Bipolar and Pregnancy

[mentality]

Hi to all,

My file reads:
Bipolar II, Rapid Cycling, Personality Disorder, PTSD and anxieties/phobias. Nice huh :-) Just to put you in the pretty picture.

I was on Effexor for a few months. Came off it around 6 weeks ago with Lamotrigine to take its place. 100mg x 2 daily. Was on 300mg Seroquel but cut it down myself to 50mg before bed - i was a walking zombie and couldn't look after myself let alone my children.

I missed a period on stopping the Effexor. Did tests, all negative. A few weeks later I had slight PG symptoms, DH urged me to test, had 2 BFPs and a blood test confirming that I was 3 weeks pregnant. It appears that I missed a period, thought I was PG, wasn't and got pregnant shortly after...all a mystery to me.

Now my question -- does anyone know about Seroquel during pregnancy, even a small amount like 50mg. And what about the lamotrigine?

Anyone with similar issues/been through similar?

would be glad of response.

Mentality
Preg no. 4 (fingers crossed)

bumping for you - you need answers and I have no clue

Hi I have recently been told I may have bipolar disorder and I use this support forum here There are thousands of people on here who deal with bipolar disorder and I am fairly sure one of them would be able to help.

Thank you :)

Hi mentality. I'm 26 wks pregnant with my first. I'm under the care of a really good perinatal mental health team for bipolar II, and while I'm not an expert, I can tell you what I've been doing. As soon as I found out I was pg, I talked to psychiatrist and stopped meds (300 mg of quetiapine/Seroquel). I had hyperemesis gravidarum (extreme sickness) from about 4 weeks, and at around 10 weeks, it was so bad that I couldn't eat or sleep at all. My mood plummeted. So, I went back on 50 mg of Seroquel, and I've been on it ever since.

The Perinatal MHT where I am has been really good, and they assured me that a small dose is not going to hurt baby and it's good for me.

I can't breastfeed on it, and they want me to go up to regular dose as soon as baby is born, which is disappointing, but it's better to have a healthy mum that can take care of baby.

Oops, sorry, just saw about the lamotrigine. I used to take lamotrigine a few years ago, and I seem to remember that it was contraindicated and should only be used in pregnancy if extremely necessary. You should probably talk to your GP as soon as you can, but don't stop taking it immediately (withdrawal is rough stuff).

I think your psychiatrist is the only person who can help you to be honest. Very few medications are known to be safe during pregnancy so in an ideal world no-one would take anything whilst pregnant but obviously we don't live in an ideal world.

Only a doctor who knows you would be able to weigh up the pros and cons of either coming off the meds or continuing with them. I'm bipolar and FWIW I was incredibly stable whilst pregnant and didn't need a mood stabaliser at all. I was on lithium and venlafaxine when I first fell pregnant and came off them both very quickly. I had to start taking another antidepressant (amitriptyline) pretty quickly but not a mood stabaliser although I had Stelazine on standby as a PRN med but I think I only needed it once.

You really need to talk to your doc though.

Hi all, I am currently taking 400mg Seroquel XL (Quatiapine) and I am 9 weeks pregnant. I was originally taking this alongside Depakote (Sodium Valporate), but was advised by my Psychiatrist to come off the Depakote prior to getting pregnant as there is evidence to suggest this teratogenic.

I have done a lot of soul searching with regards to maintaining a dose of Seroquel whilst pregnant, it is not an ideal situation, but in consultation with the Psych. we have decided this is the best option for me. Although studies into the risks of the effects of this drug on a baby are inconclusive (there haven't really been many as far as I know), it is still a worry for me. I'm also concerned that when (God willing) I have my baby I will struggle to care for it whilst on this dose as it causes severe drowsiness, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! Thanks to all those who have been brave an honest to write about their experiences on this subject.

Saw this and couldn't just read and run.

I was on seroquel (150mg per day) and prozac/fluoxetine for suspected bipolar II when we found out I was 20 weeks pregnant last year. I came off them slowly (with support from my GP/psychiatrist) and stopped altogether when I was ~32 weeks. I mostly made this decision because I wanted to be able to wake up during the night (it used to knock me out for a good 8 hours), we weren't 100% sure it wouldn't effect her and I wanted to try BFing.

All went well, the odd slight blip (cutting half my hair off, nothing major... ) and a few withdrawal effects (mostly from the prozac).

DD and I were kept in overnight for observation after she was born, but she was fine - actually we both were, I presumed I would get PND because I had every risk factor going but 8 months on, everything seems okay for both of us (touch wood). I haven't ruled out going back on meds if I start deteriorating, but I'm still BFing her and am coping well.

Good luck

I have been diagnosed as bipolar ten years ago. I was on lithium, lamictal, citalopram and xanax for several years until I could slowly stop taking them. I had my first child and I was doing really well during pregnancy and afterwrds. We planned to have another child and almost immediately after I found out I was pregnant I got depressed. Depression is coming and going but now I suffer from insomnia. I visited GP and I was told I wont get any medication before 12 weeks in over. She gave me a referral but this insomnia is making me mad.