**ard of a doctor. These people have no idea.

Balance of risk?! Does he know nothing about the proven risks of antenatal and postnatal depression? I am so on your behalf.

I know loads of people who have been pregnant on SSRIs, and have breastfed on them with their doctor's wholehearted support. I am not naive enough to think that drugs like these mightn't have side-effects - and certainly there are proven associations between SSRIs and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, but the risks are small and for many, worth taking.

I really hope you get some better advice soon. Could you ask to be referred to a specialist obstetrician with an interest in mental health?

I wish I could loan you my GP - he is diamond on matters like this.

PS, sertraline and citalopram are similar (same class of drugs) but sertraline is believed to have a lower transfer rate into breast milk and therefore is the one most often recommended to nursing mums.

Citalapram is a good one for pg and my cons was happy for me to take it while bfing too. I was advised not to take Sertraline while pg, although it is usually first choice for bfing mums I believe.

It was my obstetric cons who recommended citalapram btw

Thanks dewdrop that's really helpfull xx