Anyone taking Lexapro while TTC?

Scooter622

*Coming out of lurking*

I currently take Lexapro for anxiety/panic. I asked my primary care doc about weaning off of it but she said to direct that question to my gyn. I intend to do that but first I wanted to find out if anyone here has personal experience taking Lexapro and what your doc said about its safety. I am trying to decide if I want to change to an antidepressant/anti-anxiety that is more studied in pregnancy before we start to TTC. I googled it but there seems to be a lot of mixed info out there....

Thanks!

ProcrastinatingBride

I was on Effexor, not Lexapro, but also for anxiety.  I talked first to my psychiatrist (who prescribed the Effexor to me) and then to my OBGYN.   My psych seemed more willing to let me stay on, but everyone agreed that if I could get off the meds, I should.  I weaned off over about a 2-3 month period late last year in anticipation of TTC.  I'm now about 9 months medication-free!

Your OBGYN will probably have a better sense than your primary care doc about how healthy Lexapro is while TTC.  If it's anything like Effexor, you shouldn't stop taking it cold turkey; you have to wean down slowly.

Feel free to PM me if you have additional questions.  Good luck.

ETA: Gorby's post below reminds me of something worth saying explicitly, and that is, if Lexapro is the kind of drug you have to wean off of, and if it's the kind of drug you shouldn't be taking once you're KU, you are going to be hard-pressed to wean off it fast enough once you find out you're KU.  I think that's why, if you can, it's best to be off meds before you get KU. 

seaturtle19

Hi there.  My LO is 11 months old and i took Lexapro until I found out i was pg.  I stopped taking it during entire pregnancy and until i stopped BF'ing which was 7 months.  Around the time she was 2-3 months old i ask my reg doc if i could get back on it but he was not sure it was a good idea b/c there is not enough studies that have been done yet- keep in mind this is just while i was bfing.  My OB said if i ever felt that i needed to get back on it, no issue even while you are pg.  I started taking it again when i stopped bfing and now I am TTC and plan to take it until i get BFP.

GL

waleb02

I am currently taking Zoloft for anxiety and my ob said its perfectly safe to use during pregnancy.  I am, however, going to wean myself off of it next month, because we are officially going to start ttc in november and I don't want to take the chance that 5 years or so down the road they say its not safe.

I would definitely talk to your own ob....they all are different.  good luck!

gorby007

I weaned off in January into february after telling my dr that we would be TTC in may. She said there were safer drugs out there if I felt I needed to go back on it. So far, so good.

The weaning was hard, but i'm glad I did it then rather than waiting until finding out I was KU. I can only imagine it would be more difficult. 

skrichar

I'm not sure about Lexapro; however, I've been on Wellbutrin and my OBGYN said I needed to wean off of it before TTC due to increased risks of m/c. She said if I needed something, she would switch me to Zoloft, because that was known to be safe for PG (maybe something you could try??)

I decided to come off Wellbutrin, since I wasn't on a major dosage anyway, and see how it goes. Between quitting that and BC all at the same time, I'm sure I'm going to be a joy to be around over the next few weeks - lol! 

Good luck

MandaS08

I am currently on Lexapro while TTC.  My ob/gyn said it was fine to take all through pregnancy and my psych said she would recommend trying to wean off of it once i find out I'm pregnant and then just see how it goes, if I can stay off of it great, if not I will get back on it after the first trimester.  I don't want to stop taking while TTC b/c with all the anxiety surrounding getting pregnant I feel like I need it, but hopefully I can stop using it once I actually get my BFP!  However, if I fall back into depression I won't hesitate to start taking it again, but I think a depressed pregnancy is probably just as harmful for the baby as taking the meds.

Kris_Merc

I used to take Lexapro, but I had always heard you couldn't or shouldn't take it during pregnancy, so I went ahead and weaned myself off of it last spring since DH and I thought we were going to start TTC sooner.  That could be different now, but I used to hear it was not good during pregnancy.

melissabo

I was on Lexapro before TTC. It took me about 2 1/2 months to wean off.  It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I did it.  My OBGYN said he didn't recommend staying on it if I could possibly stop since there are no long-term studies of the effects on children when they get older.  In other words, the babies of moms who took Lexapro during pregnancy are fine, but who knows about when they are teenagers or adults.  He said if I needed something he would want to put me on something better studied.  Good luck! 

baloneydisc

I was on Effexor & Lamictal, my OB/GYN & my GP both told me that I needed to get off of them since we were TTC.  I have been off meds for a little over a year.  I was worried since I'm bipolar, but I haven't had any issues. 

In regards to Lexapro, I found this on drugs.com:

FDA pregnancy category C. SSRI antidepressants may cause serious or life-threatening lung problems in newborn babies whose mothers take the medication during pregnancy. However, you may have a relapse of depression if you stop taking your antidepressant during pregnancy. If you are planning a pregnancy, or if you become pregnant while taking Lexapro, do not stop taking the medication without first talking to your doctor.

Read more: https://www.drugs.com/lexapro.html#ixzz0vTg4lxL7

pinkmickey24

I am currently weaning off of Paxil that will take the next month according to the schedule my PCP gave me, and then she is going to give me a class b anxiety med that is safe to take while pregnant. I was told that Paxil can cause babies to have heart defects that develop during the third trimester and they are born addicted to the meds, so that they end up going through withdraw when they are born. My OBGYN who told me to go to my PCP mentioned that Zoloft was a better choice and even think she said prozac. It is definitely worth asking your PCP.