7 weeks pregnant - been taking 10mg seroxat - am worrying.

[zippyb]

Found out last week that I am 7 wks - big surprise - pleased but now worried as have been taking 10 mg of seroxat for a long time. Am going to go for an early scan due to other problems (connected with 1st pregnancy) but am really upset that I may have already harmed my baby - does anyone know if this is a big problem or will they just keep a close watch on me?

This is the abstract from a 1998 paper (sorry, a bit long):

CONTEXT: Although a large number of women of reproductive age use new selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and half of all pregnancies are unplanned, no data exist on the safety of these agents for the human fetus. OBJECTIVE: To assess fetal safety and risk of fluvoxamine, paroxetine, and sertraline. DESIGN: A prospective, multicenter, controlled cohort study. SETTING: Nine Teratology Information Service centers in the United States and Canada. PATIENTS: All women who were counseled during pregnancy following exposure to a new SSRI and followed up by the participating centers. Controls were randomly selected from women counseled after exposure to nonteratogenic agents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of major congenital malformations. RESULTS: A total of 267 women exposed to an SSRI and 267 controls were studied. Exposure to SSRIs was not associated with either increased risk for major malformations (9/222 live births [4.1%] vs 9/235 live births [3.8%] in the controls, relative risk, 1.06, 95% confidence interval, 0.43-2.62) or higher rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, or prematurity. Mean (SD) birth weights among SSRI users (3439 [505] g) were similar to the controls (3445 [610] g) as were the gestational ages (39.4 [1.7] weeks vs 39.4 [1.9] weeks). CONCLUSION: The new SSRIs, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, and sertraline, do not appear to increase the teratogenic risk when used in their recommended doses

So it sounds like a very thorough study that means there should be no problem at all (paroxetine seems to be seroxat, incidentally). I don't think you have anything to worry about. Hope that helps.

Should have added for general info that it is dangerous in late pregnancy because of withdrawal symptoms in the baby, but you've got a long way to go before you need to worry about that!

zippyb, when I found out I was pregnant with my DD I was on 60mg of Prozac (an SSRI like Seroxat), which 3 times the recommended amount. I was completly weened off by about 8 weeks and my DD is fine. She is 4 now and oddly VERY VERY happy.

I'm 17 weeks pregnant and as this was very unplanned I was 225mg of Efexor XL. This was the maximum dose of a newer drug (not an SSRI) so I was terrified. I had cut it out completely by the time I was 8 weeks (though the relatively sudden withdrawl left me with auditory hallucinations for 2 months). I have had scans and an amnio (for other reasons, but the worry about the Efexor has always been at the back of my mind), and so far this baby looks to be fine too.

In my experience they won't keep a closer eye on you because of the anti depressants. Its worth noting that pregnancy and anti depressants are untested because there are ethical issues involved, but that there has never been a link proven between abnormailites and the drugs on those women who where taking when accidentaly falling pregnant. Your baby is probably at a much lower risk FROM the drugs then say if you were smoking. And from what I can tell you were on the lower end of the dosage scale so hopefully that can be of some reassurance too.

Obviously you, and I, will never know until that little one is declared ok on their birthday, and having gone through this with DD and again now I totally symapthise. Just remember that whatever the reason you were on seroxat for will still be there when you come off so you may need some extra help in that regard.

Have you talked to your GP yet?

bnf.vhn.net/bnf/documents/bnf.4862.html#BNFID_49250

Tells you about SSRIs, taken from the British National Formulary which is the little book you doctor will refer to. It mentions escitalopram
been toxic in animals, but this is a totally different SSRI so don't worry about that! Teratogenicity is when a drug causes malformations of an embryo or fetus.

Thanks pie & tamum - I will be seeing my GP on Thursday so will obviously tell him of my concerns but it does sound as though I shouldn't worry too much (very difficult when your hormones are racing round sending you into tears at the slightest thing). Many thanks for your advice but as you say won't feel 100% until I can see for myself that this little one is ok when he/she is born. Thanks again.

Congrats on the pregnancy. Please don't worry about the Seroxat. You won't have harmed the baby.

i was taking seroxat too when I was pregnant, I'd been taking it for a few years and could not stop as I had such awful withdrawals, but when I found out I was pregnant, I got some seroxat in liquid form and was able to little by little reduce my dose and am now free of the addiction. Don't you find that it seems to have stopped giving you the boost that it did at the start? Congratulations on your pregnancy and good luck with your seroxat. The doc told me that it wouldn't harm th e baby but like you I was worried and especially with all this stuff in the paper at the moment about its addictive qualities.

Most SSRI's are now thought to be safe in pregnancy. I actually started taking mine (Lustral) in the last trimester of my last pregnancy on psychiatrists advice as I had had such appalling PND first time which had landed me in hospital.
I am about 9 weeks into a surprise pregnancy as well, and am still on the Lustral. I tried to come off a few weeks ago (before I knew) but the depressive symptoms came back badly, so I had been put back on it until September when I was to have another trial of coming off. But chatting to GP we have decided I am going to stay on it - if I came off in Sept then I would have to go back on in October anyway. And I can't cope with being pregnant and having 2 kids of 3 and under and suffering from Kidney stones AND being depressed. I'm lucky in that Lustral is one of the older SSRIs and so there is more data about it and pregnancy, so I am hppy to take it.

Thanks susanmt & mmm - feel quite reassured now but I have stopped taking it altogether which I am not sure is a very wise move so will chat to GP on Thursday & maybe as you did go on the liquid form. Am worried that (all being well) after baby is born that I will have PND again - did I read somewhere that you can have a hormone injection after birth?

Just a little update. Went to doctors & was told that if I possibly can to stay off the seroxat for the time being & if I 'need' something later on in my pregnancy then they will look at putting me on something different. Must admitt didn't feel as though doctor was even interested in discussing it & come out quite annoyed. However have decided to try & stay off it - been a full week now & with the bad nausea, tears & mood swings am not sure if it is pregnancy related or withdrawal symptons - do feel a little better today so hope it is the right choice (suppose I have the best reason of all to get off them now) - oh I am a joy to be around at the moment!

Congratulations to you all on your preganct - I have just joined the club for the 2nd time - due Feb 2004, I am currently taking 50ml of lustral (steraline?) daily. Does anybody know if I should just stop taking them (scared of damage to baby/ies? and also scared of the withdrawl simptoms if I completely just stopped).

Doctor advised me when she prescribed Lustral not to try for a baby (I am not on the pill - use condoms [sometimes - obviously not at the right time]. Baby is very much wanted as we were going to try for one next year anyway. I have to ring the surgery later on this afternoon to find out what the doctor advises, so I willkeep you posted.

naughtynoonoo -congratulations!
Not much to add to what I have writtten below about my experience of Lustral in pregnancy - but my psychiatrist is happy for me to remain on it throughout pregnancy (at 100mg) as there has been no evidence that it causes any problems in pregnancy. Its a risk/benefit thing - the risk to all of us (me and my whole family including this baby) is much bigger if I were to come off it as I could go seriously downhill - in fact I tried going down to 50mg about 2 months before I got pregnant and went totally dolally!
Lustral is one of the most tried and used SSRI's in pregnancy, and I'm happy to be taking it. Hope you can come to a happy decision.

spoke to GP this afternoon, who said Lustral was one of the safer drugs, but advised to come off it and book an appointment next week to see how I was getting on with them, it wasn't my normal GP and advised there would be no side effects, so where am I getting my information from. DH thinks I should stay on them, I am worrying about staying on / coming off, especially as it will be a complete stop, not just weening myself off them, why oh why lustral is there to stop me worrying. Should I come off them and if I feel I can't take them to start back on them. Your advise is really helpful and it is saving me hours and hours of doing research, which most of seems to be in a bit of a foreign language!

I was on cipramil 40mg (another SSRI) when I fell preg (not planned but wanted) told to half dose for few days then come off. Had some dizzyness and nausea/vomiting but wether due to preg or withdrall I will never know. I did feel better as I didn't need to worry if the drugs were harming the baby. Was prescribed tricyclic drug later at 16wks but put off taking it as worried about baby then found hormones(?) kicked in and felt better so haven't been on anything for rest of preg. now 34wks and feeling good! The psyc is "keeping a close eye on me" and will continue to do so after birth. Want to BF so told I will prob have to go on tricyclic as older and more info and doesn't pass through.

Congrats to all and hope all goes well.

As psyc said to me less risk to baby to be a well mum on meds than depressed

hi zippyb, i've been taking paroxetine for 5 years now and every time I try to come off them I suffer terribly with anxiety and mood swings, I only take 10mg a day now and have took 6 months to knock it down from 20mg. I've wanted to get pregnant for years and kept putting if off because of the paroxetine but now i'm 37 I don't want to leave it much longer. Your post has been really useful to me and i've read all the other posts and find them really useful too. I'm not on the pill any more and i'm dreading getting pregnant. I'm not actively trying but know I could be anytime. The post from tamum is fab, thanks for that. It's nice to know that there's others kind of in the same boat.. when i'm knocking down my tablets I use camomile tea to help with the symptoms, using 2 tea bags at a time, they have a calming effect. I'm not sure if they should be used in pregnancy but you could find out, you can get them from the supermarket. Paroxetine take 6 weeks to get out of your system but every day gets easier, 10mgs is such a low dose, but if you have to go back on them then maybe you could try taking 1 every other day for 6 weeks then half the dose again for 6 weeks then come off altogether, that what I lpan to do as I know how dreadful the withdrawal symptoms can be. Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I was on 150mg venlafaxine earlier in my pregnancy. Just prior to I was right up there on 220mg. Have weaned myself down to about 20mg over a long period of time but still suffer visual disturbances when I try to come off it altogether...but I'm getting there with support.

You'll find hundreds of inconclusive studies out there so don't bombard and stress yourself out too much by over-reading/analysing but be informed. You could ask your GP to either consult with their local mental health team psychiatrists for more advice or discuss with your midwife and ask for a referral to the mental health midwife on the team, either at hospital or in the community. All/any support is good in my view anyway. I've found it to be invaluable thus far!

Congrats on your pregnancy and take care!

I have been on Seroxat for 11 years now, I was put on them after my first child was born. I have not been able to come off them since, i have only been taking 10mg a day from the past year. I found out I'm 8 weeks pregnant with my second and very worried about what the tablet are doing to me and the baby. I'm very scared to try and come of them as i had so much trauma with the first it was the reason i was put on them. I am not sure what to do as i dont want to harm it but i don't think i will cope without them.