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301132 tn?1201648450

Ativan, Benzo's while pregnant

I am 21 weeks pregnant and have been on ativan the entire time.. anyone else? Have you had known anyone who has been on them the whole time???


Thank you
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Avatar universal
Hi there,
I am 15 weeks pregnant.  I went to see my doctor yesterday regarding some stress issues I have been having.  Work is becoming increasing stressful as well as some home issues.  He is putting me on short term disability and also prescribed Ativan (1mg) when needed and Cipralex (half a tab a day).  I have been against taking medication this whole time.  I have been having some extreme pain in my lower abdomin (feels like intense menstral cramps).  My doctor prescribed me Tylenol 3s to relieve the pain.  (regular Tylenol or others like it have never worked for me).  I was aprehensive to take them seeing as how they have codeine in them so I went to 3 other doctors for more opinions.  They all told me to take the medication.  I drilled my doctor about the risks of taking Ativan and he said they are safe to take at this point in my pregnancy (2nd trimester).  

Helpful - 0
363110 tn?1340920419
Your right about weaning off it. It's also called "floppy baby" where the baby isn't very active at birth and just kind of flops around.

Sometimes if you can't go completely without the med, you can go on at a LOW dose.

I was on Topamax (Topiramate) for migraines, and as soon as I suspected I was pregnant I weaned myself off, simply because the risks didn't outweigh the benefits... plus, my migraines actually dissapeared.

Im on Vicodin for headaches (came back in 2nd trimester) as well as severe leg pain due to my skin disorder. I'm on 5/500 every 4 hrs as needed. Floppy baby was also a risk with this, but my OBGYN said he isn't worried, as a matter of fact I had 3 different doctors from 2 different practices tell me it was alright. EVEN one of them told my mom it was ok, but she is STILL on my case about how worried she is.. etc. etc.  She got peeved when I told her I'd rather believe the 3 medically trained DOCTORS than her.

Also, if you BF after birth, just maybe try another type of med?
Helpful - 0
572087 tn?1217123686
I was on Ativan and have five healthey children. My last child though had crying spouts from withdrawl and was floppy and had the shakes but it gets out of the babies system in 24-48 hours after birth just do not breast feed.
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338123 tn?1217505331
I have been on lorazapam way before I found out im pregnant and Im still on it, dr sent me to a high risk Dr and everything I was told about the medication is to wean off of it so by the 3rd trimester its no longer in your system, if you are still on it at the time of delivery it can cause "floppy head syndrome" which means the baby may need some help with breathing and may not feed right away. I hope this help I take it for extreme anxiety, but I've noticed since becoming pregnant my anxiety is almost gone. Hopefully this helps and good luck.
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Avatar universal
i am on prozac and klonopin for my panic disorder and my doctor wants to get me off the klonopin as soon as possible in case I become pregnant. However, I've been on klonopin for almost 4 years now and the doctor said I will probably never be off pills completely. i have talked to someone who took benzoids while pregnant and had a healthy son but they are class D drugs so they aren't wise to take while pregnant.  I have also heard that being on benzoids can be 'ok' while pregnant if it can harm the mother if taken off. Just like if I were to be pregnant now, the doc couldn't take me off the klonopin cold turkey, because it can cause seizures, temors, death etc. so the doc is trying to taper me off now.  It is just really hard because my body has developed withdrawl effects when I try to stop taking them, so who knows.  I hope everything goes ok and just keep checking the u/s. good luck and I will pray for you.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
have you told your doctor?

i dropped every medication i was on and avoided ALL types of chemicals as best i could when i found out i was pregnant.

i dont really know anything about Ativan, but i did a google search on it... and it does say "Avoid, especially in first trimester" and can cause horrible problems. i would research it if i were you and deff notify your doctor about it asap
Helpful - 0
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