pregnancy and anti-depressants?

[Harmony588]

hi everyone hope all is doing well! i am currently waiting on doing IVF to concieve because my dh has 98% abnormal sperm :( im very excited and yet so nervous and scared, i am taking 75 mg of effexor xr for mild anxiety, it has really cured me where as before i was very bad with social anxiety i am great now but i hear the medicine i take is really har to stop taking and you get bad withdrawls and some have stayed with it during pregnancy and had no problems but it isnt fda approved to take while pg, i want a baby more than anything so i will do whatever it takes but dont want to have withdrawls and do anything to mess up anything if/ when i hopefully conceive, if any of you know anything that can give me some tips i would love to hear, thank you so much and baby dust*****************

[leighanne143]

effexor is not good for pregnancy.  the safest anti-depressant med during pregnancy is prozac.  talk to your doctor.  my friend was on effexor when she got pregnant and her doctor made her slowly stop it right away.

[angelbabies]

i was given anti depresstions because i was deperssed after 3 misscarrages i for some reason i didnt take them that mounth because, anyway it turned out i was preganant so im sorta gald i didnt take them, i did ask my dr when he gave them to me bout the risks if i was pregnant and he said i would be fine as long a i stoped takeing them as soon as i found out.

[Harmony588]

thanks so much, your right some have had healthy pregnancies but im not going to risk it, i would be always worrying the whole 9 months and im sure ill have enough worrys anyway, so i will start to get off it asap because who knows what the risks can be, thanks again, god bless!

[kikicoates78]

As I do see your concearn and need for your effexor while TTC, after your IVF transfer you should stop taking it, its not FDA approved for pregnancy for a reason. You would never forgive yourself if you caused harm to your baby while taking it, Unfortunately there is not alot of medication that you can take during pregnancy that does not cross through the placenta, so whatever you take baby takes. Alot of meds can affect heartrate and that kinda stuff, I do wish the best for you, I hope you get to hold your baby soon! SSBD

[Harmony588]

congrats on ur pregnancy! yay, maybe ill look into that ativan and ya your right once if i do get pg maybe i wont need them anymore, that would be great! thanks so much

[Nurseypie]

I can sooo relate to your experience! I had loads of anxiety with my IVF attempt in July. I m/c in August. I made an assertive decision to request Ativan for 18 days leading up to the morning of my next transfer (I wrote about it in my journal pages). It was a great decision for me because although I did not take the Ativan after the transfer I was calm and had no anxiety prior to. The Ativan worked great for me because it only needs to be taken when you are having an anxiety attack, instead of taking it in scheduled doses. This time my IVF was a success. My betas were 380 and 1572 and my u/s is on Wednesday. So, good for you for doing whatever it takes to be in a good place and anxiety is very custom to ones own lifestyle, personality and genetic make-up. Good luck in whatever direction you choose and know that you are certainly not alone in your journey.  P.S: If you are blessed with a pregnancy it will probably help with your anxiety. The overwhelming joy is medicine in itself. God bless you!!!

[Harmony588]

thank you you are very right, it is so hard trying to be patient, and my anixiety is just killing me sometimes but i try not to stress it and stay positive good luck

[paranoidpatty]

Hi Harmony,

I'm sorry but I don't know much about the meds you're taking for anxiety.  It's funny how TTC actually adds even more to your anxiety. Nobody will ever understand the anxiety it adds each month and then the depression that comes after a BFN or AF.  But it sounds like you're headed in the right direction with the IVF so I can only wish you luck on that.

SSBD!

Trish