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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by cranberry on January 1, 2005, at 17:06:49
Does anyone know of anybody who has been pregnant on lexapro? If so, how did it go? And if not...should I ween off of it if I find out I am?
Posted by alexandra_k on January 1, 2005, at 18:33:56
In reply to lexapro and pregnancy, posted by cranberry on January 1, 2005, at 17:06:49
I haven't heard of either the medication or anyone who has been on it while pregnant.
I think that the usual story, however, is that it is a good idea for you to talk to your Dr if you think you might be pregnant or if you are thinking about trying to become pregnant. Your Dr should be able to tell you of any studies that have been done on people who have taken the medication through pregnancy, otherwise he may look at switching your medication to something more suitable.
Posted by cranberry on January 1, 2005, at 19:20:49
In reply to Re: lexapro and pregnancy » cranberry, posted by alexandra_k on January 1, 2005, at 18:33:56
thank you for your reply, it is an antianxiety medicine that is newer. I'm only on 10 mgs and I do know someone who went through pregnancy on like 20 or so of paxil. All went well.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 1, 2005, at 19:36:47
In reply to Re: lexapro and pregnancy, posted by cranberry on January 1, 2005, at 19:20:49
Yeah. Some medications have been tested through pregnancy and all was well. Some have never been tested on the other hand (maybe the rats didn't do so well). I think that there are still more that are positively harmful. Good idea to check about the exact type of medication and the exact ammount. Good luck.
Posted by Larry Hoover on January 2, 2005, at 9:44:58
In reply to lexapro and pregnancy, posted by cranberry on January 1, 2005, at 17:06:49
> Does anyone know of anybody who has been pregnant on lexapro? If so, how did it go? And if not...should I ween off of it if I find out I am?
There have been numerous medical studies about antidepressant use during pregnancy. I compiled them all together, and did a report this summer. You may want to take some time to read this, to get a general picture about what we know from observing large numbers of women in this situation.
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/387622.html
I later added a little more, and here are the links to that:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040909/msgs/390253.html
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040909/msgs/390678.htmlGood luck.
Lar
Posted by cranberry on January 2, 2005, at 20:20:29
In reply to Re: lexapro and pregnancy » cranberry, posted by Larry Hoover on January 2, 2005, at 9:44:58
Thank you so much for this helpful information. I know Lexapro is pretty new, and so there is not too much info about this particular drug. But, it does fall into the SSRI category, so I feel that it probably is safe to consider it as a prozac or the others...and of course I will consult my doctor if need be.
Posted by Dan Perkins on January 2, 2005, at 21:00:57
In reply to lexapro and pregnancy, posted by cranberry on January 1, 2005, at 17:06:49
I think it's crazy to be on an SSRI while you are pregnant.
I don't know if there is conclusive proof that they will be bad for your child, but do you really want to take the chance??? After all, these drugs have been on the market for over a decade and only now we are finding out about all the serious negative effects that they cause.
It may be that in another 10 years from now they find that children whose mothers took SSRIS when they were pregnant have a greater incidence of mood disorders or something along those lines. Maybe not. But do you really want to take that chance with your child???
Not enough is known about the long-term effects of these drugs on unborn children, so your child will be somewhat of a guinea pig. If you were suicidal and taking Lexapro for major depression then I would say you may want to take the chance and stick with it, even if it does harm your kid. But if you are just taking it for anxiety (I know anxiety can be awful, but anxiety alone does not usually drive people to kill themselves), then I would try to be drug free for your pregnancy.
Sorry if I have had an incencitive tone in this post, but I think it's just nuts to expose an unborn child to a substance as powerful as these antidepressants are when we don't have a full picture of the harm they can cause.
> Does anyone know of anybody who has been pregnant on lexapro? If so, how did it go? And if not...should I ween off of it if I find out I am?
Posted by Larry Hoover on January 3, 2005, at 8:20:51
In reply to Re: lexapro and pregnancy, posted by Dan Perkins on January 2, 2005, at 21:00:57
> Not enough is known about the long-term effects of these drugs on unborn children, so your child will be somewhat of a guinea pig. If you were suicidal and taking Lexapro for major depression then I would say you may want to take the chance and stick with it, even if it does harm your kid. But if you are just taking it for anxiety (I know anxiety can be awful, but anxiety alone does not usually drive people to kill themselves), then I would try to be drug free for your pregnancy.
I really hope you take the time to read the information in the links I gave in my post, above. To the extent those concerns are answerable, I have provided the information that is currently available.
In summary, untreated anxiety and depression is harder on the unborn child than are the drugs used to minimize those effects, notwithstanding the obvious risks of drug withdrawal that occur from the separation of the child from the mother's blood supply at birth.
The only developmental studies yet conducted show no differences in the development of drug-exposed children, whereas those from mothers with untreated anxiety and depression during pregnancy have clear adverse sequelae.
Those are statistical conclusions, and individual cases are sure to differ. No one plans to be on pharmaceutical drugs during pregnancy, but if it does happen, all we can do is watch and care for the mother and child. I have included all such reports I can find.
Lar
This is the end of the thread.
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