Pregnant and coming off anti-depressants

[BBell2]

Im 8wks pg. Have taken Sertraline a low dose SSRI since having DD. I struggled massively after I had her, but realized how bad it was when I got back to work, so 15 months. Its kept me sane, its been incredible. I walk and jog and started a load of activities that keep me happy but are mainly on an evening when I now feel sick (I know it wont last) . Finding out I was PG I spoke to my nurse and we agreed Id go without. We spoke about antenatal counselling (it didnt work before im quite convinced what I have is more like PMDD than PND, very hormonally driven) but referred by the mid-wife who im not seeing for another three weeks. I was ok apart from being quite spaced out and not concentrating on what people are saying but ive had a bad weekend, ratty, crying, just reacted completely unreasonably to a poor unfortunate ebay buyer who must think im crackers. Ive had a few bleeds so dont want to run, dont want to tell anyone and upset them later. OH isnt great at this stuff when it comes to me. My mum knows but we never spoke about the depression, she knows but is a bit head in the sand. Even this im quite aware is a bit ranty! Can a DR push through antenatal services? and what excersize would you do? does it get easier?

Sounds like you're struggling too much. I'd head to gp and get back on something. Did you slowly come off sertraline? Or cold turkey? Some ADs are discouraged during pregnancy and none are proven 100% safe because they can't test on pregnant women. See your gp to make sure it's safe, but sounds like this isn't the best time to come off them??

Definitely go back to your GP. I was on Sertraline also. Started to wean off. One 50mg every other day for 4 weeks then one every 2days for a month then stopped altogether. Apparently it's one of the safer ADs to take in pregnancy. If I was still highly anxious/depressed I would have went back on even at a lower dose. MW advised to see GP if I started to feel low again. Please don't struggle in silence!

I’m still on 25mg of setraline my gp recommended I stay on as I was stressed/anxious in the beginning , I’m 23 weeks now il probably stick with it throughout my preg as he said it’s the safest one

Sertraline is actually one of the anti depressants that is widely used in pregnancy. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I’m so sorry you’re feeling like this.

Thank you! We didn't talk about lower dose or coming off slowly, I was proactive in going in before getting pregnant to discuss with him and I got the "not tested on pregnant women" line - like all medicines then. I thought I could do without and agreed and I'm not sure why, normal me would have argued a shit load. Thank you, @sh13 will ask about the lower dose - I'm certain it's better than stressing out and affecting baby and upsetting my toddler!

Definitely!! Coming off cold turkey can also make everything 10 x worse!!! I slowly came off my tiny dose of fluoxetine in early pregnancy. Took it every other day for like 3 weeks and then every third day for another 2 weeks. I've had my moments, but mostly been ok since then.

Ask for a referral to the perinatal psychiatric team. I really don't think the nurse and midwife are qualified to help with your mental health and deciding what if any drugs you should be on.