Mental Health and Meds During Pregnancy

autumnpolished · October 2020

My hubs and I are ttc, and I am bipolar and on Lexapro 20mg, Abilify 2mg,and Trazadone 50mg for sleep.

Looking to hear other experiences ttc/pregnant on meds.

krash_ · October 2020

This would be a good question for your doctor.

chindimples04 · October 2020

autumnpolished said:

My hubs and I are ttc, and I am bipolar and on Lexapro 20mg, Abilify 2mg,and Trazadone 50mg for sleep.

Looking to hear other experiences ttc/pregnant on meds.

QFP

Many women on this board have never been pregnant. I would talk to your doctor or go ask on the 1st trimester board.

keikilove · October 2020

@autumnpolished You may find some people with some experience in the monthly Mental Health thread linked below. It would be great if you joined us by introducing yourself in the Newbie Intros thread so we can all get to know each other better, or join in on the daily threads called TWW & WTO.

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12756463/mental-health-check-in-october-2020#latest

capnjackharkness · October 2020

Let's see... after having severe depression and anxiety from having a few dead babies, I went on Sertraline (and something on occasion for anxiety, but can't remember the name at this moment). Was told by my doctor it was safe to take while TTCAL. Had a few more dead babies. I don't think the meds caused any problems with my PGs, but I'm not a doctor so what do I know (and actually, what do they even know, as they can't figure out why I continue to have dead babies).

But hey, I was also told it's FINE to take Ranitidine (Zantac) while TTC, and essentially will prollly end up with cancer since I took that for my GERD for about 20 years now and within the past year they decided it's FULL of carcinogens and soooo awful they removed it from the shelves permanently and no one should EVER take it again/should have been taking it. So, ::Shrugs::

Maybe ask a doctor and/or just roll the dice because who even knows...

acleverusername · October 2020

@autumnpolished MotherToBaby.com is an excellent resource for these types of questions. Note: there's just too little research out there to conclusively say that any medication is safe while TTC / pregnant. You always want to weigh to odds of what damage you're doing by _not_ taking medications. Note: I'm taking Lexapro (5mg dose for now) myself as my psychiatrist approved it for me while TTC.

fitzfizz · October 2020

@capnjackharkness Side note regarding your meds: obviously there is no way to know what caused anything (and I am not in any way trying to minimize your situation) but we actually have pretty decent data about sertraline in pregnancy. It is technically category C but one of the best studied category C drugs we have. No one ever can do studies on pregnant women, but sertraline is used pretty regularly and large scale retrospective studies have showed no increased risks for birth defects or miscarriage with sertraline in pregnancy. There is a possible slight trend toward lower birth weight when used in the third trimester, but on the whole it is thought to be pretty safe.

Regarding ranitidine, the amount of NDMA in most formulations of ranitidine is comparable to the amount of NDMA you would get from eating a few pieces of bacon a week. I see why they pulled it (basically lawsuits) but it really isn’t that big of a deal. I still . 🤷🏼‍♀️

For OP and anyone else lurking: That all being said, for ANY medication with TTC or pregnancy, talk to a doctor! Don’t just read about it online or ask online forums to make decisions. With any medication (especially as relates to pregnancy) it comes down to the risks vs the benefits for your specific situation. No medication is totally safe in pregnancy, so talk to your doctors!

capnjackharkness · October 2020

@fitzfizz Yeah when I was prescribed Sertraline, the doctor's said it was fine to take while PG. I wasn't on a super high dose or anything either, so I doubt it had anything to do with my RPL issues. As for ranitidine, I've heard mixed things, so ugh. It also doesn't help that I was on the highest dose allowed medically (and sometimes took an 'extra' pill) for my GERD. For like 20 years. So... guess I'm just waiting that one out to see how it all plays out for me. Blah.
(Side note down the rabbit hole - you ever read ANYTHING about super rare health issue or case where taking a prenatal lead to/caused/had elevated MCs? and I don't mean the MTHFR gene or whatever that needs folate instead of folic acid. It's almost guaranteedly nothing, but the one thing I wonder about at times, just because of the timing of how my shyte went down).

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