PREGNANT - sertraline or fluoxetine. help me!

[xxJaslynxx]

Hello everyone,

I am planning my second pregnancy and have been advised by my doctor to change AD'S. I am taking citalopram at the moment and am being advised to take either sertraline or fluoxetine. I am very confused, I was really anxious and scared when I first started on my AD'S and its kind of scary to think of starting something new.

I was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice and maybe some more info on any of these meds.

THANKS

Citalopram was not good for me at all but Sertraline was a winner!

I think the thing with AD's is that it is completely individual. You probably need to give either a go and see if it suits you. It will be very hard to tell from posts here what would work best for you.

I don't know if one the other is better though during pregnancy, maybe another poster will...

Don't be too scared as something will work and be ok for pregnancy I am sure.

Hi,

Thought it might help if I emailed you my experience though as lucy101 says, ADs are completely individual.

I am about 5 wks pregnant with no 1 (well am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be as had a MMC last January - fell pregnant exactly the same time this year so trying not to dwell on that...).

Anyway, I have had for years and years anxiety/OCD and was on Fluoxetine (Prozac) but started to came off about 6 mths before I got married last year as we knew we wanted ttc straight away. Fell pregnant quickly but to be honest my anxiety had been creeping back as the ADs had left my system (I stopped my CBT at the same time - never a good idea!)and I was so so anxious when I found out I was pregnant.

Anyway, long story but went back on them after ERPC in January but my lovely GP read this summer that new research has shown that Fluoxetine can increase neonatal heart defects from 1 to 2% - very minimal but we discussed and decided to move me on to Sertraline as you can breastfeed on it so it's likely to be marginally safer. Been on it since early October (100mg a day) and spoke to my GP after getting my BFP last week and decided as I've been doing really well with my CBT I should reduce to 50mg a day. However, she said that my mental health is so much more important to my baby than the potential risks of taking ADs, so if I get anxious I won't hesitate to go back up to 100mg.

Hope that helps and very best wishes x

Thanks girls...

It's nice to read other people's experiences, although i know everyone is gonna react differently to AD'S it just helps when you hear from other people.

I am very anxious, when i had my first child I wasn't on any medication, I was a single parent and everything was just drama after drama but somehow i was really calm and relaxed through pregnancy. after having my little girl for about 6-9 months i was numb and just blocking everything out. Then all of a sudden I ended up in a deep depression and after struggling for the last couple of years i felt citalopram was working, so really nervous to change.

Hope evryone keeps writting on their experiences as it does help.

THANK YOU. xx

Absolutely, it really does help to hear about others experiences and I know lots of people out there who are on ADs or have had huge anxiety when pregnant or with a new baby so we must remember that!

Sounds like you'd been through a really tough time xxJaslynxx so you're bound to feel nervous. However, it sounds like you have a sensible GP so see what they say. I had hideous depression/anxiety earlier this year and never thought I'd get better again so I too was really nervous about changing to Sertraline but I'm pleased to say that I've not noticed any difference at all. I know lots of other people who have changed ADs and as far as I know no-one has dipped from doing so. It's very good to be aware of it though so that you can put lots of things in place before you do change i.e. talk to friends and family before so that they are aware you are changing meds and ease your foot off the pedal for a while so that you're not committing to too much.

If your new ADs don't work then you can always go back on Citalopram. xx