Advice on harmful medications / other things not to take while pregnant? - Meds for IBS / Mental Health / Alcohol and Coffee

[KarmaGirl45]

I've recently found out I am pregnant (unexpected but now accepted)
I'm apparently 6 weeks along. I'd been taking a lot of medications for the first 5 and a half weeks before I realised I was pregnant :(
I've been on;
Concerta XL 72mg / Lamotrogine 200mg / Buscopan 10mg 6-8 times a day / Colofac 135mg 1-3 times a day
; for years upon years (I'm 22 now and have been on all of those for up to 5 years except the concerta which has been over 10 years)
I found out all of those are not to be taken while pregnant.

I spoke to my GP today and have stopped the buscopan/colofac and was advised to decrease the lamotrogine by 50mg a week and then stop it completely and to straight away go down to 36mg concerta for 2 weeks then 18mg for a few weeks and then stop.

But I'm freaking out thinking I've already done enough damage especially as I was drinking a lot of alcohol and coffee and monster energy drinks up until finding out I was pregnant and for a week and I had the flu for a week and a half before finding out so was taking a lot of ibuprofen and cough medicine :(

I'm so worried and convinced I've already hurt the baby that I'm seriously considering an abortion because I'd hate to know my child has to live with a life changing condition thanks to me or even worse doesn't survive after birth thanks to me. I don't want to have an abortion but I feel it's the most selfless thing to do. Why should they suffer because of me??

I'm also so worried about coming off my medications.
I NEED them :(
I've wanted to come off the concerta for a while now but haven't due to the INSANE hunger withdrawal side effects and scatter brain due to ADHD
The Lamotrogine is taken for mental health so ofcourse I'm freaking out about what will happen as a result of stopping that so suddenly especially as I'm most definitely not in a place to be stopping that.
My IBS is also really bad so stopping those meds has been hell. I haven't been on those for a week now and It's horrible. I'm constantly bloated and have the worst stomach pains and it makes the nausea SOOO much worse as that's a daily symptom I get from IBS even with the meds. Luckily my IBS doesn't really affect me in the more typical way it does other people but believe me it's still an absolute nightmare.

I'd just like to know from anyone else who was taking any one or mixture of the meds I mentioned and/or alcohol and/ or lots of caffeine etc if there unborn child came to any harm due to it?
Also for the ADHD meds (that specific one or any other as they're all pretty much the same right?) and the Lamotrogine (if taken for mental health) how did you cope coming off it? What should I expect??

I've been told lamotrogine can cause cleft lip and spina bifida among other things? I'm so very scared for my child :( and feel so very guilty already...

Literally any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thankyou :D

Hi @KarmaGirl45 firstly try not to panic (stupid to say I know but still)!
I personally take lamotrogine and citalopram and am 14 weeks with a healthy bean. I take extra folic acid to counterbalance any issues which touch wood seems to be doing the trick so far.
My MH is too much to try and come off my meds all together, so for now I'm sticking at a slightly reduced level of 20mg citalopram and 150mg lamotrogine.
I'm happy to keep up to date with you about how things develop, especially since next Monday I'm meeting with the perinatal mental health team locally so might be handy.
I've had a healthy 12 week scan with low risk results for all the scary syndromes. Fingers crossed you have a similar story to tell in a few weeks.
You are not alone! Xx

As PP said, try not to panic. I cant talk about the meds you are on but I had a serious horse riding accident before I knew I was pregnant. I broke 4 ribs and lacerated my liver. I was in hospital for 10 days in which time I had every painkiller under the sun, including enough morphine to knock out an elephant and had my ribs pinned and plated under general anaesthtic.

I then found out I was pregnant 10 days after coming out of hospital at which point I was already 5 weeks.

I have had extra scans and spoken with drs and consultants and happily 24 weeks pregnant. All the drs and consultants said that at that early stage none of the major organs have started developing and the baby hasnt started taking nutrients from you either. So I really wouldnt worry about the past few weeks but speak to your dr about how to manage going forwards

Oh and I had numerous xrays and CT scans as well

Thanks for the messages guys, sorry I never responded. Was just really stuggling with the pregnancy mentally and physically so closed myself off from everything related to it. I needed time to accept it.
I decided to just continue with the pregnancy and hope for the best. I haven't had any scans yet though and have this horrible feeling like something is wrong, especially as I've had to continue taking some of my meds because my health can't handle me stopping.
Hopefully everything is ok though...
Thanks for the messages though they really did help :)

@KarmaGirl45 try not to worry too much - it's the Mum gulf and anxiety talking. The docs will weigh up the risks against the risk of coming off your meds too quickly if at all. Until the placenta is formed at about 6 weeks I don't think anything passes to baby anyway. You'll have regular check ups and anything you can take to counter act risks will be offered. Keep talking to you gp and midwife so they can ensure you've got the right balance.

Hi Karma how are you doing?

I’m 10 weeks pregnant and take lamotrigine and sertraline. I’ve seen a peri-natal psychiatrist who wants me to stay on lamotrigine and maybe even up my dose. They’d like me to try and stop the sertraline but are happy if I stay on it.

I think it would definitely be worth you asking to see a member of the mental health team (preferably with an interest in peri-natal mental health). It’s not as simple as just stopping everything as of your mental health gets worse than that has a negative effect on baby too. Also if you experience lots of withdrawal effects this can also affect baby.

I hope you can get some answers soon x

@Everstrong
Hi!
I'd like to respond to your post privately, hope that's ok?
Thank you for the message :)

Hey, @KarmaGirl45 how did everything turn out?