katherinegrey
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Just checking back in (as I said I stalk occasionally!) and hope you're all doing well!
Yes, it was me with bipolar, I had to stop taking my meds when I discovered I was pregnant as I wanted to get through the first tri when baby is developing med free, and I really struggled. Dealing with the pregnancy hormones as well as the illness was absolutely crippling, in the end after V day at 24 weeks, I had to make the decision to go back on them, I'm VERY carefully monitored now, I've seen three different psychiatrists including a perinatal psychiatrist, an obstetrician and spoke to a few community psychiatric nurses who all concur that if I take a very low dose and am monitored carefully, the risks to my health are more than the risk to the baby, after the first trimester they usually say if you're struggling you can go back on them. I have to say the NHS have been very supportive, my midwife told me they're hot on mental health issues and pregnancy now and try to help as much as they can, everyone from my midwife and GP and regular psychiatrist to the obstetrician and the perinatal psychiatrists have been amazing, my only slight criticism is I've had to wait a while for the referral to the perinatal psychiatric team, but I was still able to receive support from a number of professionals, and at one point they even arranged for a psychiatric nurse to phone me everyday just to check how I was doing. I was (and am again now) on aripiprazole (brand name abilify) and noticed absolutely no change in my menstrual cycle and conceived on them (I was lucky enough that I had a fairly regular cycle usually between 28 and 36 days), so maybe it's worth asking for them? The regular dose is 15mg, but they also do a 10mg and even a 5mg dose, so you could be started on the lowest dose possible to see how they affect you?? I was on 5mg when I conceived, and take that again now and it helps a great deal.
Sorry for the huge long story, I just wanted to share some hope that it's not the end if you resume medication, and if, no sorry WHEN, you get pregnant, there is additional support in place to help with any queries or problems you may have. TTC is a very difficult and emotional process, and coupled with a mental illness I imagine is making life very difficult for you
Please feel free to pm me any time, as I said, I do check on here from time to time, but you can contact me any time by pm'ing me. 
Yes, it was me with bipolar, I had to stop taking my meds when I discovered I was pregnant as I wanted to get through the first tri when baby is developing med free, and I really struggled. Dealing with the pregnancy hormones as well as the illness was absolutely crippling, in the end after V day at 24 weeks, I had to make the decision to go back on them, I'm VERY carefully monitored now, I've seen three different psychiatrists including a perinatal psychiatrist, an obstetrician and spoke to a few community psychiatric nurses who all concur that if I take a very low dose and am monitored carefully, the risks to my health are more than the risk to the baby, after the first trimester they usually say if you're struggling you can go back on them. I have to say the NHS have been very supportive, my midwife told me they're hot on mental health issues and pregnancy now and try to help as much as they can, everyone from my midwife and GP and regular psychiatrist to the obstetrician and the perinatal psychiatrists have been amazing, my only slight criticism is I've had to wait a while for the referral to the perinatal psychiatric team, but I was still able to receive support from a number of professionals, and at one point they even arranged for a psychiatric nurse to phone me everyday just to check how I was doing. I was (and am again now) on aripiprazole (brand name abilify) and noticed absolutely no change in my menstrual cycle and conceived on them (I was lucky enough that I had a fairly regular cycle usually between 28 and 36 days), so maybe it's worth asking for them? The regular dose is 15mg, but they also do a 10mg and even a 5mg dose, so you could be started on the lowest dose possible to see how they affect you?? I was on 5mg when I conceived, and take that again now and it helps a great deal.
Sorry for the huge long story, I just wanted to share some hope that it's not the end if you resume medication, and if, no sorry WHEN, you get pregnant, there is additional support in place to help with any queries or problems you may have. TTC is a very difficult and emotional process, and coupled with a mental illness I imagine is making life very difficult for you
Please feel free to pm me any time, as I said, I do check on here from time to time, but you can contact me any time by pm'ing me. 
I feel rough so I shall be spending the day on the sofa in my pj's.
I can't be too mean to dh though cos I know he feels really guilty already.
