Question:
My dilemma - I just found out I am pregnant again - unplanned (this is
supposed to happen to somebody else! Not to ME) - stopped taking the
Zoloft last Friday and am scared to death what will happen. Am on the
Web searching for research of the effects of any antidepressants on
pregnancy and not having much luck (mostly what I find is that the
effects are unknown and not to take it unless you REALLY need it - how
informative is that?)
Have calls out to both my doctors and will discuss all of this with them
- but - I will be the one that has to make the ultimate decision. I will
also have to live with my decision - as will the baby.
Does anybody out there have any experience with this? Esp. medicating
during pregnancy?
Answer:
I just stumbled across websites and have been reading the messages
and crying and am glad to be here.
I don't understand internets yet, so if you reply and don't hear from me
for a while it means I'm figuring out how to get back in to read the
postings.
I've been depressed and on and off medications since about 1990. I've
tried Prozac and Effexor (sp?) and Zoloft and currently on Zoloft which
works the best.
Went off everything a year and 4 months ago to try to have a baby - had a
crazy, miserable 16 months, wound up carrying a gun around because of
illogical fantasy thinking that an acquaintance was going to break into
my house and hurt me...cried almost every day and struggled often with
suicide and finally made the decision that I would kill myself AFTER the
baby was born so I would kill the unborn baby. Was blessed with a
beautiful baby daughter and obviously made it through ( although there
were many times I doubted I would) and am now back on medication.
I wrote all of the above to hopefully communicate that I know this is
serious...I am under the care of a physician and psychologist but
obviously they consist of only a few hours a month, while my thinking
goes on at all times...
My dilemma - I just found out I am pregnant again - unplanned (this is
supposed to happen to somebody else! Not to ME) - stopped taking the
Zoloft last Friday and am scared to death what will happen. Am on the
Web searching for research of the effects of any antidepressants on
pregnancy and not having much luck (mostly what I find is that the
effects are unknown and not to take it unless you REALLY need it - how
informative is that?)
Have calls out to both my doctors and will discuss all of this with them
- but - I will be the one that has to make the ultimate decision. I will
also have to live with my decision - as will the baby.
Does anybody out there have any experience with this? Esp. medicating
during pregnancy? I think that's "We haven't done any well-controlled studies." At least
they are not the "absolutely DO NOT get pregnant on this drug!" that
some of them are. My personal opinion of ADs is that they can cause ANY SIDE EFFECT THEY
WANT TO IN ANY GIVEN PATIENT. ;-) Being pregnant right now I was also worried about this same thing. I asked four
different professionals for their opinions. First was my OB/GYN. She said that she's
had many (what that constitute exactly I don't know) pregnant patients who have
taken one of the SSRI's in the same family with like Prozac without any problems
at all. She did recommend I wait until the first 3 months were over before going
back on. I asked my psychiatrist (wonderful man BTW) and he said essentially the same
thing. I asked my therapist and he told me the same thing as well. I asked the
pharmacist (who is also a family friend, ah, life in a small town) and he told
me the same thing. I'm taking Paxil and not one of these professionals is worried
about the affects, if any, it will have on my baby. The baby's heartbeat is strong
and normal (I'm 5 months along...), it's kicking up a storm, and next week I get
my ultrasound done. Everything is going as smoothly as it can. But I can tell
you something, this being my second pregnancy. The first was wonderful, it actually
evened me out all by itself, I didn't need medication with that pregnancy at all.
I was 'normal', for nine months. I felt like I always guessed other people did.
This second one is hell even with the meds. They put me back on before the first 3
months were over because I was seriously suicidal and the risks to the baby outweighed
the risks to myself *and* the baby. Every pregnancy is different. Your second one
may be as wonderful as my first. I wish every one was like that.
If you want to talk more, or just share your concerns or whatever, feel free to send
me some email or something. I know where you're at, I've been there, and recently.
amy
http://www.execpc.com/~amyk I had a similar situation last year when a pregnancy occurred
while I was on Luvox. After Medline searches for published informa-
tion and a request from the psychiatrist to manufacturers of Luvox
and Prozac for unpublished information about adverse outcomes of
pregnancy (Eli Lilly replied immediately by fax with hundreds more
cases to add to the two hundred then in the literature), I decided to
switch to Prozac since there was more data. The major problem (as
I recall) was an increased risk of miscarriage. I ended up on Prozac
for the first trimester but had a hypomanic reaction and discontinued.
By the third trimester I was severely depressed again and went back
on Luvox, which I discontinued briefly during the delivery and
postpartum. Since I was still depressed, I continued on Luvox and
bottle fed the baby, who is now a healthy and delightful eight-month-
old. Since I was over 35 I had to go for genetic counseling, and the
counselors had access to a database for teratogenic drugs. Also I
was in therapy which helped.
If you're new to internets, then you may also be new to the web, but
we do have a web site for websites, and it does have some resources
that may help. In your web browser, go to
http://www.lava.net/~dewilson/asd/resources.html
and scroll down until you find the section on anti-depressants. Dr. Bob's
Psychopharmocology Tips is probably the most thorough collection of data
on drugs, but any or all of these resources may help. Definitely take
a look at the Side Effects Registry, which you will find in the same section
of the ASD resources page. I'll affirm what Amy said-- I just delivered a beautiful healthy boy in
March. I was on Zoloft from about the fourth month on. My
psychiatrist, psychologist & ob agreed that it was better to contrl the
depressive thoughts with the meds than to risk me being off and
wanting to hurt myself. the pregnancy was wonderful. i hope yours is
as well. my little one is fine and i think taking the zoloft helped me
avoid any postpartum stuff.
