Does anyone know the safest anxiety medication to take during pregnancy?
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at
7:09 am
I have been on my medication for 4 years now. I tried to get off of them because my husband and I want a baby. I realized how important for my function it was to be on the medication. I am on Effexor now on the lowest dose and take it every other day. I am not too happy with the research that has been done. Does anyone have a better idea? Please help me!
Tagged with: anxiety • anyone • during • know • Medication • Pregnancy • safest • take
Filed under: Pregnancy Anxiety
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I don’t know if it’s the safest, but my doc has me on Lexapro (for anxiety) and Wellbutrin (for depression) and both are considered safe throughout the entire pregnancy AND WHILE BREASTFEEDING. Lexapro works extremely well for anxiety.
I am/was on Lexapro for anxiety, and just weaned my self off of it, this past week b/c my husband and I are TTC. I was on 10mg, then went down to 5mg for a week then took my self off of it. I did a lot of research and talked to my doctor. And from what the doc told me the benefits would have to outweigh the risks in order to stay on it. Meaning, if you have severe anxiety disorder and you can’t function day to day without it, then you should stay on a small dosage while you are TTC and pregnant. However there are risks. Although there hasn’t been much research on the effects of mediaction and pregnancy, since most women aren’t willing to experiement. Studies show that women who were on medication, the baby did have some respriatory issue at birth. If you can I would slowly wean yourself off of it. You will notice side effects from weaning, tiredness and slight dizziness but if you really want to be healthy and have a healthy baby and no risks, it’s best to wean off of it and then stop.
The person who said there are no risks of taking Lexapro and Wellbutrin while prego is totally wrong!!!!!! That is not true. It is a category C medication meaning no tests have been run on this drug with pregnant women!!!!
Your doctor would be the best one to discuss this with. More research needs to be done to determine whether effexor and pregnancy can happen at the same time. Current data suggests that effexor and pregnancy are a bad mix. There is no hard data to prove that effexor is completely dangerous for a pregnancy or a nursing baby, but there is no evidence that effexor and pregnancy can safely take place at the same time. The manufacturers of effexor caution patients to tell their doctors if they are pregnant, nursing, or considering becoming pregnant. Most doctors recommend that patients stop effexor doses well before trying to conceive, and no doctors suggest taking effexor during a pregnancy.
Expectant mothers should avoid anti-anxiety drugs. Since these anxiety medications cross the placenta, their use during pregnancy can lead to dependence in the baby. Following birth, the baby will then go through withdrawal, with symptoms such as muscle weakness, irritability, sleep and breathing problems, and trembling. These anxiety drugs are excreted in breast milk, so they should be avoided while breastfeeding, too.
The benzodiazepines are never to be used while attempting to become pregnant, during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
Information available on the safety of antidepressant use during pregnancy is limited by the small size and the designs of most trials. However, there is growing evidence that taking serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other related antidepressants during pregnancy carries an extra risk. For this reason, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (ACOG) recommends against their use during pregnancy unless it is absolutely required and no other options exist. SSRIs have been found to cause “SSRI neonatal withdrawal syndrome” and “SSRI abstinence syndrome,” as well as an increased risk for birth defects. About one out of three newborn infants exposed to antidepressants in the womb show signs of neonatal drug withdrawal, including tremors, gastrointestinal problems, muscle tensing, sleep disturbances, and high-pitched crying. Other complications from SSRIs or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) can include irritability, difficulty feeding, and rapid breathing. Studies have found that one particular SSRI, if used during the first trimester, may increase the risk of congenital cardiac malformations. In addition, for every 100 women taking an SSRI medication late in pregnancy, one may have a child with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN).
At the same time, the symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression can have their own effects on the health of the mother and the fetus. The decision to use or not to use medication during pregnancy and during breast feeding is an important one.
Zoloft for sure.
I was switched from paxil to zoloft for my anxiety when I got pregnant, and its been amazing. Also its the least harmful of all the drugs for mood altering. You can also continue to take it while breastfeeding because there’s VERY little that ever shows up in the breastmilk.
The safest and most responsible thing you can do is either try to take yourself off the medication or hold off on having a baby until you do. It can even be a reward. In any case, anxiety is something you have to work on either in therapy or on your own. The medication is supposed to be a short term treatment to help people in the beginning with panic attacks that just get out of control to a point where the person can’t function at all. All too often people take medication for too long without proper additional treatment. If you have a therapist and they are not helping you, please change or try to find a useful self help book about treating anxiety.