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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

on citalapram while pregnant

18 replies

greenj1 · 06/12/2012 21:04

Hi, Im on 20mg of citalapram a day have been on them for 6 years. I was wondering whether anyone else has been on antidepressents while pregnant(im 6 weeks) There is a lot of conflicting information on the net and I have managed to scare myself silly : ( So if anyone has personal experience with this I would love to hear about it!

OP posts:

MyLittleAprilSunshine · 06/12/2012 21:07

I am still on 50mg of sertraline at the moment and at 22 weeks. They tried to ween me off but due to all my hormonal changes, it didn't work and felt a bit miserable, so stuck to just a low dose. I was on 150mg though so not bad considering.

There is a lot of mixed things being said about this. Mostly because there is a slight risk of problems, but most woman don't generally suffer with them. For example, my baby could be born a bluish colour when born, but apparently this wont mean she isn't breathing or anything. I am sure there must be some other issues too, but I can't look them up as it only makes me paranoid.

My doctor said the risk of forcing me off them would be more than the chance of anything bad happening to baby, which made me feel a little more confident.

Original poster

greenj1 · 06/12/2012 21:15

I have tried to come of my tablets before and the withdrawel is horrendous :( so im thinking maybe better for baby if im not stressed? I did read that citalapram can cause spontaneous abortion, other posts said it was really safe!!!??? I hope my doctor is like yours and doesnt force me of them

OP posts:

MyLittleAprilSunshine · 06/12/2012 21:24

Your doctor should look at the pros and cons and decide if there is a sufficient enough risk that something bad would happen to the baby if you didn't come off. If there isn't enough evidence or the risk is very low, I doubt very much they will try and force you to come off. It's remarkably hard to try and come off medication when your hormones are unbalanced already.

I hope things go okay for you :)

Ellypoo · 06/12/2012 21:24

I am on citalopram 20mg and am 18 weeks pg. I tried to come off them but it wasn't pretty! I spoke to my consultant about them, and she said that the benefit to me offset any risk, and gave me a plan to come off them gradually a few weeks before birth if I felt up to it, but not to worry if I can't because they will deal with it if necessary.
GP also said they were safe before prescribing them as we were TTC at the time.

LetMeAtTheWine · 06/12/2012 21:54

I used to be on venlafaxine but came off them in May and was fine until I fell pregnant in September. Dr was reluctant to put me on venlafaxine again so started me in citalopram as it is considered to be safe during pregnancy.
I have done some research on internet and found something saying it increased the chance of something bad happening by 1%. I would like to think that it wouldn't be prescribed as a new medication if it wasn't safe? Think it does affect breast feeding but not certain about it...

looloo13 · 06/12/2012 23:07

HI I was citropram for 12 years but managed to come of before conceiving as doctor said it would be best, dont get me wrong its been very very hard but fingers crossed im 3 months pregnant and been off them for 5 months now, it does get easier as time goes on and hoping I can keep off them for good now but understand how hard it is x

emblosion · 07/12/2012 00:08

I'm on Sertraline 100mg and have decided to continue for now (I'm 9 weeks) after getting advice from my gp and psych consultant. The plan is to aim to wean down to as low a dose as possible in the third trimester (hopefully stop completely) and go back on them after the birth.

The Dr told me the main prob can be withdrawal in the baby, hence reducing dose/stopping in 3rd trimester as this will reduce/remove the risk of this happening. There also has been a study on ssri's which found a tiny (1% or less I think) increased risk of heart defects but I think the study was on fluoxetine (prozac) so same class of drug, but not what I'm on.

It's basically an informed choice, for me the risk to my mental health outweighs the risk of being on my meds. My son is still a baby so I have to be well and able to look after him, that was a big factor in my decision too.

Fwiw, my gp and consultant both told me anecdotally that they have never personally known any babies born with probs relating to mums on anti-d's. Apparently there are lots of us out there!

Hope everything goes well for you OP :)

emblosion · 07/12/2012 00:11

Ps. The most annoying thing was that my consultant was going to discharge me (hooray) but now won't until I'm through pregnancy and the newborn weeks. I actually feel fine at the moment, but I guess its good that the support is there if my mood does deteriorate.

Original poster

greenj1 · 07/12/2012 00:14

Yeah a lot of us on antidepressants.ideally i would love to be of them,I just don't know if I can :(

OP posts:

emblosion · 07/12/2012 00:25

green have you talked to your doctor about it? It might be that they'll think about reducing your dose down really slowly or something if that's what you want?

Don't beat yourself up about needing to be on them though. It's important for you to be well too.

cupcake78 · 07/12/2012 05:16

I'm on 50mg of sertraline and 11 wks. The risks are low, very low. My GP and I did alot of research in this before I got pregnant and basically concluded evidence of increased risk is rare, most studies support an average rate of problems but can't rule out the drugs having the effect.

She and my consultant both say they've not seen any increase and if any problem was present it could just as easily of been naturally occurring.

marshkat · 07/12/2012 20:53

Hey! bit late i know but i'm on fluoxitine 40mg and i went cold turkey on GP advice for first 10 weeks, but this was really bad and actually ruined the first part of my pregnancy for me and my family. I'm now back to my semi happy self at 24 weeks! I am NOT coming off which also means i will not be able to breast feed but the good outweighs the bad! Good luck everyone! xxx

narmada · 07/12/2012 21:19

Being on antidepressants does NOT mean you can't breastfeed if you want to - bad advice from your GP there! check out breastfeeding network's leaflets on drugs and brestfeeding.

DewDr0p · 07/12/2012 21:25

I was taking a different anti-d when I became pg and my cons advised that I should switch to citalapram - he has a reputation for being super-cautious but was very relaxed about me taking it. He also said he had not known of any patient to have ill effects. I also took it when bfing.

marshkat - definitely double check on the bfing - fluoxetine is very similar to citalapram afaik and I very successfully bf'd ds3 while taking it.

narmada · 07/12/2012 21:35

Sertraline considered med of choice for breastfeeding as seems to have lowest transfer rate into milk. I know friends that have fed on citalopram and fluoxetine too, though.

thingamajig · 07/12/2012 21:42

I was on a high dose of citalopram (60mg) throughout both my pregnancies. I also breastfed both times, all on the advice of my GP. It is easy to scare yourself silly on the internet though. Did you know that it is possible to get a review of all the up to date research from the hospital pharmacist - either you or you GP can request this. If I were you I would stay on it, I know/know of too many people who have had dire effects from stopping when they weren't ready, and the risk to the baby is very minimal.
Congratulations on your pregnancy, and enjoy it

Original poster

greenj1 · 07/12/2012 22:43

Well i am feeling a little bit better now! I will make appointment with dr next week, I expect they will fit me in after xmas as it is near impossible to get an appointment! Hoping my doc is not to cautious and will keep me on them, if i could lower the dosage that will be great but Im not going to beat myself up over it

OP posts:

thingamajig · 07/12/2012 22:51

I think 20 mg is the lowest effective dose, so I would stick with what you are on.

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