Panic Disorder and Pregnancy

[Praying4MiniMe]

Has anyone had panic attacks and able to have children? Two miscarriages and doc says I will probably never get off the pills. I am on .5mg of klonopin 1x day and 20mg of prozac....anyone have kids with meds????

[spade22]

I have a panic disorder and was on Zoloft for about 8 months as Xanax as needed.
I am currently 12 weeks pregnant and stopped all meds when I found out I may be pregnant.  So far, the panic hasnt been too bad and I have been told there are PLENTY of drugs options to consider if things get too hard to handle.

However, I did a lot of research on this topic before getting pregnant and these are some "general" things I found out.
a) Zoloft hasnt been associated w/ birth defects BUT, in some cases, the baby is born with breathing difficulties and has trouble suckling.  These "withdrawal" effects tend to last a few days but may require baby to stay in a special care unit for a few days.
b) Prozac is generally considered reasonably safe to take during pregnancy.
c) Paxil has been shown to cause birth defects - a class action is being taken against its manufacturers.

The 3 aforementioned drugs are all Class C, meaning they have been shown to damage an animal fetus but no adequate studies have been documented in humans but clearly some appear to have worse effects than others.  I have read many accounts from women who have taken each of the drugs and their babies have been fine but, of course, long term effects are not known and one womens experience will not mirror your own.

Both Xanax and Klonopin are Class D drugs - positive evidence demonstrates they cause damage to the fetus - again, this does not happen in all cases.  It is not recommended that a pregnant women take a Class D drug unless absolutely necessary.  In your case, a risk/benefit assessment would need to be undertaken.  Again, I have read accounts of women who have taken either one of these drugs during pregnancy with a positive outcome.

In your case, I would suggest the following:
Talk to a perinatal psychiatrist.  This is their field of expertise and they will be able to make the most appropriate recommendations for your specific case.  They will have good knowledge of the nature of birth defects associated with various anti-anxiety medications and can provide you with statistics.  They will be the best person to enable you to make a well-informed decision.

One last thing I wanted to comment on.  In order for klonopin to reach full beneficial effects, its needs to be dosed twice daily (to reach steady state).  Therefore, if you are only taking it once daily, it may not be doing much for you - its difficult to say, but certainly a possibility.  If this is the case, you may do just as well (as you are currently) without the klonopin if you continue with the prozac.  This would certainly be a much safer option for you and baby-to-be.

Hope this helps a little.

[Praying4MiniMe]

when i started taking Klonopin, i was on 2mg 1xday, then went to 1mg 1xday, then now at .05 mg. 1-2xday. I am trying to ween off of it so I don't want to be on much, especially if I am trying to concieve. I'm just hoping that maybe that little of a dosage wouldn't be as harmful to the baby. I guess I am just hoping. Even when I try to skip the klonopin in a day, my body knows it. I couldn't stop taking it if my life depended on it...and that's exactly what it feels like...I feel like I'm at a lose-lose situation. I can take the pill the rest of my life and never have kids, or I can take it the rest of my life and risk my unborn babies lives! Its not fair to them, ya know?