My sister is pregnant but she thinks she may have harmed the baby by taking Antidepressants.

[Sushipaws]

My sister has just found out she's pregnant, she is 2 weeks late on her peiod so it's quite early. She has a 5 year old ds so this isn't her first pregnancy.

The problem is, she is taking antidepressants, I can't remember exactly which ones, it's either fluoxetine or citalompram. She's also taking 5htp and drinking herbal teas.

She's got a doctors appointment next week and she's stopped taking everything but she thinks the baby will be effected by the meds.

Has anyone else been through this? Does anyone know if the drugs will have an effect on the baby?

can't comment on those particular drugs, but I was seven weeks before I stopped taking my amitryptiline, due to dd being a BIG suprise!

Like your sister stopped taking immediately when I found out I was pregnant, but with hindsight I would have gone to the doctor first as stopping my ad's so suddenly did screw me up a bit mentally for a month or so.

dd born two weeks late and perfectly healthy so I am sure your sister has nothing to worry about!

just to confirm when I said "screwed me up a bit mentally" I didnt mean stark staring bonkers, just a bit low and a tad argumentative with my dh (that might have been the suprise prenancy and not being able to drink over Christmas however

Thanks CBJ, did your doctor say there may be some risk or was it fine?

both those drugs have been out for quite a long time.

i doubt there's any damage to her foetus, especially this early on.

i was taking fluoxetine when i conceived and so far, so good.

I was on AD when I found out I was pregnant with Dd2 at 9 weeks. I went to the doctors and was told 'that there is no evidence to say that it will harm your baby' I then said 'but is there evidence to say it won't?' I stopped taking them and Dd2 is completely fine.

agree with expat.

My GP told me that if I were to get depressed in pregnancy she could prescribe me antidepressants. (Am not atm, but have been badly so in the past, and she is wonderful and was just being reassuring on all fronts - it's my first.) I took fluoxetine. Obviously she needs to get it checked out, but in all honesty so many women take them and half of all pregnancies are unplanned. If it caused serious problems, I'm sure there'd have been headlines a long time ago!

I think both of those ADs may be prescribed to women who are pregnant on the basis that being severely depressed may pose more of a threat than the possible side effects of the medication. There are 4 (or 5?) ADs which are can prescribed to nursing/ pregnant women and they include Prozac (Fluoxetine). I don't know about Citalopram though. I doubt she's done any harm to her baby but coming off ADs suddenly is often not a good idea. Perhaps she could talk to her Dr about how best to come off them?

COngrats to your sister btw.

Hi. I am 25 weeks pregnant and have been taking citalopram throughout my pregnancy. I would have liked to come off it before we conceived but my depression always returned when I tried to stop taking it. While we were trying to conceive my GP sought the advice of a psychiatrist who confirmed that citalopram was one of the better ADs to be on during pregnancy.

I still would have liked to come off it if I could, just in case, but the risks of the depression can be worse than the risks of taking medication if you really need it. As others have said it's not a great idea to suddenly stop these meds if she needs them- she should talk to her GP before making any decision.

Tell her not to stop taking her medication, and to telephone the doctor for advice, rather than waiting for her appointment next week.