# Celexa while pregnant?



## seasaltgrey

I have been on celexa for eight years. I'm ten weeks pregnant and my dr said I can continue taking celexa. Is anyone else on this med or any info?
Just worried I might be doing the wrong thing.


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## cherryglitter

is celexa an anti depressant hun?


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## seasaltgrey

cherryglitter said:


> is celexa an anti depressant hun?

Yes it is.


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## AlwaysPraying

I was on it until I was 30 weeks pregnant with zero effects. My doctor said if I could get off it, that would be the best, but if I stayed on it the entire time, he fully supported that. It is the drug with the least effects on a newborn, my doctor is convinced that it has no serious effects at all. I talked to 5 different doctors (just during my various appointments through pregnancy)and 2 pharmacists and they all generally said they supported me bein on it during pregnancy. One told me to stay on it the entire time because the risk of depression or anxiety attacks were too high and too serious for baby to deal with, as opposed to any risk of the medication.

The advice to get off at 30 weeks was given to me because that's when all our natural hormones are at their peak. I weaned off over the course of 6 weeks, going down 5-10 mg weekly. For me, I didn't suffer issues coming off, and the natural hormones helped me stay steady.

If I was to stay on until delivery, there was a risk of breathing issues, I think they call it some sort of repressed breathing. It's not horrible, but they need to monitor baby closer with shallower breathing. Also, there's a bit of withdrawl that can cause excess crying in the first 3-5 days. That can interfere with feeding, which can interfere with growth. The breathing and crying are the most severe adverse reactions celexa has reported. You may find some stuff about heart complications, but there are no studies on these cases, and they are extremely rare. So rare, that they cannot say that it was from celexa at all.

All that being said, I'm so glad I was on it, for me, personally it was a great experience. PM me if you want to chat more!


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## mom22boys

I was on it with my second, he had lots of probems when he was born! BUT, he also had Down Syndrome so I cannot say for sure that Celexa had anything to do with it. More than likely it was just a Down Syndrome baby thing.


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## cherryglitter

i used to take citalopram 40mg. my doctor advised me to drop my dose... like alternate between 20mg and 40mg every other day and then gradually cut down that way. 
it was hard but im completely off them now. 
i would do whatever your GP advised you to do. 

she said if i felt myself getting really bad again to go back in and see her. xxxxx


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## cherryglitter

just to add - my doctor said the main worry for citalopram was addiction in the newborn, basically.


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## dustbunny

I was also on Citalopram at 40mg and came straight off it when I found out I was pregnant. Needless to say it has been quite difficult as I started to mood swing quite a bit but that has all calmed down now. I was mainly on them to control my supposed Cyclothymia but I have heard that it is best to not be on any but obviously if you need them then it might be best to speak to your doctor about maybe dropping down the dose? But if you're ok with staying on them and your doctor is then do what is best for you.


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## Arisa

Hey
NEVER quit an antidepressant cold turkey during pregnancy, its very dangerous to the bab and the mother and untreated depression can cause more harm to the baby than medication can, well according to my psychiatrist who told me of the women he knew who stopped taking SSRI meds like celexa and suffered badly.

I am on an SNRI so its even more risky however withdrawals from my particular antidepressant would have me in hospital with being pregnant too but my psychiatrist has suggested I switch slowly by the third trimester to Zoloft as its one of the safer antidepressants as I am on effexor and its definitely a risky one to take

Basically, aside from Paxil (strongest SSRI) all antidepressants are Category C
the risk of miscarriage, down syndrome, malformations and congenital defects is the same as that of a woman with an untreated depressive illness who is pregnant.

the worst pills to take aside from illegal drugs are sedatives like Valium as they are known to cause birth defects and mood stabilizers like lithium and depatoke are deadly to the baby too, category X I believe but antidepressants are a 50/50 thing

For the record my friend was on no medicatin for her first birth and had a terrible traumatic birth with a irritable baby who would not stop crying, she went on prozac and a strong anti-psychotic with her second and third child and they are calm, healthy and she had easier pregnancies as the benefits outweighed the risks

if the benefits outweigh the risks, its likely the baby will be healthy and you will be fine
however I hear the risk for premature births and PPHN which is the breathing, respatory disorder that AlwaysPraying was talking about is high in babies born to mothers on antidepressants often leading in emergency C-sections.


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