Anxiety meds - RPL

vibeee

I have never taken any anxiety meds.  I am very hopeful for my IVF number 1. 

I can't really rule out the issue of anxiety when I do experience spotting, bleeding, cramps.  It is really hard not to think something is going wrong again(8 losses).  I remeber my coworker bleeding really badly when she was 8 weeks pregnant, she went to the hospital, stayed on bed rest and everything ended up well.  She has a healthy baby girl.  I my case it would be tears, NOT again and despair.  I am a huge proponent of your body knowing what you think.  If you change the gears into 'yes, it's another loss' there is nothing stopping your body from reacting the same way.

Did you consider taking meds for anxiety for the first trimester?  Do they have any negative side effects?

If you don't agree with my thinking process please don't replay.  There are some people here who are very snarky and I don't need snaky right now.  I'm really anxious but really positive about what's to come so I want to eliminate any negativity.  I'm just hungry for information.  Thank you ladies!

vibeee

I'm a cert. yoga teacher.  I tried acupuncture during some pregnancies.  It's just so hard to rationalize when I am pregnant and shit starts going bad to be positive and not to freak out.

I'm 37 and we only have few more tries left - 2 IVF cycles.  That's also all we can afford.  I want to give myself the best possible shot I can.

Thank you for your response.  Yoga definitely helps.  I'm just curious if anybody tried the medicated approach.  I will mention it in my first new RE appt.

Thanks again!

ThereBeDragons

*********ticker warning**********

*******pregnancy mentioned********

******loss mentioned*******

(Basically all kinds of triggery stuff- skip if you are feeling sensitive)

RPL seems to be something that didn't come up a ton when I was on the infertility boards, and medications during pregnancy also wasn't terribly common since so many IFs have so much trouble just getting to the pregnancy part. So I'll come out of lurking and give my perspective.

I was very against class c medications (which all psych drugs are if remember correctly) when we first started IVF. Then the losses/failed cycles piled up. After my loss at 6w in 2011, I went on a low dose of Prozac to keep my anxiety and depression under control. 

We spaced our IVF/FET cycles so that I had the best chance of bouncing back after each failure- but eventually the trauma adds up. And it's not the sort of thing you should be expected to get through just by putting on your big girl panties and trying harder not to be sad/anxious. Sometimes you need some extra help from therapy and psychiatric drugs. That's okay. 

After my loss at 17w in 2012, I was an emotional disaster. My meds were upped just to get me through the grief period and it took almost a year before I was mentally able to deal with the possibility of another transfer- and another potential loss. Frankly, when I got the BFP with this pregnancy I wasn't even able to feel thrilled- I was so sure that all pregnancy ended in traumatic miscarriage. I had a small bleed at 7 weeks and only my doc getting me in within the hour convinced me that I hadn't already miscarried. I had a horrifically huge bleed (cause still unknown) at 11 weeks and I couldn't even bring myself to go in over the weekend to be told it was over. I just went in, defeated already, on Monday and waited for them to tell me it was over.

The only thing that kept me sane through the first trimester was the Prozac and talking with my psychiatrist. Would I rather have had that perfect med free pregnancy with all happiness and smiles? You betcha. But there's irrational fear and there's rational fear. And frankly once you've had a couple of miscarriages already- that fear and anxiety is a completely rational response to the trauma you've already gone through. 

I'm still anxious. I'll be anxious until the day I take my baby home- and probably long after too. This hasn't been an easy or complication free pregnancy. I don't begrudge myself the help of my medication, and even my MFM and OB believes that they do more good for me than they could possibly do harm to the baby. Some meds are safer than others- find a safe one with a reasonable dosage, and see if it helps. You don't have to do this without any help.

vibeee

Thank you so much for sharing.  This is exactly what I needed to hear.  A real story from somebody's life where it did help.

It is so easy to judge. Suggest to relax etc.  Being a slight PTSD victim I am so much more prone to being hurt, so much more sensitive.  Event after horrific losses I was able to pick myself up and kept going.  I also took 2 year break after the last one.  I just couldn't continue at that pace.

I will definitely discuss it with my doctor.  I want the best chance I can get and if it means prozac so be it.  Like you said it may do more good than harm.

Thank you again for sharing.  I am so have your pregnancy worked out this time!  Bed rest must be sucky but oh well. We do it all for one good reason!

Thank care girl! And thank you!

vibeee

Thank you for sharing!

I haven't even talk to my hubby about it but I want to discuss it with the new RE and see what she has to say.

indianaalum

unfortunately, alot of those meds are bad to use during pregnancies. Definitely things like Xanax and REALLY bad during pregnancy for safety purposes.

If you aren't "functional", talk with your doctor and see if there anything that is safer than others because being healthy and safe might require takign meds..which then the "pros outweight the cons" in that regard. hope that makes sense

vibeee

It does make sense from this perspective.

I have never taken any antidepressants.  I know it would be silly to take them if I don't need them.  Ina sense I feel that I would benefit from it if it would make me less caring about the outcome.  It's just so hard not to freak out when you start spotting or bleeding and I know my body has a physical reaction to loss. 

This is all so hard to explain.  I will talk to my doc.  I want the best chance I can get for the 2 cycles we can afford. 

Thank you for chiming in... and good luck with your BFP!!!

curve31

The first thing my gyno told me when I met him was he wanted me to keep taking my antidepressant when I got pregnant. He was adamant that depression and anxiety are worse than the meds. I take Celexa which is a C but I think Zoloft is a B. He said he'd rather I take it but it wasn't a huge deal.