7 wks Pregnant, on Citalopram many years, but having severe anxiety and depression

[sarahlouise35]

7 wks Pregnant, on Citalopram many years, but having severe anxiety and depression

Hi there....im hoping for some support. Ive been taking 30mg of citalopram since 2008 for Anxiety & Depression. The drug works great for me & have really improved my quality of life. I have tried to come off it twice but with very poor results, so Ive accepted that i will most likely be on these for life. My husband and I have talked about/tried having childred on & off for several years, and as i am now 38 we decided to try again. I fell quite quickly and i am now almost 7weeks. However for the past week I have been suffering from chronic anxiety and depression. I hardly sleep at night as i wake up in a panicked state, i try my coping mechanisms such as my breathing exercises etc. I then wake again say 4-5am and then just feel like i am giong crazy & having a complete mental break - This is happening even though i am on the 30mg of Citalopram. I am so upset & distraught - Im really struggling to cope - I don't understand what is going on & why the Citalopram is not doing its normal job - I feel quite suicidal at times as im so desperate not to feel this way. Ive seen my GP twice this week, who has also prescribed 10mg of Propanohol to take in the morn but to be honest Im reluctant to take them as i dont want to hard the baby. He is also referring me for urgent counselling. I did take one at 4am today but to no real avail. Im now struggling to go into work - I tried yesterday & was just a complete emotional wreck. I am a shadow of the person i usually am and feel that i am falling apart and never going to get better, espec as i am already on the meds. This is not who i am or who i want to be - I want to be excited about the baby & the birth, I love my husband dearly and feel I am letting him down. Does anyone else feel like this or had a similar experience?? Did you recover????
Much Love xxxxxx

[cattia]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! In the first trimester of pregnancy your hormones are all over the place and it's normal to feel very emotional and unstable. If you have an existing mood disorder then it can throw everything into the air. The good news is that things really settle down in the second trimester for most people. Most of the baby's development is essentially done by the end of the first trimester so you can imagine how much work your body is having to do to grow a whole new person!

[pinkprincess]

Hi Sarahlouise

I am 35 weeks pregnant and came off escitalopram (10mg) last october, i worried about the baby, being on tablets but there is no findings to say otherwise that you cannot be on them. I started to get my anxiety and depression back really bad in december, having horrible symptoms and hardly functioning. to be honest im not doing well now but have not gone back on the tablets, i have 5 weeks left and am hoping once the baby comes i might feel better.

What i do want to say is that when i first fell pregnant i felt terrible, your hormones are through the roof until you are 13 weeks ish then they calm down, i bet it has to do with your hormones. i totally understand how you feel and anxiety is such a crippling illness.

When i got my anxiety bad in december my doctor didnt want me to go back on escitalopram or didnt want to give me propranalol as he said i had come so far but if i had stayed on it, then he would of said to carry on. I used to take propranolol when i was anxious before i was pregnant and if you take the 10mg 3 times a day as the doctor says it should decrease your heart rate to normal and in time reduce your anxiety. it is the same class as citalopram for pregnancy risk etc. Hope this helps and believe me you are not letting anyone down. what you are suffering is an illness and no one understands unless they have been through it! good luck. and take care of yourself

[kmaz3824]

Hello. I just want to say, I had the EXACT same thing happen when I was pregnant. It was awful. I called my psychiatrist almost daily, and had to increase my Zoloft from 100mg/day to 200mg/day! It did settle down after the first trimester, but I know exactly how you feel. I hope you feel better really soon!

[bab]

Hi there
Just to say I was the same when I was preg and it will settle down. I stayed on cit throughout my preg too x