Taking antipressants during pregnancy?

[Mocat]

Is there anyone out there who is pregnant and taking antidepressants? I am 24 weeks pregnant and wondering if I've just about had enough of feeling anxious and struggling emotionally. Midwife and docs all say there are antidepressants which can be taken safely but I'm really worried about what effect they would have on the baby. I am taking regular exercise and receiving counselling for the mood but think that maybe it is time to go on the pills. Had postnatal dep after 1st preg and this is second preg. Took antidepressants eventually after 1st baby and got better. Any advice?

i have never taken them whilst pg; but i needed to last time i think.

it is perfectly safe

It is not perfectly safe. There's scientific evidence to suggest that SSRI's can affect a baby's brain. After all, you're flooding a developing brain with serotonin (nad SSRI's aren't cleared for children as they cause depression and raise the risk of suicide)
Having had a brain damaged baby that I put down to taking a migraine drug while pregnant I really wouldn't risk taking anything

Dear Mocat,

I am glad you have posted up that message. I have been on other threads and suffer from anxiety and insomnia. Although I am still trying to battle through with my problems at the moment I have discussed it with my consultants and may have to resort to it, eventually. I am no expert but from what I have read antidepressants may be benefical for both you and the baby if you are really suffering.
Good luck.

SSRI's aren't the only anti-depressants. I took Dothiepin, which is a tri-cyclic - one of the older style anti-depressants throughout pregnancy. It was on the advice of my old boss who was a Consultant Psychiatrist, so she knew her stuff.

Okay 'needmorecoffee', you've scared the life out of me! Surely they wouldn't allow pregnant women to take something that would permanently damage a baby (I'm conveniently ignoring the legacy of thalidomide)? I would not be considering this if I wasn't struggling so much with my mood. If I'm very anxious I may well be sending this baby so many stress hormones that they are messing it up anyway. Thanks to all of you for responding - it feels very isolating. Did the Dothiepin do the trick, 'surfermum'?

I have been taking venlafaxine for the last 5 years and am currently 20 weeks pregnant. I have reduced the dose I am taking but am being very frequently monitored by my GP, Consultant, MW, CPN and psychiatrist (would love to one day have all the people I have ever seen in a room don't think there would be enough chairs)

I have been told that there may be probs once baby is born as it may need to be weaned off it etc and that I may not be able to bf (will cross that bridge at a later date)

It has been suggested to me by well meaning people who know absolutely nothing about me and my situation that I should stop taking it but having discussed this with everyone above they are all of the opinion that my health is just as important as the baby's and I am not prepared to risk my mental health and conceivably life for the baby.

If your GP and MW are supporting you then they will be able to answer any questions you have and will also be able to refer you to consultants who can help.

Remember that stress is not good for baby so if you are feeling anxious etc it is passed to them.

OK will stop now but hope this helps

That's interesting. I've heard that SSRI's have been shown to have a positive, preventative effect on pre-eclampsia.

Thanks, hedgehog1979. I know what you mean about all the health professionals - I have a very full diary at the moment between all these appointments! What with the timing of our pregnancies, mine should pop out first and if it's a spaced-out junky I can warn you off for the last 4 wks of your pregnancy! All the best to you and baby.

Hi Mocat

I have been on Citalopram for over a year now.
I suffered with anxiety and depression halfway through my second pregnancy in the summer of 2006.
I had my son in the august and was eventually prescribed the ad's in the November.
Fast forward to March and I was pregnant again.
I continued to take the Citalopram through the pregnancy after the Dr's saying it was ok.

My baby is now 8 weeks old and apart from being utterly gorgeous he 100% fine.

Really, VVVVQV? I wonder how that works? The docs keep saying that I have to weigh up the benefits of me being well against the baby being at risk (which they don't say it is). I guess it's the same with pre-eclampsia, although anxiety doesn't compare with the danger of pre-eclampsia.

I am trying to remember all the things I was told when I was pregnant. I think one of them was that the amount of the drug that actually transferred to the foetus was so minimal it wasn't worth worrying about.

I was also told that there had been years of research into tri-cyclics (at that time less into SSRIs) and there had never been anything to suggest that they shouldn't be prescribed in pregnancy.

My GP said that I might have to watch dd when she was born for signs of withdrawals - but I'm a little uncertain whether that was really a concern because my old boss never mentioned that, and she would have done. She knew how anxious I was about it all.

Of course when dd was born there was no a sign of any withdrawing. What I did get was a really good baby who slept through the night from 5 weeks, and who only ever cried when she was hungry. Whether that was down to the ads I don't know - I'd like to think it was my expert parenting .

Nbg - that is such good news. Congratulations! Did the ads ease the anxiety and depression? I wouldn't want to take ads and then find that my mood stayed unchanged.

Not entirely sure, but serotonin is supposed to be linked with it, and is present in the placenta.

I'd take the SSRI's, personally.

what about trying a talking therapy first and seeing if that helps?

just a thought.

Yeah they worked.
I started on 20mg but they made me sick so they lowered them to 10mg and the nausea cleared.

I have to admit that I was a bit lax with them when I was pregnant and I didnt take them everyday so my mood and anxiety could have been better.

Has medication been mentioned to you at all?

Oh sorry, I forgot to answer your question .

I believe they made a big difference to me. I was already on them, but I think by continuing to take them they kept me well throughout pregnancy and afterwards.

Sophable - she is already having counselling.

I took them when PG (from about 30 weeks PG). In my case they were literally a life and marriage saver.

I agree with NMC to a limited extent - in that that there's no absolutely 100% guarantee of no ill effects - but then there's no ethical way of doing research on PG women into AD safety in the standard way (double blind survey). The prescribing decision is a case of balancing risk to you and your baby if your depression is untreated against the possible risks of taking the ADs.

Mocat,

You are right about stress hormones being transfered to the baby. Medication is by no means the worst thing in the world and often might be better than not taking it.
Good luck!

Well put Totalchaos.

I took sertaline from when I was 12 weeks pregnant until DD was 18 months old, and breastfed her until she was 10 months.

As far as I can see (she is 2.4 now) she is fine. Without the ADs, I wouldn't have been OK at all.

Surfermum - that's more good news, thank you. I'm really reassured by all these messages. Due to see GP next week and will get his advice on which one he'd prescribe. Although, maybe there'll be a miracle and I'll no longer be suffering from anxiety! God is very good, after all!

To you all, thanks again.
MW made me laugh today by saying that I was worrying too much about the 'what ifs' - she said there are those who are preganat who worry instead about how soon they can have their next drink or smoke when expecting. I worried about baby experiencing withdrawal symptoms from ads but she said that if I really wanted to see a baby suffering the jitters, see a baby whose mum smoked during the pregnancy. Things could be a whole lot worse.

Mocat

I am pretty sure that Fluoxetine is the only SSRI passed by the FDA for use during pregnancy so maybe ask your GP about this.

If you plan to breastfeed you may need to come off it in the last few weeks or switch to another more breastfeeding friendly SSRI.

FWIW, I took Fluoxetine during the first trimester in both my pregnancies and my DC are both fine.

I took 20mg of paroxetine throughout pregnancy and 18 months of breastfeeding. Like NBG's LO, my DS is 100% gorgeous and completely healthy. Paroxetine gave me my life back and I don't envisage coming off it any time soon.

i also took fluoxetine during pregnancy,twice

i started it at 20 weeks with dd2 and at 12 weeks with dd3.both of them were/are fine with no problems.i was going loopy and couldnt carry on as i was at the time.

i found omega3 supplements helped a bit as well.

i've never heard that about pre-eclampsia either.i had PE with ds1 and PIH in all my subsequent pregnancies,but my BP never went as high as it did with the first 3 in the last 2 pregnancies.