Posted by erikab on November 21, 2004, at 23:36:42
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal and Pregnancy, posted by carol_seiji on January 10, 2004, at 3:13:09
To all who have had to question their judgement to become a parent due to psych meds- I feel for you all and just want to give a big hug. I have been there 3 times and am 37 weeks along with my fourth!!!! I should start with my history. While pregnant with my first I was on Prozac about 6 months after he was born and soley breastfed. He has no medical problems. With my second I was on prozac while she was newborn due to an increased post partum depression which turned into post partum psychosis. I breastfed her for 18 months and she also has no medical problems or otherwise. With my third I was suicidal at 7 months pregnant and started on Zoloft. It didn't really help and my dose just kept climbing until I was at the maximum dose. He was born 4 weeks premature and had feeding and breathing problems. His lungs were expending too much energy to nurse, so I had to pump and bottlefeed while he was on oxygen for 5 1/2 weeks. I ended up with the worst depression I have experienced to date and the medicine wasn't working. That's when my doc introduced me to effexor. I started 150 mgs of Effexor XR while my son was 6 months of age and soley breastfed for 13 months. My husband and I started noticing our little guy had tremors in his hands all the way up to his elbows. He is now two and the tremors have only worsened. After an MRI revealed nothing, we still don't know what is wrong.
So I stared researching and found that SSRI meds are attributed with tremors and all the other troubles that my little one was born with; especially if taken in the third trimester. Hooray for Docs that can't keep up in their own field and go around prescribing this to pregnant and breastfeeding moms! =( There was an article released in JAMA in June or July 2004 to back this up. Interestingly I also found that the drug manufacturer Wyeth is looking to possibly change labeling of the drug for these reasons. The FDA is also on board with this. Sadly I found out all this at 28 weeks pregnant and was basically scoffed at. So I decided to be my own health advocate and wean by 37.5 mgs weekly from my 225 daily dose. I was also taking Wellbutrin (a class B med) to help the transition. This took about six weeks and I took my last dose on the 17 of this month. Now I am withdrawing pretty badly. I am worried what this is doing to my baby as I can barely function even with 300mgs of wellbutrin daily. HELP!!!!!!! I don't know what to do and can hardly take care of myself- much less three kids aged 2, 4 and 6, PLUS be pregnant. I am experiencing vertigo, nausea with vomiting, nerve "zaps" and horrible mood swings. I just don't want to hurt my baby inside me with this medicine after seeing my 3rd go through rough times to this day. If anyone can help or just lend some support; I would greatly appreciate it!
poster:erikab
thread:64904
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041118/msgs/418803.html