Pregnancy and Anti-depressants

[lukenick1]

Has anyone found out they were pregnant while taking antidepressants?? What did you do??? Stay on or go off?? Were there any effects on the baby??

 

[starann]

I was on paxil for both of my pregnancies (for migranes and depression) and both my boys are fine. A lot of drugs in that class are fine or have minimal risks.

BUT
It really depends on what med you are on. Some meds (a lot of bi-polar meds, Depakote which is also used for epilepsy) are not safe if you are thinking of becoming pregnant and since they can cause neural tube defects and the neural tube forms with in the 1st few weeks of pregnancy (before most know they are preg).

 

[DebbieB]

I would contact your doctor for guidance. With most anti-depressants or anti-anxiety, you don't want to go off them abruptly, you need to taper off.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Definitely call your doctor right away. Usually if you are of child bearing age and are taking a medication that causes problems during pregnancy you are told to be sure to use birth control while on the medication. If you've never been told that I would hope that the medication is okay, but would still check with the doctor. If you can't reach your doctor till Monday, I would then go to a local pharmacy and at least speak with the pharmacist.

 

[locolala]

There are a LOT of women who take antidepressants during pregnancy. According to my doctor, the risks of not treating depression are far higher than the risks of taking the medication. I start my Celexa on Monday (have to go pick it up) and I know it's safe and that it works. If you're considering going off of them, please involve your doctor. If you go cold turkey you could send yourself into a deep and severe depression and that would be bad for both of you!

 

[lukenick1]

Ladies......
I am not pregnant yet. I am taking Citalopram and we had an oopsie this month and I wanted to make sure if I did end up pregnant that it would not harm the baby. I am on them for anxiety and I would definitely want to go off if I was pg. I just wanted reassurance that other people have been on them while pregnant and ended up with a healthy baby. Oh and I would wean off with the guidance of my doctor...no worries

 

[VillageMama]

It's my understanding that taking SSRIs is safe during pregnancy but ideally they will be weaned off before birth. Babies who are born to mothers who took SSRIs throughout the last trimester sometimes go through a withdrawal. They might be trembly and out of sorts for several days.

That said, those babies don't seem to have any long term problems, thankfully. If possible, I would taper off my anti-depressant before birth and then resume right after birth.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I went on them after I was pregnant with my third. I was on Zoloft.

I suggest calling your OB (or if this is your first, then consult whomever prescribed it) to see if your med is okay. IF it is not, then they can find a different one.

Was going to go on Zoloft anyway as a preemptive measure against PPD, but I got so bad during pregnancy that I did take it while pregnant.

Usually anything you do isn't a problem until an embryo impants. It is at that time that they are gettign what you ingest in some form. Usually a BFP will show up within 6-12 days of implantation. Lots of woman do lots of things without realizing they are pregnant and baby is born healthy. I really wouldn't over concern yourself with it, but in the event of a BFP, consult doc immediately.

Anxiety doesn't go away when pregnant and I wouldn't necessarily want to be off meds if there was a med I could take to avoid that.

You also would not want to quit cold-turkey, ever.