Trouble conceiving while on antidepressants?

[Bizawit]

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice/ people who might be able to share experiences. I’m having difficulties TTC #2, and I’m wondering if this could be affected by my medication? I’m currently on 100mg of setraline per day (so relatively high dose). Getting pregnant is my no. 1 priority right now, so I’m inclined to consider reducing the dose/ coming off them altogether if it might help my chances? On the other hand my mental health has been suffering a lot recently, with covid/ lockdown etc., and because of the difficulties I’m having TTC!

I’d be really interested to hear of others experiences. Has anyone had experienced TTC while on SSRIs? If so, what was your experience? Do you think it affected it? I’ve tried looking for research of course, but most studies seem to focus on outcomes when already pregnant.

There are some risks associated with taking antidepressants during pregnancy. Some are less risky than others, so please do speak to your GP before trying to conceive while medicated.

Thanks v much for your reply @Ohalrightthen.

I’m aware of the risks associated with antidepressants whilst pregnant. (I’m on sertraline which is one of the safest/ recommended drugs to take whilst pregnant).

What I’m not sure about is the impact the drug might have on success TTC? I’m wondering if this might be why I’m having trouble, So looking for any insight/ experiences..

X

Hiya

I am also on sertraline 100mgs. I have spoken with my GP, consultant psychiatrist at work and with gynecologist and nobody has mentioned that it impacts conception rate. It is likely something that isn't studied, instead they've likely looked at risks to pregnancy.

If it helps; I got pregnant on it, but unfortunately had a MMC, so am still on it and trying again

I was in your exact same position. I was on fluoxetine for several years on and off. I decided it would be best to try to conceive if nothing was in my system however after about 8 months of ttc I could not take the stress of ttc among over things and became very depressed so I went on sertraline around June 2020. I was also on 100mg and it really helped me and I stopped obsessing about ttc because of the SSRIs. I conceived 2 months later still on sertraline, completely unexpected as I had stopped tracking my periods. So after so many months of struggling to cope and not conceiving, it was on sertraline that I conceived, ironically
This makes me believe SSRIs including sertraline don't have an effect on ability to conceive.
If you find them helpful, I recommend that you keep taking them as it won't make a difference to conceiving from my experience xx

@Allyy and @purplepoppet92 thank you so much for sharing your experiences ❤️.

It is reassuring to know that it’s possible, and I agree that it’s probably not a good idea to come off them given I’m already struggling.

So sorry to hear of your miscarriage @purplepoppet92 . Wishing you success for a sticky one soon.

Xx

50mg/day of sertraline here, and I've conceived three times whilst on it (1st was on the first cycle TTC, sadly ended in miscarriage, took a year to conceive the 2nd time, but led to my lovely DC1, and 3rd time again happened the first cycle and currently expecting DC2). As PPs have mentioned if there is an impact its not researched, but in my experience no impact (the year TTC was probably due to other factors, eg my body getting over the MC). Tons of good luck to you OP, hope it happens soon x

Thanks @FoggyDay58 for sharing your experience 🥰.

It’s so bizarre how one go round it can happen straight away and the next take a year.. I’m trying to get my head around it. Everything happened so fast for me the first couple of time (1st ended in a MC and second was my DD) so I’m really struggling with things not working out this time 😞. I guess I just have to keep trying...