switching ADs in pregnancy

[ithoughtofitfirst]

Hi all

I tried posting this in aibu and it died a death so I thought here might be better.

I have decided I really want to BF dc2 as I did with my now 2yo ds. The only thing is I will have to switch from my current med Venlafaxine to sertraline. I am really willing to give this a try since my life circumstances are totally different now to what they were when I stated on ADs and I use Cbt and meditation now to beat the blues.

I wanted to know if anyone has experienced this? Or anything similar?

I really want to BF again because in my depression last time it was the only thing that cheered me up and made me feel confident.

Venlafaxine is super difficult to come off, in fact my doctor advised me to stay on it while pregnant because the withdrawal symptoms could be more harmful than the drug itself!

I'm on 37.5mg 2x a day. Have been on it since I was 24, I'm now 33. My dose has been as high as 150mg XR in the past, and each reduction in dose has come with horrid side-effects.

I'm nearly 35 weeks now, and every scan/indicator is that my baby is perfectly healthy and happy in there!

Oh, and I am planning to breastfeeding on venlafaxine, btw...

I came off 300mg venlafaxine onto 100mg sertraline with surprisingly few side effects, actually. I remember the brain zaps and the withdrawal like it was yesterday, but I didn't get any when I was transferring. I came off venlafaxine very slowly and reduced by a few mg at a time. It is a bitch, but done properly, it doesn't have to be scary. Do not stop taking them suddenly. Good luck :)

Thank you for replying . I know some consultants will allow breastfeeding with Venlafaxine but none of the ones in my area will. I wish they would... that would make my life a lot easier. Continuing to take it will mean that I am forced in to doing things I'm uncomfortable with like staying in hospital for a while to monitor the baby for withdrawal and FF and I have 10 weeks left and am getting really anxious and unhappy about the prospect of those things.

I just want to be home with my son and baby asap and breastfeeding happily like I did last time.

I am obviously scared of Venlafaxine withdrawal though :(

Thanks peace I really want to give it a go

You're welcome. I'd been on 300mg for around 7-8 years so I was afraid I'd have built up such a resistance it would be horrendous. But it wasn't so bad in the end; make sure you have plenty of support around you as I did get pretty tearful and emotional.

Forgot to ask peace did you cross taper them??

I think you can decide to breastfeed your child regardless of what consultants say!

I was thinking that mrsgembles I might just do it anyway. I would prefer to be on sertraline though for a whole host of reasons. I actually think I responded netters to it anyway

No, I came off the venlafaxine very slowly on it's own, and then at the end when I got to about 50mg (I think) switched over. It was about two-three years ago now. It took a good few months to taper off, though.

Oh and I started on 50mg sertraline of course.

Thanks peace I am currently on 225 but I've only got 10 weeks left in my pregnancy so feel I need to get the ball rolling asap if I'm going to do this. Typically my psychiatrist is taking forever to get back to me. My only other option would be to just ignore the advice of the consultant and breastfeed on Venlafaxine.

I'm waiting on a call from my hospital's breastfeeding specialist to discuss BFing on venlafaxine. I'll let you know what she says. 225mg sounds like a v high dose to come off...

Oh I hope your discussion goes well mrsgembles . Most likely your decision to breastfeed will be all that matters to them Xx