Conception & Citalopram

[Pinkie29]

Hi, me and my partner are on our 2nd month ttc 1st baby. I've been on Citalopram about 6 months as was suffering pretty badly for a long time before i got help. feel a lot more positive about things now and am a lot less tearful/anxious about well everything!

Question is does anyone know if it can cause problems or side effects when trying to conceive? Need to see the doc obv but any advice appreciated thanks.

Hi pinky! We are also newly TTC and I've been on citalopram for 2 years. 40mg a day, I've just started to reduce the dose, drs advised to lower by 10mg a week then one every other day for 2weeks. I'm not sure if you can stay on it as im ready to stop taking it anyway so it's hopefully not going to be an issue. I think you might be able to just go on a very low dose, what level are you on ATM?
CG

Hi I'm faith. I talked my friend who is a GP about this because I've had citalopram for anxiety in the past with great success. The problem with citalopram is that there's no evidence that it's not harmful in pregnancy. If you think you're ready to ttc and to stop the mess, obviously speak to your GP. If you do find you still need the meda - bearing in mind if you have a long ttc, and I hope sincerely you don't!, but ttc can be very stressful...there are alternatives to citalopram that are thought to be safe in pregnancy so you Amy be able to switch drugs. Hth and all the best ttc when you do start.

Thanks ladies, well atm I'm only on 20mg if I'm honest I think I'll be on it another 6 months at least, I was terrible last summer I'd just burst into tears for no reason and felt constantly on edge and had no idea why, was a very strange time for me x

I think you need to get to your GP sooner rather than later. Did you not speak to them before ttc?
Also have you had counselling to get to the root of your anxiety?

No basically we just decided it was the right time and I came off the pill, not sure what the root of the problems were is tried counselling an meditation but only calmed me for a few weeks medication was the last resort. I was looking for a new house at the time, lots of stress at work an problems with (now ex) friends all just got on top of me I think. I'll make an appointment next week x

I think it's a good plan. They'll advise you on citalopram and pregnancy, AFAIK it doesn't affect getting pregnant, but there's limited research into the effects during pregnancy but your GP will know more than I do! Good luck :)

i took citalopram during my preg with baby no 5, it was ok by mh team and consultant at hospital, i reduced to 10mg and after dd was born stayed in 24hrs just to check she was ok, tiny tiny risk of withdrawl type symptoms in baby apparenlty but i was bfeeding so she will have got a low dose through the milk? anyway she was absolutely fine and i came off it when she was 4mths ish?

check with a gp but they may just say its not ok, get a second opinion and speak to someone who specialises in mh and pregnancy if you can :)

Thanks ladies x

My doc changed me to Sertraline when I said we were ttc. Tough transition period but meant to be much safer in pg. Best of luck.

See I worry if I change or come off too soon I'll start slipping, it's worked wonders for the anxiety and panic attacks, will se what doc has to say x

I came off mine each time, steady withdrawal over a month, and was fine. You'll know when you're ready. For a while, I couldn't imagine life without them. Then suddenly, I hated taking them because I knew I was strong enough without them. I couldn't wait to stop then. As long as you do it under the advice of your GP, steadily, you'll be fine.

I've started to forget sometimes which to me is good as the first few months literally as soon as I woke up I'd remember, last week it got to 5pm before I remembered