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Original poster

just been prescribed seroxat while breastfeeding - just read all the bad press am now scared

34 replies

vnmum · 23/10/2006 22:07

ive just been prescribed seroxat (paroxetine) for depression as GP said is was one of the best for brestfeeding. i have just read all the bad press on the internet about the side effects, suicidal tendencies and withdrawal. addictive problems and am now abit scared. should i start taking it or should i go back to GP and ask for another AD instead?

OP posts:
hairymclary · 23/10/2006 22:11

i would never, ever take seroxat.
go back and ask for something else. seriously.

PeppermintHippo · 23/10/2006 22:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

carolcoles · 23/10/2006 22:15

I had this stuff a few years ago only for a relatively short time but I didn't have any nasty side effects.
Not sure if thats any help to you. Remember they have to put all possible side effect on even if it's a 1/100000000 chance of it happening. Try reading the side effects for anything even the pill or normal painkillers!!!!!! It's scary

naswm · 23/10/2006 22:16

I'd ask for something other than seroxat. Good luck Nx

Beauregard · 23/10/2006 22:18

Best ad i was ever given
Wondered why i haven't been offered it again ,the only withdrawal effect was the brain shivers but ive had this with other ad's so is no worse.

alibubbles · 24/10/2006 12:20

DON"T take seroxat! It is hell to get off. I took it for 2.5 years, I now take Prozac with no side effects.

My friend had prozac and she was breast feeding, came off it easily and it didn't affect baby.

MrsOhHu · 24/10/2006 13:58

I was on Sertraline for ages to fend off pnd with dd#1. I was told that it was fine for bf and fine for pg. Depression is so miserable and far worse for the baby! I took Prozac for nearly 10 years and had no probs coming off it. If you have doubts, talk to your gp.

Original poster
vnmum · 24/10/2006 19:49

thanks everyone, after much deliberation and a chat with GP on phone i have decided to continue with the seroxat and hope for the best. he gave it to me because of the short half life with breastfeeding and that it can be fairly quick to start working. i took my first one this morning and apart from feeling like ive had one too many glasses of wine ive been ok. if i have any bad side effects within the first week then i will change. it may be the placebo effect but i do seem to have felt abit on a buzz today with more energy and more alert.

if i have problems coming off it then i'll have to cross that bridge then but i know you can get withdrawal symptoms from any AD, my DH is testament to that.

thanks again everyone, i did take all your opinions on board and i hope ive made the right decision

OP posts:
hairymclary · 24/10/2006 20:23

it's all very well for anecdotal advice 'i took it and i'm fine'
but the fact is that the side effects like suicidal tendencies, self harming and horrific withdrawal are NOT rare.
Glaxosmithkline knew about them after the drug was tested, LIED about it, got it licensed then LIED again when asked if they had known about these side effects from the testing process.

I would never take it in a million years.

hairymclary · 24/10/2006 20:25

Guardian
Britain's bestselling antidepressant, Seroxat, can cause adults as well as children to become
suicidal, according to the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline.
GSK, which for years denied there was a problem with the drug, has sent a letter to all doctors in
Britain warning of the potential risk in some adult patients. The company has reanalysed data
from the clinical trials of the drug and found that significantly more adults who were given Seroxat
became suicidal than those given a placebo. Seroxat has been banned from use in children by
the UK drug regulator for the same reason. The revelation came as the health secretary, Patricia
Hewitt, declared the end of the "Prozac nation" yesterday, launching a programme to cut the
numbers of patients on drugs such as Prozac and Seroxat and extend counselling to the
thousands of people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

Original poster
vnmum · 24/10/2006 20:29

i take it this news was only out recently? i have a face to face appointment with GP on monday to see how im getting on. i will take along info that ive got off internet and see what solution we can come to. just out of interest are the suicidal thoughts after its been taken for a while or at the beginning?

OP posts:
hairymclary · 24/10/2006 20:30

Withdrawal problems occur more commonly with paroxetine than with the other SSRIs. It is probable that these problems are associated with the fact that paroxetine has a short half-life, which means that it is metabolised and cleared from the body in a relatively short time. Withdrawal from drugs which have a long half-life (including Prozac) is naturally slower and more gradual than with those with a short half-life, and so causes fewer problems.

(that's from Mind)

hairymclary · 24/10/2006 20:34

sorry to bombard you
this is frm the breastfeedingnetwork:\

The newer treatment for depression involves SSRIs which have far fewer side effects than tri-cyclics and act by inhibiting re-uptake of serotonin into neurones in the central nervous system. The majority of manufacturers have not conducted clinical trials on the use in lactation and in the Summary of Product characteristics recommend that they are not used by breastfeeding mothers. Their use is therefore off-licence and at the discretion and responsibility of the prescribing physician.
Side effects include nausea which may be particularly marked in the early weeks of therapy, diarrhoea, headache, insomnia and agitation. They are safer than the tri-cyclics in overdose. It may be difficult to differentiate the side effects of the drugs from the symptoms of depression so it may seem that the drugs are not being effective in the early weeks of therapy.

Paroxetine ( Seroxat) - has a half life of 21 hours and reaches a peak after 5-8 hours. One case reports levels in breast milk below the level of detection in 16 infants exposed to levels up to 50mg per day (dose normally 20-30mg daily) through their mother's breastmilk. There are reports of neonatal withdrawal syndrome in newborns exposed to paroxetine in utero. Symptoms include jitteriness, vomiting, irritability and hypoglycaemia.

hairymclary · 24/10/2006 20:35

suicidal thoughts tend to be at the beginning, or when you're coming off.
GSK has been taken to court at LEAST a year ago. this isn't new news

Original poster
vnmum · 24/10/2006 20:45

thanks for al that i will discuss with GP, may even phone again tomorrow. i know from experience with DH earlier in the year that other SSRI's can leave you feeling more suicidal than before starting taking them as DH was given prozac and was admitted to psych ward after about 6 or 8 weeks on it as he was getting worse and was planning his suicide. he was then changed on to metazapine as they said prozac wasnt working for him.

maybe ive accepted it from the GP because i so desperately want the help to get away from how im feeling and am feeling too "cant be arsed" to really push it, IYSWIM

OP posts:
dizzydesperatehousewife · 24/10/2006 21:23

A little information and not all the facts is very dangerous and can lead to some very misleading advice.
Seroxat is fine to breastfeed on and although has received very bad press is fine as a AD.
Suicide on seroxat is not because of the drug. The people who killed themselves would of done so anyway on other AD but for some reason the press and the legal system got hold of seroxat and used it as a scapegoat.
When some people are clinically depressed if they are bad enough they have no motivation, they are numb they don't bother to kill themselves as that would take too much effort. When they take an AD their mood lifts a little and they become more motivated it is at this point that they end their life. It is very sad and it is very rare.
Seroxat does not twist your thoughts and make you commit suicide. Scaremongering rubbish!
The reason Dr. are happy to prescribe it during bf is because there is very little evidence that it does any harm, although a lower dose is advisable. If the risk outways the benefit they will px. Withdrawl fromm ssri in babies is associated with very high doses and is very rare it is more likely to occur after birth rather than through bf.
What drug suits one person might not suit another there as just as many people who have benefited from seroxat as have had a bad time on it as with any drug.
My friend is a consultant psychiatrist with a lot of experience and would be happy to prescribe seroxat to a bf mother with pnd. If it didn't suit then he would change to another ssri probably cipramil.

hairymclary · 24/10/2006 21:26

suicidal thoughts and self harming on seroxat HAVE been proved, as has the harsh withdrawal.
GSK have since written to GP's and have had the licence for treating under 18's with it withdrawn.

that isn't scaremongering. that's the company that make it admitting that they knew of these side effects (once it came out in court) and changing their story.

dizzydesperatehousewife · 24/10/2006 21:39

Are you a consultant pychiatrist hairymclary?

hairymclary · 24/10/2006 21:44

I fail to see what my occupation has to do with it. I am more than capable of reading all the research on it, statements from GSK etc etc
I'd be interested to know if your friend has.

Obviously you know best though, what with having a friend who is a psych and all. Who am I to argue

Quadrofiendia · 24/10/2006 21:46

Seroxat made me very ill, i was advised to stop breastfeeding with it.

dizzydesperatehousewife · 24/10/2006 21:49

I'll take it thats a no then lol!

PeppermintHippo · 24/10/2006 21:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hairymclary · 24/10/2006 21:57

take it however you like, I don't like to reveal personal info on the net.
and I don't think it makes a difference either way.

I could be a well-read consultant psychiatrist. I could be a GP. I could be a member of the public who has read everything available about paroxetine.

It doesn't really matter does it? you're insinuating that because your friend is a psychiatrist then s/he MUST know more about it than anyone else.

Gobbledispook · 24/10/2006 22:12

look here

vnmum - there are lots of publications here. Item 5. is a simple Q&A you could read.

MHRA is the UK regulatory body - they are independent of government and the pharma industry so the advice is not biased.

HTH.

willow2 · 24/10/2006 23:00

Seroxat has been heavily linked to suicide - particularly, and bizarrely, hangings. To suggest otherwise is complete and absolute tosh.