Nervous about having a Seroquel baby

[Athena_M]

Hi Everyone,

Please keep your fingers crossed and say some prayers for me.  I am having a baby due on Monday the 12th.  I had to stay on my Seroquel the entire pregnancy.  I was on 400 mg before becoming pregnant and tried to lower it down to 300 mg when I found out.  I had to go back up to 400mg after the first trimester because I became moody, and angry.

I was on birth control that didn't work due to my hypothyroidism.  

This is kinda my second Seroquel baby.  Except with my first I was off my Seroquel during the first trimester.  I have bipolar 1 with psychosis, so when I went off my medicine I went into the hospital for 6 weeks.   It was an awful time being pregnant and being in the hospital for so long.  I refused medication and ended up spending alot of my hospital time in the isolation room.  I had hallucinations that aliens were taking my baby out of me.

My son did not have any birth defects, but he was developmentally delayed.  He is all caught up with his development as he is 5 years old, but has mild autism, cyclic vomiting and hypotonia.  The doctors say it has nothing to do with the Seroquel I took.  He has a high IQ of 130,  and he is in preschool reading at a 3rd grade level.  He was a happy baby and is a happy delightful little boy.  

I'm so nervous about having this baby girl as I don't know if there will be any problems.  A genetics doctor looked up the information and studies and showed me that the Seroquel does not cause birth defects.  There were some children that had heart problems or respitory problems.  The indepth ultrasounds showed her lungs fully developed, that she has been practicing breathing, and that she has no heart defects.  

I painfully gave up the dream of having another child due to what happened in my first pregnancy.  My major was Child Development so I love children.  I love being a mom and I read a lot of positive parenting books to give my son a better childhood than I had.  I have a healthy marriage and my husband is a good daddy.  However, I am sooooooo incredibly nervous.  

I pray to God that she comes out healthy and eventually doesn't end up having my illness.  

l will keep you all posted on what happens.

Thank you
Athena

[marmelaide68]

I came off Seroquel when I found out I was pregnant, but started taking it again in the last three months of pregnancy because the insomnia was driving me crazy and anxious plus I had nerve pain keeping me up all night. I was usually taking only 50mg, max 125mg per night, which is not a high dose but I guess it would be a high dose for a developing baby. My baby was colicky from the start, would not settle and soothe. He was diagnosed with reflux, but I suspected he had Seroquel withdrawals. Can't say it was, because withdrawals would have passed within a few weeks, whereas he was "colicky", ie suffered from reflux, until he turned one. He is now 5yo and getting assessed for adhd, has many adhd symptoms. He is a beautiful child, very strong-willed and smart. Just has trouble focusing and staying still - unless he is playing Minecraft, lol. I don't think his adhd has anything to do with me taking Seroquel, though it may have affected his developing brain - we will never know. I would more likely put his adhd down to genetic factors, since his half-brothers and sisters (from the egg donor) all have adhd. Still, the guilt is there... but how crazy are you willing to let yourself get during pregnancy without meds???

[Fterry]

How did the baby turn out?

[skiesarebluelikeme]

autism and bipolar are extremely similar and I believe there is a genetic connection. I have 2 brothers with ocd, bipolar and adhd combined, one of them has 2 kids with aspergers (different moms) his bipolar resembles low functioning autism  my other brothers bipolar is similar to high functioning aspergers he has the super high IQ but never worked up to potential in school or so they thought. my daughter has bipolar, ocd and adhd. only thing different in her from autism is she has intent to be social, she makes eye contact. like autism she has binocular vision disorder and auditory processing disorder which are central nervous system disorders that also occur in autism. if they have binocular vision disorder then IQ may be higher then they say. the bipolar similar to autism brother turned out to be really smart even though school thought he was so dumb his whole life. I myself do not have bipolar nor my other daughter however she still got the smart gene, she is just as smart as her Asperger cousins but she works  up to potential and then some, no written expression, no binocular vision, no auditory processing disorder so no bipolar. it is indeed genetic but not everyone gets it and the problem starts when the brain forms in utro.

[SabrinaMina]

Hello.. I've been reading this forum and I must say I am quite nervous myself... I am on 50mg of seroquil and I just found out that I am pregnant .. about 4 weeks pregnant. I tried coming off when I found out but it is so impossible for me to sleep. I'm losing my mind and frightened it will hurt the baby.. any suggestions?

[Yiry02]

Hi everyone iam on my 8th week of pregnancy..i just found out not to long ago.iam taking seroquel aswell and iam so scared i tried to stop taking this med but i would get really bad panic attacks and i had to start taking the seroquel again since the panic attacks were really bad.what could happen iam desperate i suffer from really bad insomnia but i dont want to hurt my bby i take reslly small amounts of the pill and sometimes its not enough to help me sleep someone help me..

[Bubulous]

Hello and welcome to the forum.  I cannot relate to the pregnancy thing because I am a male and that would be a little out of sorts.  I can however relate to concern in general and will give you some perspective to try to ease your mind.  There are only 3 real paths here for you to take.  The best one in my opinion is to stay on your dr recommended therapeutic level of Seroquel.  The reason this is the best is because the other 2 are:
Try to switch meds during pregnancey or to stop taking your meds, lower the dose, or skip the meds.  The perspective here that you should keep in mind is there are far more dangerous.  There is something to be said about the risks of carrying a baby while under stress or having panic attacks or mood swings.  I have seen a lot of women who were not bipolar or depressed have many complications that will occur naturally when its environment is compromised.  Talk to your ob about this but I would recommend staying as close to your therapeutic dose as you can.

[anchoredheartapparel]

Hi Athena,
How are your children going now?
Not sure if you will still see these messages so many years later, but I'm keen to know how they are both doing as my son is being assessed for ASD currently.

[anchoredheartapparel]

Hi Michael,

My 19mo son is being assessed now for ASD but they are pretty sure he has it.
I too took Seroquel during pregnancy (400mg).
Autism has links to dopamine and seroquel effects dopamine so I don't see how they can say it's definitely not related.
Like all medical things, especially mental ones, there are many factors that contribute, but I highly doubt they can be 100% certain it's not a factor.

[skiesarebluelikeme]

nope I can confirm Seroquel isn't causing Asperger or autism, it is indeed bipolar, ocd and adhd are the reasons why Seroquel was needed is what causes Asperger and autism. I am positive. if it isn't the cause then they are very similar neurological disorders that can be seen in the same gene pool. my low functioning bipolar brother has Asperger kids. I do not have bipolar yet I have a bipolar 12 yr daughter who is very similar to autism including auditory processing and binocular vision disorder. she has intent to be social and makes eye contact. she has borderline low IQ which is inaccurate b/c of the binocular vision disorder. she has a central nervous system genetic disorder. been to two neuro psychologist and had QEEG, I am 100% postitive. my other daughter has the Asperger high IQ but works up to potential, no written expression, no vision or auditory problems, no bipolar, no autism, no aspergers.

[skiesarebluelikeme]

my brothers have different bipolar disorders. the one similar to autism rapid cycles, threw temper tantrums or fits of rage by 3 yrs of age. I could hear something neurological in his crying when I was a child and I told every adult I could that I thought something was wrong. I also thought my older brother was way to smart and thought it was odd he was getting punished for not doing school work. I even went to the school in 3rd grade and i will spare you the results of that conversation. bottom line is my younger brother is very similar to autism and my older brother is very similar to aspergers. I do not have neither however one of my two daughters has early onset rapid cycle bipolar which is very similar to autism.

[skiesarebluelikeme]

question would be how many Seroquel babies have low functioning autism? most on this thread mention Asperger so I would have to say Seroquel would be very beneficial to a developing fetus  in utro. both are language disorders autism is both expressive and receptive, Aspergers is only expressive. my early onset rapid cycle bipolar child has both expressive and receptive language disorders. her Asperger cousins only have expressive language disorder.

[Athena_M]

ASD  Autism  Spectrum Disorder
My kids have behavior problems usually after they eat something sweet. If they have a slice of birthday cake or a donut the next day they cry and tantrum. When we go weeks without sugar they have angelic behavior.
You can look into the Feingold Diet too for your grandkids. My son was on it for a while and it helped a lot.  

[smookie67]

I looked up ASD, and it has multiple uses for that Acronym, could you be specific as to which in your case it applies to?  I am raising 2 grandchildren who were seroquel babies.  One has hearing loss.  Short term memory loss, a boat load of behaviour problems and I am trying to sort out the source of some of the problems.

[Athena_M]

My girl is doing very well, she is talking a lot, has very clear speech and is extremely smart.  My daughter was recently tested and does not have any form of ASD. I thought maybe she had ASD.  My son has the high IQ ASD. His ASD is considered mild.  However, the Genetics doctors say it has nothing to do with the Seroquel.  She says there are tons of cases of children with ASD whose mothers never took Seroquel or any meds.  Personally I think Autism Spectrum Disorder has more to do with the age of the father or perhaps even the mother.  My husband and I are in our forties.

[Michael618]

HI, I'm a grandparent seeking out mothers who were given atypical antipsychotics during pregnancy.  How are you and your family doing?  Your child should be nearly 2 by now, I suppose.  I have been contacted by one mother who's baby has ASD like my granddaughter.  Both mothers were given seroquel and had been on other prescribed psych meds.  

Hope you all are well,

Michael

[Athena_M]

I believe your baby will be fine.  Hugs to you.  

[Silver1_30]

Hi I just found out that i'm pregnant and I'm so nervous I take elavil, citalopram abilify,I worry about the first month that i didn't know I was pregnant, now I stoped all medications but I can't stop thinking about the first month what kind of risk I'm looking at I'm also on lorazepan

[Athena_M]

Everything will be OK.  My first is super smart too and he was a Seroquel baby too.  I know it is hard not to worry, but the baby will be perfect and intelligent. My girl is 4 months now and she is so delightful and beautiful. You will be so blessed.
Hugs
Athena

[Ale_luther]

Congratulations!!! I  so happy for you. My first pregnancy I did not take any meds and my 2 year old is suuuper smart. I have cronic insomnia and my phychiatrist put me on seroquel for this pregnancy. I am 33 weeks and have been using seroquel during the whole pregnancy. I am extremely nervous if I am doing any harm to my little new baby girl. I am having panic attacks this week just thinking about it. I just hope for the best to all our babies.

[Athena_M]

My baby girl is healthy and happy.  She did not have any birth defects from the Seroquel.  She is 3 months now.  My psychiatrist says he keeps pregnant women on their meds and that all the babies have been healthy.  
I didn't know birth control pills could help with acne.  I had a lot of acne when I was on Lithium, it was awful.  Luckily, the Seroquel doesn't cause acne.  

[MoonlightTears]

By now your baby has been born and I hope he ou she is strong and healthy.

You´ve said on your first post that:
- "I was on birth control that didn't work due to my hypothyroidism"
Doesn´t any medication can take the effect of birth control pills? You should check this with your doctor.
I've been told by doctors that it does. The only reason that I keep taking it after knowing this is because it helps my skin being clear of acne. My skin got bad when I went off of it, wich I did since the psychotopics drugs I take, including seroquel, take out the effect of the birth control pill.

[Athena_M]

Hi Moondrop,
I went to a Genetics doctor and she gave me a copy of a Seoquel study that was done on pregnant women.  The study says there are no birth defects.  Do you know yet if you are pregnant?  Please don't worry.  Everything will be OK.  I have two children to prove it.
Hugs
Athena

[moondrop4200]

i am 21 years old and i take seroquel. i am scared of birth defects too. I also take lyrica for my painfully ilness fibromyaglia. i am so scared im pregnant because i dont want to bring a child into this world messed up  because of me, how did you find out it has no effects on the child

[jupsie]

congradulations!! I am so happy for you!! I was not on any meds when i was preg but i went on them affter my second child. and im sure i needed them my whole life. so anyhow i have always wondered about how things could turn out if i were on meds during pregnancy. no meds and my kids are still screwed up, lol. we all suffer from anxiety , deppression, and anxiety. I wonder if i were on meds maybe it would have fixed their brains. wouldn't that be some discovery. i think so few people take psych meds while preg. maybe they should study this now.
but i am so happy to hear this good news. good for you!! and best of luck to you! my daughter took adderall while she was preg with my 5yr old grandson and he is a hyper child. I often wonder beings adderall is a stimulant drug , is this why he is so hyper and anxious. but then again his mother and father both have a history since infancy to be active babys and not what you would call a content baby. so poor thing has bad genes. but we love him more than anything and continue to support him every way we can.

[wj74]

Yay!

[Athena_M]

Hi All,

Thank you for your encouragement.  

I had my baby girl on April 13th at 10:04 p.m.  She was 6 pounds 11 oz.  She is very petite, alert, and looks like she is already smiling.  She's a very quite easy baby. No birth defects from Seroquel.  We had blood incompatibility I'm O positve she is A positive, but she does not seem to have a problem with Jaundice.  

I am so happy and relieved she is OK.  Thank you again for your encouragement.  

[cornflkgrl]

Hope everything turns out well for you.

Just to let you know (don't know if it helps to hear) but I took Lithium, Wellbutrin, Prozac, and Haldol (yes ALL OF THEM) through my pregnancy with my first son due to extreme problems with my bipolar that they were never able to get a handle on and ended up finally inducing in the end.  They made the mistake of removing me from all meds when I first got pregnant and I went haywire so they started adding them all back in not knowing what to do and relying on OB/GYN to make psych decisions.  I was terrified because of all the drugs.  We too went to a genetics counselor.  

Anyway, first child is fine, healthy, sweet little boy, who has epilepsy, but it is related to a cord compression at birth; not meds.

Second child, stayed on my meds throughout (just Wellbutrin) and he is just fine.  Absolutely no health issues.  Totally happy little boy.

Two kids -- two medicated births.  I don't like that I did it.  But if I did it again I would have just stayed on the meds to begin with.

I think your baby is going to be just fine.  Drugs are starting to age and they have been able to do a lot more studies on them.

[Eileen455]

I hope and pray that everything will be just fine with your new baby girl, as I am sure it will be (I am claiming that for you). I say trust in what the genetics doctor said about the studies that have been conducted. It's completely understandable and normal to be nervous about everything concerning your new mother, as you know that is a part of being a good mother. Bless your heart, and stay positive. I'm wondering if you are having your baby right now, since it is the 12th.   :)  I'd like to hear the good news when you have her. Take Care, Eileen455  

[hell1971]

I hope everything turns out ok, my thoughts are with you.