anti depressants in pregnanacy

[Burnsey]

hi there

im 27 yr old female and recently went the docs after a bad period of anxiety/ depression and he increased my sertraline from 50mg to 100mg. we were also talking about the mini pill which i take at the moment and he said if i were to get pregnant i would have to go cold turkey and stop the tabs??? i obviously panicked as having children is high on my agenda for the next few yrs and im ok on my sertraline, but do if i want a baby do i have to come off them? then what happens if i feel awfull and cant cope?

any advice please - or experiences if u have taken anti deps in pregnancy


thanks

[bab]

hi burnsey
i was on citalopram in both my pregnancies - my obstetrician said 1/3 of his patients are on them

[Burnsey]

really? was everything ok with your babies?

[bab]

yes - touch wood! for my 1st pregnancy i was going to stay on them but gp said to come off them straight away this was at 20 weeks - i knew better - i weaned off very slowly but toward the end of my pregnancy my anxiety was so bad my obs said he would have just kept me on them - so for my 2nd pregnancy i stayed on them - 20mg citalopram - i was in your normal run of the mill hospital and the girl in next ward was on 60mg. - its all about weighing up the costs and benefits - the reason they say to come off them is because there has been no trials as no pregnant woman would say you can use me as a guinea pig to see if these pills will harm my baby. PM me anytime my love x

[Burnsey]

Thanks so much for the advise
Im not planning a baby as yet as me and the other half are saving for a house but i know i want children in the next few yrs. the doctor just shocked me when he said if you get pregnant u will have to go cold turkey!!! he then said he has known women to taken them and babies to be fine. im scared as i would want to enjoy pregnancy and being a mum, but when i think of how bad my anxiety was i didnt want to do anything never mind thinking about being a mum. if you know what i mean

thanks so much x

[bab]

totally know what you mean - you dont need to worry about it now but also you dont need to let anxiety put you off xx

[jm007]

hi there

im 27 yr old female and recently went the docs after a bad period of anxiety/ depression and he increased my sertraline from 50mg to 100mg. we were also talking about the mini pill which i take at the moment and he said if i were to get pregnant i would have to go cold turkey and stop the tabs??? i obviously panicked as having children is high on my agenda for the next few yrs and im ok on my sertraline, but do if i want a baby do i have to come off them? then what happens if i feel awfull and cant cope?

any advice please - or experiences if u have taken anti deps in pregnancy


thanks

first and foremost burnsey no medication is safe during pregnancy.. No studies can be done on pregnant women now as it isn't ethical and won't pass through ethics commitee

The first trimester ( 12 weeks ) is the riskiest period... as that is period where all the main growth is happening...So if you can avoid medication then great...

The question to you is have you ever been pregnant and did you suffer depression during those periods..I'm presuming that you have never been pregnant..

If I were you I would ask mysself how bad was my depression... Have i tried stopping Sertraline before ...if yes what happened... Never Never stop any antidepressant suddenly ...You are doing more bad than good to 1. You - you are likely to relapse 2. Sudden withdrawal could affect your child too ( less comparing to other antidepressants)

3. If your depression isn't severe enough and this is the first episode then before getting pregnant I would discuss with your GP... There are perinatal mental health team who could give advice...Your GP can find it for you...
If you stop your medication then reduce it gradually over a 4 weeks period and stop it... obviously under GP supervision..

4. Pregnancy is a stressful so is post natal period( period post delivery)..if you have depression then there is an increased risk of developing depression post partum comparing to the general population.So one option is stop meds for first 12 weeks... If you start feeling low..consider CBT...for pregnant women the surgery is required to provide CBT ( you can jump the CBT queue).If that isn't helping you then go back to medication ..in your case Sertraline...

Safest SSRI during pregnancy is fluoxetine...

Safest antidepressant during pregnancy is Tricyclic antidepressant. But they are a risk in overdose so doctors don't prescribe it...

I'll attach NICE guidelines...if you want to know more do read it...

The important thing when you get pregnant is support

1. from your partner...this is very very important... if he won't then don't get pregnant..simple as that...

2. support from family...during and after pregnancy...

this two have shown particularly the former have shown to be associated with less depressive episode post delivery...

here it goes...it can be boring..but read it carefully

http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=download&o=30432

let me know if you have any more doubts...always happy to help..
]
J

[Burnsey]

thanks for your help really appreciate it - just read the article- iv never been pregnant but hopefully will be one day in the future so when the time comes to try ill speak to the doc cut down on meds and come off them (scary tho) but if all goes bad again for me the article says can go back on them so that would be up to my doc but at least the option is there

thank you

[jm007]

your welcome...........