New here - Any moms on Anxiety Meds while Preg?

Erinann

Hi there! I'm new to this board. I mostly post on the Infertility boards, but I have a pregnancy related question. Anyone here on anxiety/depression meds while pregnant? What does your doctor say about it? I recently weaned off Effexor and I'm have a hard time. Hopefully our current FET worked and I'm pregnant. Unfortunately I'm have a lot of general anxiety and I fear I may need to be on something. But I'm concerned about the risks. Just wondered if any other mamas out there can tell me about their experiences. Thanks.

browneyes_326

Yes! So with both of my LO's (DS 5 & DD 2) I stayed on Celexa and dropped Welbutrin. I wa never given a daily anti-anxiety, just an as needed supply and didn't take those while pregnant.

Just before my current pregnancy (I'm 21 weeks) I tried to stop Celexa and it was not good at all. I had fairly severe physical side effects (electric shock feeling) and otherwise mentally felt a way I have not felt for many years. It was not good. So we switched to Zoloft & kept the Welbutrin. My Doc w/ LO 1 & 2 thought I should not take Welbutrin, so I didn't. This time around my psychiatrist had no problem with me staying on both. I took both from week 1 to week 18 .... My OB gave his opinion that less is better and if I could tolerate cutting Welbutrin I should. I stopped for a couple weeks and was feeling like crap so I introduced it again for the last week. I see my OB next week to discuss.
From what I understand being unstable mentally or physically can have its own side effects on your child and it's better to control what you can with meds considered safest while pregnant.
If you feel you really need something I am fairly sure your Psychiatrist and or OB will find you a suitable option while pregnant!
I hope this helped a little!!
Good luck to you.

BP1979

Yes, I am. When I got pregnant, the doctor and I had a discussion. I've tried going off meds several times over the past few years, and it never ends well. So, she switched me to "safer" med (Setraline, which I think is generic for Zoloft). The only negative side effects are that baby might need oxygen at delivery, but most don't and if they do it's only for a couple minutes. With my history of anxiety and depression, I'm also at a much greater risk for post partum depression, so after weighing all factors, doc and I both felt it was better for me to stay on meds.

KateLouise

I'm on citalopram. I went on it around 23 weeks. I'd not previously been on anxiety medication but was really struggling with anxiety.

My Doctor wanted me to get on top of it and was concerned about leaving it untreated could lead to full blown post natal anxiety and/or depression.

My Dr. was comfortable with the medication and I trust him.

Definitely talk to your doctor.

Erinann

Thanks ladies. I appreciate your input. Unfortunately my pregnancy test was negative. In a way I'm relieved because I can focus on being off the Effexor completely and dealing with it. It gives me a chance to get myself back to a "normal" state before I make the decision to try something else and stay on it while pregnant. I'm hoping a lot of these feelings are just the Effexor leaving my system. A new psychiatrist did give me an Rx for Buspar, which is considered a Class B drug.

Thanks again for your input and support. I appreciate it. Good luck to you all in your pregnancies.

vinerie

Lurking from Trying to Get Pregnant. This question is really important to me, though. I have panic attacks and the only thing I know to control them is a mix of propanolol (10 mg) and alprazolam (anywhere from .25-.75 mg). I take these meds twice a week.  (I know the situations where I may have an attack, and if I take the meds beforehand, I can ward it off.)

Anyhow, this is my biggest concern about being pregnant by far. How will I manage warding off the attacks?

I talked to my OBGYN about it and she said taking those meds is not ideal, but if the risks of not taking them outweigh the risks of taking them, then I should take them. 

I actually changed doctors because my first OBGYN looked at me blankly and said "No one has ever asked me that before. Everyone always wants to be on zoloft. What a strange question. I've never known anyone on those drugs." I felt so shamed!

Anyhow, I went and looked up actual research on the topic (I am a professor by trade, so I have access to a big research library). Turns out that the there isn't a ton of research on benzodiazepines. In fact, a review article I found (article reviewing all the research on the topic) states that researchers and doctors should not lump all benzos into one category, and that there are different risks based on different compounds (essentially the meds). 

So the reason that a lot of the anxiety drugs are labeled Class D is simply that there are too many unknowns--NOT that there is solid evidence about negative effects. In fact, there isn't really any research that categorically shows a relationship between ingesting benzos and birth defects. So that is why you'll hear different doctors say different things, or different people online say they stayed on anxiety meds during pregnancy and were just fine. 

I write this not to suggest one thing or another (and I'm not a doctor, of course) but simply to say that I do believe that the science is very unsettled on the topic. And my doctor has said the same thing. There just hasn't been any controlled human studies. 

None of this helps me, of course, with my own anxiety issues, which now extend to being anxious about being on my meds while pregnant. /sigh