fluoxetine/prozac in third trimester, help/advice please

[garlicoliveoil]

hi everyone, this is my first post but im a regular reader of other threads, im due tommorrow with my 3rd son and have suffered from post natal depression after my first two were born, after a course of anti depressants i started to feel better and came off and was fine, how ever during first trimester of this pregnancy i started to feel depressed again and my GP started me back on fluoxetine after consulting with a phyciatric doctor, he felt thainsomnia and OCD. I'm currently on the Sertraline for anxiety and insomnia and I really don't want to have to t this was the bst thing for me and that i prob have sensitive hormones when pregnant etc,he never really discussed side effects on baby and neither has my mid wife but just been reading a thread about fluoxetine in late pregnancy and it got me a bit worried so i started googleing it and im now terrified that my baby will be born withdrawing, crying excessively, hard to settle etc, any others had babies whilst taking anti depressants and if and what effects on your newborn were there, sorry if it does nt make much sense but i feel terrified at the momemt

sorry but some how some extra text that i didnt write has appeared in this thread so it doesnt make much sense, dont know how to delete it but started another thread above

OK - a couple of things here. First, your GP wouldn't have prescribed you Prozac if s/he thought there was any chance it would damage your baby. And by damage I mean permanent damage - not just being a bit hard to settle for the first few weeks.

Clearly, in a perfect world, you would not need to take any medication at all during pregnancy, but we don't live in a perfect world, and it's not your fault you need SSRIs so go easy on yourself.

My mum was prescribed Valium during her pregnancy with me (for high blood pressure, it was common to do so in the 70s) and I was as a result a nightmare child for the first couple of months. But once it left my system I was fine.

I think you should go back and have another conversation with your GP about this. Your midwife isn't really the person to ask. In the mean time, stop googling - unless it's a reputable site like NHS Direct. There's all sorts of flammed up stuff out there and it's just going to upset you.

The way it's always been explained to me is that the benefits to the mother would have to outweigh the risks to the baby.
But I agree, your gp would not give you something that would be harmful to your baby.
The internet is a dangerous place to be IMO and you're better off not reading too much about it all.
I agree with josie, speak to your gp again, but if talking to the mw will also make you feel better, do that too.

hi, after that birth of DS1 i had bad postnatal depression. so when i was preg with DS2, at around 30 weeks, i started taking antidepressants after consulting psychiatrist. i am still taking it and it made a world of difference to how i coped during the early weeks. looking back, it was definitely worth taking it. your doc would not have prescribed it to you if it would harm your baby. try not google. can be very scary.

It really annoys me this 'in an ideal world you wouldn't take medication while pregnant'

Surely in an ideal world you wouldn't take medication at all?

The world is not ideal, however so stop beating yourself up. Obviously your doctor thinks any risk to the baby is less than the risk of you not taking it.

Well, obviously... which I hope I made clear. I think you're reading something into my post which wasn't there (or at least, certainly not intended to be).

Sorry for any confusion Josie - that wasn't aimed at the post you made at all. I was just referring to the advice given to pg women generally on taking any medication.

hi thanks for the reassurance, i know my gp would nt have prescribed me something that would be detrimental to my baby but us mums do worry, i know its daft to google because it just scares you, my husband was against me reading all scare stories on internet and told me it would make me feel worse but once you start you cant stop, i feel brilliant at the moment depression and coping wise so i know the benefits far out weigh the risks but as i said before just made me feel worried, thanks

Hi Just wanted to ask if you are planning on breastfeeding? because of the long half life of fluoxetine it isn't reccomended for use in breastfeeding mothers. Setraline is usually prescribed if breastfeeding. I wish you all the best.

no im planning on bottle feeding so that sorts out that problem, thanks for the advice

brettgirl - oh good

garlicoliveoil - Do go back and talk to your GP again though if you find you're still worrying about this - it'll make you feel better x