Helpful Antidepressants During Pregnancy?

I was 5.5 months pregnant when I found out (yes, it does happen.) The shrink pulled me off my mine and it was hooooorrrriiibbbllle! I had been on them for such a long time I REALLY needed to be weaned off of them.

The thought I was going to go crazy and called my OB and he said start taking them again. I already had them in my system prior to getting pregnant so he didn't seem to worry about issues.

Everything was fine. The WEIRDEST thing is my depression lifted (I can't think of a better word) after my son was born. To this day I don't take Effexor anymore but I'll be a crazy person if I miss my work-out! LOL

Speak to your Dr. about what is safe, there are several out there. It is better to keep it under control during pregnancy because without any meds if you have clinical depression, your odds are much greater for postpartum depression. And that not only effects you, but your new baby as well.

Talk to your OB GYN - there are some that are considered to be more safe than others. Also, when you are pregnant, they may impact you differently than when you are not pregnant.

My OB/GYN prescribed Zoloft to me at 13 weeks with my second child because I'd had horrible post-partum depression with my first child, and was starting to show symptoms with my second child even in my first trimester. Anyhow, it made a huge, and almost immediate, difference for me. I felt so much better. I continued to take it until my daughter was about a year old (after I had stopped breastfeeding and given my body a chance to settle down, hormonally speaking). Neither one of us had any side effects to speak of, and as I said it made a world of difference in how I felt and how well I was able to care for and bond with my baby. My doctor told me the use of Zoloft has been pretty extensively studied in pregnant and nursing moms, and that it is as safe as any medication can be. (Obviously nothing is totally risk-free, but he felt confident in prescribing Zoloft, and it did its job.)

I was on celexia prior to becoming pregnant and when I became pregnant my ob/gyn changed it to zoloft. Now that the baby is born, I did return to celexia becuase zoloft wasn't quite as good as the celexia in my opinion. I asked this same question before, and you wouldn't beleive the criticism I received for taking an anti-depressant during pregnancy. But, as a pregnant woman, who wants to be even more emotional and depressed (let alone have anxiety) than a normal pregnant woman? I know we are all different, and there are potential side effects to all medicines. It worked for me, and I am thankful for a very healthy baby boy. You should talk with your ob/gyn and he/she will prescribe you something low risk and appropriate for your condition. Good luck!

I also suffer from depression and anxiety/panic disorder. I have taken Celexa through two pregnancy with no complications. With my first child, my psychiatrist wanted to wean me off by delivery, but I was a mess and ended up staying on my full dose through delivery after seeking advice from another "baby doctor" (for lack of better terminology right now!) Best thing I ever did for myself and baby was to stay on the medication. Everyone is different, so speak to all your doctors and go from there! Good Luck

Best and safest I know that works is micronutrient supplementation, and the only type used in all the research is EMPowerplus by Truehope. Here is the research on it:
http://www.truehope.com/truehope_bipolar_disorder_researc...

Also, supplements you probably need anyway - like methylated folate and cobalamin (B9 & B12) and vitamin D ( http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/2010/12/brain-health-vit... and http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/2008/06/nutrition-genes-...) which may also help protect your baby! One form of methylated folate is even a prescription marketed to psychiatrists - Deplin.

Of course, always run anything you take past a doctor for approval.

Which anitdepressants were most helpful to you in the past? I'd start with whatever worked the best for you in the past and THEn checking on it's pregnancy risks.

I, too, have suffered from depression since my high school. I went off my meds when I became pregnant and became a wreck.

My ob/gyn was aware of my history and recommended that I go back on them.

I am now the mother to a beautiful, happy and healthy 20-month-old. I took and still am on Lexapro. Good luck.

A natural antidepressant/anti-anxiety therapy is exercise. If you haven't tried this, I would definitely recommend it. I personally know people who have felt all better once they started (and stuck to) an exercise routine. Something as minimal as brisk walking 30 minutes/day could do the trick.

Also, high sugar consumption has been linked to depression and anxiety. If you're a soda drinker, try giving it up. It might help!

Hope this helps. :)

I was put on zoloft. It seems to really help hormonal-based depression. I was also put on it for PMDD just before I became pregnant with this one.

I was able to go until my second trimester, too, and then I realized I wasn't okay anymore. I haven't needed it yet for this pregnancy, hopefully that trend keeps up.

I think we all would ideally love to be medication-free for our pregnancies, but once I read that children of depressed mothers (while they were in the womb) have more behavioral problems down the road, I decided it was important for both of our health!

During my last pregnancy my doctor put me on Zoloft 25mg (we had to do the lower dose to help lower the risk to my daughter. She's a perfect 2 month old now!). I had never been on antidepressant before but it seemed to help me quiet a bit. It might be an option for you. Good luck. Hope you find something that works for you