[sleepinbeautay]

Hi guys,
I just found out I'm 6-7 weeks pregnant! ..now I'm scared though b/c I'm taking Effexor( 225 mg), Paxil(37.5 mg), and Buspar(30 mg) for severe panic attacks. BTW-Been taking them for 6 years now. I'm slowly tapering off the Effexor (was @300 mg)and I want to continue to do it SLOWLY. I say that b/c my Dr. I saw today (not a ob/gyne)told me I gotta quit my meds ASAP. I was like WHAT?!!?[:0]!?!? I explained how awful my withdrawls are when I miss a dose and she just stuck to her guns. She offered no other choices.
Now I'm bummed out, I can't get a hold of my Dr. who writes my RX's for my meds to see what she suggests. Which will be a waste anyways b/c she's told me all along she doesn't want me taking these if I get pregnant. Okay, here's the part that give me hope though [:I]- When I went for a preconception checkup (by the OB/GYNE) last fall, I was told the meds I am on are fine during pregnancy. She said I should be fine.
I'm sooooooooooo confused [V] Can anyone share some experiences about being preg. on these meds? I don't know what to do. I wish I could just taper off as planned. Pls share your stories bad or good. TIA for any info!


27 yr old/female/Chicago

[trecrop]

Congrats on the pregnancy. My advice to you is to stop taking all of your meds NOW! If you intend on keeping your baby, please stop. These drugs can cause serious problems and/or birth defects for your child. Anything could happen. Eight months of not taking them will be well worth it if your baby is healthy. If you keep taking them and your baby has birth defects or who knows what else, you will pay for that for the rest of your life. You will feel so guilty knowing that you caused it. Not trying to be grim, but it's life. I know what I am talking about. It's not worth it!

[Day]

I am also pregnant (16wks.!) and had been taking klonopin for two years. I felt pretty bad stopping, but I know its worth it! You'll be fine, contact your doctor at once and he/she can tell you what to do now. The klonopin withdraw (panic attacks/anxiety) took a few days to start feeling "normal". Very aggitated and moody, but hey I must think of the little one. Now I feel alot better. Effexor, when I took it 2 years ago, really had a bad effect when I stopped without tapering. So, I would really start now to complete your pregnancy w/o Buspar. Sooner the better! Good luck! If you have any other questions I'm here, contact your doc. first. Is this your first baby? Mine is. Let me know how you get along....

--Day

[hey_baby]

Here are the information that you wanted:

Buspar is in the pregnancy category B. Buspar is not known to be harmful to the unborn baby or to the pregnant mother. If you are pregnant, do not take Buspar without first talking to your doctor.

Effexor and Pregnancy

Effexor has not yet been tested in pregnant women. However, Effexor has been tested on pregnant rats and it showed that after giving more than normal doses of Effexor, their fetus has died and birth defects were found. Inform your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to become one when deciding to take this medicine.

Effexor has a tendency to be passed into the breast milk and may cause unwanted side effects on the nursing infant. It is advised that you stop breast feeding or stop the use of Effexor.

Studies have not yet firmly established whether Paxil is safe to take during pregnancy. If you are pregnant or planning to become so soon, you should check with your personal physician to see if you can start a treatment with this drug. You should also consult your personal health care specialist if you are a nursing mother, as the active ingredients in this medicine are known to pass into breast milk and may harm the infant.

i think you should stop taking these medicines since it can affect the unborn baby.....but i'm amazed that you are using all these medicines altogether.

[ymccormack]

Hi...just adding my 2 cents as well.

I agree that you should not be taking these medications while pregnant. The problem is that severe withdrawls can also damage the fetus.

My suggestion is to pick up the pace on the drug(s) you need to taper (effexor)...in other words create a tapering plan that will get you off the drugs ASAP and quit the other drugs ASAP.

If it were me...I wouldn't care if the doctor told me it's ok to take the meds while pregnant. These are chemicals....and I don't think there are any safe chemicals for a fetus. I think you know this already though.

Make sure your OBGYN knows about the meds...if she's good, she'll tell you to get off of them too.

Don't take this the wrong way but....pregnancy and motherhood are all about sacrifice. You're going to have to make some sacrifices that may leave you uncomfortable for the next 9 months...after that, you'll have a bunch of other sacrifices (like sleep, regular showers and hot meals!)

Good Luck and keep us posted - you know what you need to do here.

YM