Posted by Shell on January 22, 2001, at 22:16:11
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by SLS on January 22, 2001, at 10:28:19
> > > Shell: I had heard from my doc that it was okay to take prozac while pregnant as long as it was monitored carefully.
> > >
> > > Is that not true? Or is it "physicians choice" kind of thing?
> >
> >
> > It probably is. At the time, I was taking it for only OCD (didn't have depression then) and I figured I could deal with the OCD symptoms for those months. I'd dealt with them without medication for years before I was diagnosed, so it wasn't a big deal.
> >
> > Shell
>
>
> Hi.
>
> Prozac (fluoxetine) has been studied extensively for any potential risk it may have in pregnancy. Results have demonstrated a lack of significant negative effects. There is some thought that it might be desirable to stop taking medications like Prozac during the first trimester and then resume it. Of course the risk of losing efficacy is there for stopping it, but perhaps 3 months allows for a better chance of recapturing the antidepressant effect compared to 9 months.Perhaps that explains why Prozac didn't work for me when I started taking it again. I discontinued it for a nearly 14 months (3 before getting pregnant to make sure there was none in my system, 7.5 months of pregnancy - baby was a little early - and 3 months of nursing).
Had I known of the risk of loss of efficacy, I still would have discontinued it. With all of the different medications out there, I can't see that the possilibity of one drug losing effectiveness would be worth taking any risk with the baby. However, it would have been nice to have been warned that it might happen.
>
> I am not nearly read up enough to make any kind of recommendation. Neither am I a prospective mother. If I recall, the only event that might occur with the taking of Prozac during pregnance is a statistical risk of slightly premature births. Don't remember. Also, there is the issue of having these drugs appear in breast milk. They do. However, the levels are supposedly very low and does not seem to affect the development of the infant.
>
> There are many different perspectives and professional opinions regarding the use of antidepressants during pregnancy and lactation. I would want as perfectly healthy a child as is possible. However, severe depression of the mother would affect her ability to take care of the child and foster its health and welfare.
This may offset by a wide margin the apparantly miniscule risk of Prozac administration. I guess there is sort of balance-scale that you must work with.I agree totally. At the time, the risk of taking Prozac, however small, was larger than the risk of being unmedicated. Were I to become pregnant now, I am not sure if that would still be the case.
>
>
>Tricyclic antidepressants have been around for >over 40 years. They have proven themselves safe. >Prozac has been marketed in the U.S. for 12 >years and seems to be safe so far.
>
> I wish I could have provided more detail and >some sort of consensus of opinion. I can't. I >wouldn't know what to do if I were you.
>
>
> - Scott
poster:Shell
thread:52035
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010122/msgs/52267.html