I've just been prescribed Prozac for AND

[naturelover]

Has anyone else taken Prozac in pregnancy?

This is the first time I'll have taken ADs in my life, but I realise looking back that this unshakeable low feeling dates from the start of my pregnancy, so I asked my GP for help. I'm 23 weeks pregnant.

She has requested counselling for me too, but that might take a few weeks.

I'm pretty nervous about taking ADs for the first time, worried about side effects, about dependency, about it jeapordising my home birth plans (DD was born at home, I'd like to do the same again), about how/when to come off.

And of course a niggling worry that it might harm my baby.

Looking back I think I've been depressed (not severe) several times in my life before, but I've never really considered medication till now.

Have any of you faced this before? I could do with some hand-holding.

Thanks

I started taking Prozac when I was about 11 weeks pg. It didn't work for me (but doesn't mean it won't for you), and now am finally on a high enough dose of Citalopram and am starting to feel better (am 25 weeks now).

Obviously can't say yet if it has affected baby, but IMO and the GP's opinion, the slight risks are outweighed by the fact that I can't take care of myself and prepare for the baby without something being done. It wasn't a decision taken lightly, and they are generally reluctant to give you anything in pregnancy unless you really need it.

My situation is a bit different to yours. I've got recurrent major depression that was well controlled by ADs before getting pregnant. I stopped taking venlafaxine to get pregnant, and it turns out that was probably a bad decision. I should have transitioned to something that was considered more safe in pregnancy rather than stopping ADs completely.

Others will have to answer about the home birth plans as I've not got any experience to share. I will say coming off any SSRI can be difficult, but certainly not impossible. As for side effects, I generally never had a problem with Prozac (had taken it one other time in my life before this). There should be a leaflet with the medication that will list potential side effectsmost of the common ones being mildly irritating rather than really problematic (things like dry mouthsucking on hard candy can help).

I do wish you the best of luck. Remember you are doing this so you will be able to function better and ultimately take care of your baby and other DC effectively.