Fluxoetine during pregnancy

[OneLittleManOneInOven]

Hi I'm suffering from depression and anxiety which I have done for awhile, doctor has prescribed me fluoxetine during pregnancy. Any experiences anyone can share with me as Im quite nervous about taking them :(

It's ok and has a reasonable safety profile. Some slight evidence that babies born on it are a little jittery but honestly, the advice is that if you need it, take it. You being depressed is more of a danger to the child. You could talk to your doc about weaning off it in the third trimester if you wanted, but it is important to have your symptoms under control, especially to avoid pnd

I was prescribed it with my first pregnancy and I was on a low dose.
It was my last resort but the dr's knew best and I have to be honest it made me feel 100% better, took a couple of weeks to kick in though. my daughter was born @37weeks (low % of going into prem labour on them) and we had to stay in over night as she was quite shakey/jittery but she was perfectly healthy. It was just because the tablets had also gone through to her. Also they didn't allow me to breastfeed as I was still on them but that was 8years ago so not sure if that's changed.
You need to feel better so don't be worried to take them. The Dr wouldn't prescribe them to you if it wasn't beneficial to you at this time.
Good luck xx

I was on it during my pregnancy with DD and during this pregnancy, and I was on it while breastfeeding DD. As far as I can tell, it hasn't caused any problems, unless it causes stubbornness or selective hearing in toddlers.

I'm on 10mg (liquid), no problems or side effects this far (32w)

I was told it increased the risk of a heart defect in babies but risk was still small.

The breastfeeding network website usually has good info on safe drugs.

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for the reassurance ladies I feel more confident in taking them now. The doctor has said I can't take them any time of day but does anybody recommend a particular time of day ie. Morning or bedtime? I am 15+4 and have been suffering with sickness everyday so any tips on how to avoid being sick after taking them would be great, do they even make you sick? Sorry to go on

My pharmacist said they work better in the morning. Perhaps try to take them after food?

Are you taking pregnacare too? I found they made me throw up if I took them before food so I started taking them in the evening.

Yes I am taking pregnacare! I took a fluoxetine last night before bedtime, no sickness but I did find sleeping difficult, suppose it's one of the side affects. I can cope with almost anything but sickness so I'm feeling positive today :) Thank you

I take mine before bed, I doubt it matters as long as long as you take them the same time each day

Hi onelittlemanoneinoven! I'm new to mumsnet - first post :) 6 weeks tomorrow :) I'm on fluvoxamine - similar to fluoxetine I think. Been on it for 10 years and did try to come off it really slowly before trying for a baby. But I found it too difficult. I had a lovely GP who got me a meeting with a consultant obstetrician. I work in science research and spent some time going through medical studies about all this. We talked for 30 mins, went through all the info - NICE guidelines etc. It was so helpful. Basically, I came to the conclusion that there are some slight increases in risk to the baby with SSRI antidepressants. But it's only a small increase in the risk that any normal woman would have. The big decider for me was all the research that's been done on the definite risk to babies when a mother has a serious depressive/mental health episode either during pregnancy or after.

I have to say, it was still a difficult decision, and I still worry massively about my little beastie and how it's developing! But I thought a definite and substantial risk of harm from depression outweighed a small extra risk from taking the antidepressants.

The doc also chatted to me about minimising effects on the baby after it's born - maybe breastfeeding for a short while to get all that initial good stuff but then perhaps stopping after that because antidepressants do go into breast milk. She also said they'd watch the baby carefully after it was born since it might get withdrawal symptoms from the antidepressants.

sorry this is massively long - tbh it's nice to write all this out even just to help me get it all clear in my head :)