AND/PND poll. Anti depressants in pregnancy, who took them and when

[HeinzSight]

Am considering this and want info!

Thanks for your concern, I will chase that up, I wasn't sure whether it was normal to have to wait this long! I'm seeing some sort of counsellor tomorrow at the surgery, I'll come back and post when I've seen him.

LackaDAISYcal, what did your psych at the perinatal unit say about ADs and BF? Well done you though, hats off to you 2 days post birth chasing that one!

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Advice was that sertraline is the best one for breastfeeding as only a minimal gets through in the milk and it has a short half life as well so is gone from your bloodstream and hence milk pretty quickly . He said prozac shows up in slightly higher quantities but is still considered safe. There are other safe alternatives too.

There is advice on the breastfeeding networks' website and there is also LACTMED where you can check the effects for individual drugs. AFAIK, the general thinking now is that BM with low levels of drug in are still better for the child's long term health than formula.

I did lots of research and satisfied myself that the sertraline was fine before taking it. DD was BF for 10 months whilst I was taking it and she is a perky bright wee thing. I'm currently BFing DS2 and taking it again and so far no worries or issues about his development.

Thanks for that LackaDAISYcal, those links are brilliant.

another quick question, does sertraline take up the batton (so to speak) from fluoxetine straight away?

yes . I went from prozac on the day I went into labour to sertraline the next day on the advice of my psych. Although when I had DD the hospital told me to leave a week between different meds and I really struggled as I was quite ill at that point (AND not diagnosed until I was 36 weeks). Psych told me afterwards that it was nonsense so this time I was prepared.

That's really good news, I feel hopeful now that I may be able to prevent the depression taking hold as badly as it did last time.

Thank you so much for your posts, uber helpful

In heinzsight , I wish I had sought help much sooner when pregnant with DD as it was a nightmarish time for all concerned, so my advice would be to get support as soon as possible. Things have definately been better this time around when I was supported throughout the whole of my pregnancy.

I did have some links to some good articles on AND. I'll see if I can look them out for you

here we are:

women's hour article

Delphi Ellis' website.

Heinz - FWIW I found Fluoxetine (Prozac) mae me feel almost zombie like in terms of emotion. Citalopram still allows you to feel 'normal'.

Thank you again SO much, once I get real player working I'll be able to listen to that radio programme!

Just a quick update, my appointment today with counsellor has been cancelled due to blimmin snow,

blimmin snow