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adhd and pregnant

Hey I just found out I'm pregnant and I'm not sure whether it's safe to take my medication? I haven't taken any since I found out just incase. Can anyone help?
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189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
   Probably best bet is just to check out this site - http://www.ncgiadd.org/index.html
   It is A Resource for Women and Girls with AD/HD
Helpful - 0
189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
    Just realized you probably can't access this study.  I tried to copy the important information, but its pretty hard to read.  I'm sorry.  the info is from the book -  Medication Use during Pregnancy: A Concern for Women with AD/HD" by David W.
Goodman, MD and Patricia O. Quinn, MD in
Understanding Women with AD/HD
, Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D. and Patricia Quinn, MD
(Eds.) copyright 2002, Advantage Books

safety issues
When evaluating the safe use of any product during pregnancy, several issues usually
arise. Will the medication have a deleterious effect on the developing fetus, resulting in
physical deformities or residual neurologic, behavioral or cognitive deficits? Does the use
of medication predispose mothers to premature delivery or to giving birth to undersized
infants? Does taking medication throughout the pregnancy result in withdrawal behaviors
in the newborn, when he is no longer exposed to the medication? Are there other long-
term conditions associated with exposure before birth?
The answers to these questions are not always easy to discern. Human studies may
present ethical limitations and animal studies are not always perfect solutions. Doses
given to laboratory animals usually far exceed those customarily used in adults, thus not
allowing for generalizations to pregnant women.
Monograph Series
Available information
To date, there have been no controlled studies specifically designed to investigate the safe
use of the stimulants in a pregnant population. However, the question of whether
amphetamines cause damage to offspring has been looked at in animal studies and in
several published case histories of women who were addicted to amphetamines as well as
other drugs.
Amphetamines
In animal studies, cardiac defects were reported in the offspring of mice injected with 41
times the usual human dose of amphetamine. However, no negative effects on offspring
were found in rabbits given the drug at 7 times the human dose or in rats given 12.5 times
the maximum human dose.
There have been numerous outcome studies looking at the infants of women who have
taken amphetamines either during the first trimester or throughout the pregnancy. Women
in these studies were usually taking amphetamines as appetite suppressants or were
addicted to methamphetamine. These studies are summarized in the book,
Drugs in
Pregnancy and Lactation - A Reference Guide to Fetal and Neonatal Risk, 4
th
edition
by Briggs, Freeman, and Yaffe, published by Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1994,
(p44a-51a).
One of these studies looked at 52 mothers with documented exposure to
Dexedrine
and
50 non-exposed mothers. No cardiac abnormalities were found in either group initially.
However, when the
Dexedrine
-exposed children were seen at follow up three years later,
investigators did report a relationship to heart defects in this population.
At this time, as a result of all the available evidence, the prevailing recommendation is
that “amphetamines should be used during pregnancy only when the potential benefits to
the mother outweigh any risk to the fetus.”
Methylphenidate
Adequate animal studies to establish the safe use of methylphenidate (MPH) during
pregnancy and lactation have not yet been conducted. It is therefore not known, at this
time, whether methylphenidate causes harm to the fetus when taken by pregnant women.
Several studies have, however, reported on the outcome of newborns exposed to
methylphenidate before birth. In one study, the Collaborative Perinatal Project, involving
3082 mother-infant pairs, 11 women were found who were exposed to MPH without
adverse outcome in their infants. A second group of women were identified in 1993. Of
the 13 newborns in this group, one had a cardiovascular defect. In addition, there has
been a case report of I.V. MPH abuse during pregnancy. In this case, the abuse of the
drug was associated with premature birth, growth retardation and neonatal withdrawal,
but not with any defects or developmental delay in the infant
Helpful - 0
189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
   I did find this one article which might help you.  It reviews various types of meds used for ADHD -
        https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:kH4CuWvgmbQJ:www.ncgiadd.org/pdf/Medications.pdf+concerta+and+pregnancy+effects&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiFcufEB1wi_HfdGNFOFUQ0n155Cm_kaeSluaSwM15sZrc0fTAk9uLyru2u93xVb2B8cCVBxRCu5WtUzIxzBM8DrjFC1BxZymbtgkqL0QRL3HD8OwDcd7Ki-0bWjRF2zquCd645&sig=AHIEtbQz4LMw6OpGP1bomqkUBwwAxxc92g

    The overall recommendation was that stimulants should only be used when the benefits to the mother outweigh the risks to the child.  But it did go on to say that due to the increased sense of well being and estrogen levels during pregnancy - many women reported being able to function without the meds.
   But this is definitely something that you and your doctor need to discuss.
    Wish I could help more!   Best wishes.
Helpful - 0
757137 tn?1347196453
You don't mention what you are taking, but, whatever it is, you had best talk this over with your ob/gyn.  
Helpful - 0
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