Depression

[Lexi1983]

Hi,

I’m after some advice. I’m currently on antidepressants and my partner and I are currently trying for a baby. I have spoken to my doctor about staying on my tablets whilst pregnant who said I was ok but it is best to come off my tablets.

I’m struggling with the idea of coming off them but also knowing that I’m on tablets could cause issues to my baby when I get pregnant is bothering me. How did others feel?

Thanks

Hi Lexi1983, I wanted to respond and I hope you are ok. I finished anxiety meds 3 months prior to falling pregnant. This wasn't planned, just happened that way.
When I fell pregnant (October last year) my mood plummeted to a scary extent, and I was eventually seen by a consultant psychiatrist who prescribed anti-depressants. I chose not to take them, on the basis that the risk (according to the psychiatrist) of a birth defect increased from 2/100 (without meds) to 3/100 (with meds).
However, the trade off was I had a traumatic pregnancy, cried every day, diagnosed with tokophobia, and didn't enjoy a single day of it. Purely from my perspective, on balance, the tiny increased risk probably was nothing compared to the awful effects of being so anxious/depressed during pregnancy. I bitterly regret that I wasn't able to enjoy any of my pregnancy, and have since been prescribed meds for post natal depression anyway.
I don't know if you have come off meds before (so apologies if teaching how to suck eggs) but it takes a while, as you have to taper, so you could well become pregnant before you finally finished them so bear that in mind. Pregnancy can and often does play absolute havoc with your hormones - I asked my family to be honest with me if I was acting depressed (as I can't recognise it when in the eye of the storm iyswim). When I did plummet post-natal, they stepped in pretty quickly, and I'm now doing a lot better on anti-depressants x

Ask for a referral or consultation with a perinatal psychiatrist.

It depends on your personal circumstances but for many the risks associated with not being on medication outweigh the risks of being on medication.

There are medications which are safe to take in pregnancy.

I stayed on my mood stabiliser thoughout pregnancy as even medicated I was at a high risk of antenatal /postnatal mental illness. Advice on prescribing changes all the time as more information is gained. It was only a couple of years ago that my medication changed from "only if there is a clinical need" to "safe to prescribe".
When she was born we were kept in hospital for 72h so she could be checked for any withdrawal or poor neonatal adaption symptoms - she had no signs of either. I am also able to breastfeed whilst taking it which was an important consideration for me.

I had a mild antenatal depression and showing signs of postnatal depression. I know both of these would have been worse unmedicated and that would have led to worse outcomes for my little one.