Might be put back on antidepressanst...

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2007
Might be put back on antidepressanst...
7
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 3:16am

This might turn into a vent...so watch out!

I have been off the antidepressants for a week and a half. I feel again! I felt the Spirit at church. I finally cried about my nieces death back in September. I feel like i get emotional at the right times and not overly emotional. BUT i do seem to be more angry. Its not everyday. One day it was ALL day but i was in great pain and going through brain shocks from the withdrawl really bad. I still have them but they are almost gone. My RE (reproductive endocrinologist) really and i mean REALLY wants me on them again...even though he has NOT seen me depressed or emotional or angry at all. He has only met me 2 times. My PDoc (why dont' we say PDr ?) wants to see me in 1 1/2 weeks to give the Rx time to get all the way out of my system. Which I think is great! Maybe the RE wants me on Rx because so many infertile women are depressed! I don't know. Now about my anger...I was mad at my DH...but I really think it was called for! He said (after whatever it was he was doing that was pissing me off) I think you should called your pDr on Monday and not wait 2 more weeks! I believe I should still be able to feel anger in my life...not be controlled by it. SO why shuold I have to go back on RX because my DH is doing things he shuold'nt and that is why i'm pissed?! I told him at the time that he was being mean too. Later he said he thought about it and he was. So...arg...I just don't want to be put back on meds because I am feeling again...now if the anger controls me then fine I will go back on...and not be able to TTC and just plan on adopting...if BP ppl can! I'm really not as up set as I think this sounds. oh well. I tried posting this a few days ago and it got lost i guess. my DH said he saw me post it and it never showed up.

I have a question for those who were on Psych Rx while ttc & PG

What Rx did you take? What were the side effects? Was there a chance it would cause birth defects on the baby? If so what was the birthdefect it could cause?

I took Zoloft while pg #1. As far as we know he has no side effects...but I'm wondering as he has some issues with agression...it could just be BP showing up so young! how sad that would be! BUT I can't or don't feel safe taking it again because I got off it cold turkey for a month or two. then go back on at the same dose i stopped at. I basicly went nuts and felt anger for months until I finally was Dx with BP. So...i'm worried that if I take the Zoloft again it will "cause" another episode...as that is the only one I have really had...at least to that degree. I felt good on Zoloft...still didn't feel the emotion I wanted too...like a NORMAL person. Anyway...

Since i have been off the Risperdal and Lamictal my DH said I act like a normal person...not someone who doesnt' feel or care anymore. He just is worried aobut me being off the antidepressant. Which is Lexapro. I do believe all these Rx have been great for me. They really saved my life and probably my marriage! I just hope I don't have to go back on...yet! Not until AFTER i get pg and have another child!

Sorry so long!

April
holidayangel

~*~April~*~ Wife to RT Mother to RH & GM
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2006
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 9:55am
April, "As far as we know he has no side effects...but I'm wondering as he has some issues with agression...it could just be BP showing up so young!"
This is very likely. There is a strong family tie. There is a child BP which actually has different symptoms then adult BP. Both my DH and DS are EOBP (early onset bipolar). Yes, if it shows up in childhood they carry the symptoms into adulthood and never get the syptoms of the traditional adult bipolar. There is a child bipolar board here on Ivillage
this is a link to it. http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=iv-ppchildnbd&nav=start
If you think your child is EOBP educate yourself about the syptoms and then take him to a child pdoc, and possibly also to a tdoc. If you truly belive it is bipolar you may have to fight with the pdoc about the dx. Many pdocs don't believe a child can be BP even the ones supposedly trained in child psyc. The earlier you get treatment the better. You may be told he is ADD/ADHD which can be comorbid (co concurring) with EOBP. There are excellent articles in the second section of the child bipolar baord that tell you the difference between EOBP and ADD/ADHD.
Anyway that is just my 2 cents. If you have questions about this you can email me through my profile if you want.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2006
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 10:06am
April,
I just saw in one of your earlier posts that your DH is bipolar also. Than it is even more likely your child could be also. It runs in families. I would definatly check into it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-24-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 7:59pm

Hey...I was just thinking about posting about pregnancy and BP. Well, venting about my pregnancy and BP really. I'm currently 4 months along and I'm a friggin' mess. Before I got pregnant (surprise pregnancy after almost 3 years of infertility and a failed course of clomid) I was taking a pretty high dose of Effexor, topamax and seroquel. I'd only recently been told my doctor's working diagnosis was BP, and thought I was only taking the topamax for migraines. The seroquel was new because of some minor psychotic incidents that I was experiencing. The day I found out I was pregnant I stopped everything cold (I might have weaned off the Effexor over a few days, I don't remember clearly) and had a major withdrawal crisis that landed me in the ER.

Anyway, as I said I'm not 4 months (17 weeks) gone and still stuck at 37.5mg of Effexor because every time I try to stop completely I get the crazy withdrawal stuff and I'm having enough trouble with m/s and losing weight that I can't handle more. Last night my DH asked me to please go see my pdoc and my OB seconded that this morning. When I objected because I just don't feel like talking to pdoc (I know, I know....Bad idea...Red flag...I called to get an appointment already) the OB offered to write me a script for whatever AD I thought I needed. Like that would have been a good idea. I'm having such incredible mood swings and so much trouble with anger lately that tossing in a random AD would problably get me to do something that would land me in jail. I already think I hate most random strangers that cross my path. I only have so much energy to regulate my moods at the moment and I save that for interactions with DH and my 4 year old.

Sorry, this has become a big personal rant and I was supposed to be answering questions.

My understanding is that there are a lot of BP women that do just fine with pregnancy and continue taking meds. The trick is finding the balance between safe and effective. Is there some reason that you think you can't take meds and ttc? Lamactil and the older ssri's seem to be a popular combination. Is your pdoc pressuring to stop before ttc? Mine was certainly that way. He wanted me off everything the day he found out I was pregnant. My OB, primary, and neuro all disagreed and thought it was a bad idea. I've been doing some reading though, and I might ask pdoc to reconsider since I'm out of the first trimester now. The "almost no meds" thing isn't working for me. In your position I would try to see another pdoc that specializes in women's issues, pregnancy and post partum stuff just to get another perspective. Pdocs generally don't know much about pregnancy from a physical point of view and I think they play "cover my ass" a little too much with the med stuff.

After my reading I think I have 2 main concerns. The first is the possibility of the baby having withdrawal symptoms. Immediately after birth is an important time for bonding and setting the tone of security and safety for your baby. I'm worried about making that go badly with the meds. The other problem I have is that I would really like to breastfeed. I really believe in the value of this. However, I understand some of the drugs that are acceptable in pregnancy are less acceptable if breastfeeding. Of course if I have the post partum depression/psychosis that I had last time I can't seem staying off meds very long post partum anyway.

Of course my big recommendation for you is to adopt. (sorry, I'm down on reproduction at that moment) It's totally doable for a BP person, especially with the support of your pdoc. Of course this is only because I'm hating life as a pregnant woman A LOT. I'm really really sick and I hate everything at the moment. Today I insisted that my OB schedule me for a tubal as soon after the birth as he can manage. He told me he thought that was a really good idea.

Good luck.
Mary

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2006
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 11:59pm

Hi! I really related to this thread. I am on/off TTC. I have been on Lexapro. I have been on Lexapro for 5yrs for depression. Only a few months ago a NP gave me a BP screening and suggested that I scored high and should see a Pdoc. She also gave me Seroquel right then and there, but after three weeks on that I quit it. Every night that I took it my legs jumped and felt really wierd and disturbing, then I fell asleep within minutes. The falling asleep part was good since I'm sort of an insomniac, but if I tried to stay up for even 30 min it was so hard that I couldn't do it. I was actively TTC at the time and the NP said Oh it's bad for pregnancy so I decided since it sucked so much and was counter-indicative for pregnancy that I'd just stop taking the Seroquel. I was sort of zombie-ish all day on that anyways.

I went off the Lexapro last month (only because I ran out and didn't get around to refilling it!) and I'm wanting to stay med-free so I can TTC again this year. I've looked online and asked questions but all I could find was that Lexapro is "category C".

So,like you, I'd rather be med-free during potential-pregnancy if I can do it. Hoping to TTC again soon.

I'm glad to find others here that are TTC w/ BP.

Best wishes,
Anna

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2007
Wed, 01-10-2007 - 10:46pm

Thanks for the link! I will check it out for sure. He goes to a PDr on the 22. the Tdr didn't seem to want us to come back so i guess we could look for someone else. Thanks again!

April

~*~April~*~ Wife to RT Mother to RH & GM
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2007
Wed, 01-10-2007 - 10:54pm

mary,

WOW is just about all I can say! I'm sorry you have gone through all that! My tdr who knows me the best outta all the medical personal is thinks i should at least stay off until 1st tri is over...if I can handle it. I think that is a good idea aobut seeing a Pdr who specializes in women issues. I don't think i will find anyone but I will look into it.

April

~*~April~*~ Wife to RT Mother to RH & GM
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2007
Wed, 01-10-2007 - 11:00pm

Anna,

Did you not have any brain shocks or anything like that from going off lexapro? If you didnt' you are SO lucky! I really hope you can go without meds and ttc...and stay sane! lol I know I was treated for depression for years before I got dx BP. BUT my pdr didn't even know for sure that that was what he wanted to dx me with. he also said I had signs of Schizzoaffective. but no one else has seen that. anyway...good luck!

April

~*~April~*~ Wife to RT Mother to RH & GM