Depression and Pregnancy

I would not go off your meds just like that. Check with your Dr.

Some are OK. You need to be healthy. A lovely young teacher on maternity leave with her new beautiful daughter, at a school nearby, never came back from maternity leave. :( She didn't get the help and medication she needed. Nobody knew. Please get the help you need and check which medication is OK to take, for your sake and your baby's sake.

My doctor actually put me on Zoloft while I was pregnant, and I stayed on the medication until my daughter was 1 year old (I breastfed). The use of anti-depressants during pregnancy is fairly widespread and has been well-studied. Does your doctor know you went off of your medication? I think it's worth a discussion with your doctor - please be aware that pregnancy hormones will cause you to become MORE depressed than you'd otherwise be, and it only gets worse postpartum. I believe you will be much better off going back on your medication so that you can have a positive frame of mind for the duration of your pregnancy, and so you can avoid post partum depression/psychosis. As far as I know, there's no benefit to your baby for you not taking necessary medication, and bonding with your baby is much harder when you are clinically depressed. (I have been there and done that with baby #1. With baby #2, I took Zoloft and it made a WORLD of difference.)

Good luck, and congratulations.

I sympathize. I suffered from depression for many years and it got worse during pregnancy but I didn't really get the help I needed. Later I used meds (a couple of prescriptions) and had different results. I also went off too quickly and really relapsed. I went back on, and lately I've used comprehensive nutritional supplementation (not just one ingredient - that's not safe) and I'm a new person. Just about off my meds, with my doctor's supervision. This is food-based, not drug-based, and it's safe as a prenatal, for nursing moms, for kids, etc. Pregnant women I've worked with have had really thick umbilical cords (doctors were amazed) and very healthy babies too. Happy to help you.

Please go to infantrisk.com and call the hotline. Your meds may be perfectly ok to take. Dr. Hale is on top of his game with this and they have very detailed, clinical study info.

If you still can't or are understandibly unwilling, check out your Vit. D levels. Those meds take a lot of nutrients from your system. The B vitamins are supposed to help and walking, as bad as you feel, will surely help. Beware of sugar because it can reak havoc on your emotions.

Once you begin to nurse, that will help with hormonal issues. Just try and get though one day at a time. The sacrifices you make will never be in vain.

Good luck and God Bless.

How wondeful that you're pregnant. I don't have personal experience with clincial depression... I just wanted to offfer my support.

We conceived through IVF, so I had plenty of hormones raging through my system, both natural and enhanced. I had all sorts of emotional issues. I have always been a "glass half full" type of person, so I'd like to write that I rose above them all. The reality is that pregnancy did a number on me. The only way that I (we all) survived was with the help the love of my life... which leads me to the advice portion of my post. If you are stuggling with anything, I can't under-emphasize the importance of a partner. You must share everything with your husband, giving him the opportunity to both assess how you're doing and to support you when you need it. You are not going through this alone... be honest and take all the help you can get...

Good luck with the pregnancy :)

You can get a book about pregnant and medications, also i know you want to breastfeed your baby as well so need than to said it a book for that as well medications and mothers' milk. I think you are making a great decision on breastfeed your baby.

1) Just a word to the wise: Formula is waaaaaay better than a depressed mama. Heck, nurse 3 days for the colostrum, and then go back on.

2) Pregnancy hormones can do keeeee-razy things. I get antepardum depression (like PPD, but while pregnant). There ARE antidepressants you can take while pregnant. If you start getting suicidal, PLEASE, seek help via your OB. Similarly, a lot of chronic depression suffers AREN'T depressed when pregnant (the hormones acting as natural antidepressants). It splits (80/20?) though on PPD on top of normal depression afterwards, or just back to normal depression. Make sure someone you trust to call 911 is around for the first few weeks after birth, as you'll be at much higher risk for PPD and psychosis. Again... breastmilk isn't best if mama is dead. Or if mama has killed her baby. Or even "just" cannot bond with her baby. (Could you be fine? SURE! But really, leave the formula option on the table guilt free.)

3) There is a short list of antidepressants that are widely used by nursing mothers. I'm not up to date on the longitudinal studies on these.
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Myself... Antepardum depression runs in my family, so it didn't even occur to me to mention anything to my OB. "The Suicide Hours" I just clung to a chair and screamed and cried and shook, or stayed catatonic silent, for 1-2 hours a day for 6 months. ((Both ways, just trying not to off myself)). The rest of the day was soooo much better than those hours (like clockwork, every day starting somewhere around 5pm-7pm), that even though biserable, they were totally handleable.

I would highly recommend that you seriously consider getting back on some kind of medication for the duration of your pregnancy. My doctors felt it would be much more dangerous for me to get off the medication then it would be a risk to the child. There are many different medications to choose from that are categorized by class A, B or C depending on the risk level for the baby and your OB/GYN can go over that with you. This pregnancy is supposed to be a happy time for you and this isn't the case at all. You need to be mentally stable for your baby now and in April.

Hi K.
Congrats on first baby! Sorry to hear about your struggle with dep.
make sure you're getting good omega-3's during and after pregnancy. I don't know how close you watch what you eat (preservatives and additives, etc.) some of those things can make worse. some pain relievers also can cause depression - I'm talking about over the counter, every day things) make sure you're getting enough vitamin D.
would you try some aromatherapy? search 'essential oils for depression and anxiety' and there's lots of info. perhaps find someone local that can recommend a nice oil blend -taking into consideration that you're expecting, of course. go to a health food store and see if they can recommend someone. Get sunshine =).
Good luck and God Bless you and your baby! ~C.~