Anxiety Medication + Pregnancy

Hi everyone. No, I'm not pregnant. But I really really really wanted to share this information with people because there is a lot of "rumors" and "he said she said" and "myths" about taking anxiety or depression medication while pregnant that I feel like needs to be cleared up. Why? Because a lot of stuff you have probably heard might not be 100% accurate or true and I feel like people need to be informed so that they can make the best decision for them and their babies. And because it gave me a peace of mind, and might help someone else too.

I have always heard that if you take anxiety medication while you are pregnant you will have a baby with autism. Every time that I've searched "anxiety medication & pregnancy" I've seen things like "Medication should be the last result. Taking medication will hurt your baby. It will make your baby addicted. It will make your baby deformed" and other things that really terrified me and made me feel horrible for being on anxiety medication! As well as made me fear for the future when I had to be off of the medication. BUT I will say that  now I realize all of those websites were NOT scientific websites and if they had citations they were all from before the year 2000 and a lot were not 100% accurate! So like don't believe everything you read on the internet. DUH.

So over the past few months I have learned A LOT from my mental health Dr that I feel like others in my situation  (those who take anxiety or depression medications) should know about too! I will start off by saying this is a very personal decision that you, your husband, and your doctor need to discuss and that it's different for everyone depending on their situation-obviously. And that my main reason for sharing this is  not to encourage people to take anxiety/depression medication during pregnancy but to give those who DO NOT really have the option of being off of their anxiety/depression medication while being pregnant hope and to tell them that THATS OKAY. And to tell other people who are judgmental of these people that they need to STOP JUDGING PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE MEDICATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH BEFORE/DURING/OR AFTER PREGNANCY BECAUSE THAT'S NO ONE ELSE'S BUSINESS AND THEY ARE DOING WHAT IS BEST FOR THEM AND THEIR BABY AND THEY ARE NOT BAD MOMS OR UNEDUCATED OR CARELESS OR HURTING THEIR BABY. OKAY!?

SOOOOO now lemme get to the point- As me and Pax have discussed having babies, it was important for me to go and talk to my mental health DR about options BEFORE I get pregnant for several reasons-
1) For me, my anxiety is often triggered by medical things and situations. And it's been really HARD for me to even imagine being pregnant and being okay BECAUSE of my anxiety. I know that being pregnant might be a very hard time for me mentally and I wanted to prepare in any way I could
2) I wanted to know if the things I mentioned above were true and that I needed to get off of medication before having a baby or if it was okay to take medication while pregnant and what the risks really are!
3) I wanted to know all of my OPTIONS from a PROFESSIONAL.

SO here are just a few things I learned and felt like were share worthy.

Taking anxiety medication while you are pregnant has its risks.  BUT there are medications that have LESS risks. There are a few specific anxiety medications that have shown INCREASED risks for babies but even then the risks were still not that common. I personally did not know there were different "levels" of risks with different medications and that there are some that are "more" okay to be on when pregnant. I really thought that I would have to come off of my meds completely OR ELSE. I liked this info because if I end up needing to be on medication while I were pregnant I could be on one with LESS risk. (which I currently am!)

It would be optimal if women could get off of their anxiety medications before they are pregnant BUT it's not always an OPTION for some people because of the severity of the anxiety. Anxiety and stress on its own can have increased risks for the baby even without the meds! AND there could be WORSE risks with you NOT taking the medication than there are WITH the medication. This kind of gave me a peace of mind because like I've said- all of my doctors visits, being pregnant, and going through labor is probably going to trigger my anxiety already and it's just hard for me to imagine being anxious and having panic attacks WHILE I'm pregnant with our sweet future baby.

After this visit we did lower my dose on my current medication and added in another one so I could begin to switch over to one that had less risk. I'm glad I was able to do this before I got pregnant because switching medications while pregnant could be very hard and I personally would not want to do it. My mental health doctor also told me that when we move I need to meet with an OBGYN BEFORE we start trying to have kids to explain my personal and specific situation and come up with a plan beforehand so that I feel safe, my husband feels safe, and the doctor feels confident.

This really put my mind at ease and made me feel A LOT better because I realized there were SO MANY OPTIONS that I never knew were out there! It made me feel like I wasn't going to be "trapped" one way or another. And I feel like a lot of people are very misinformed on this topic! Obviously there’s a lot more to learn and other things to consider but that’s between you and your doc !

You can find some good information here on the Anxiety and Depression Association of America website.

*I say this every time but- I'm not a doctor. Clearly. Consult your doctor. This is not medical advice, just info I was told by my Dr..*

xo

Bailey