Effexor and pregnancy?

[mamamoo]

I am on Effexor and just found out I am pregnant. Not planned, but still happy about the baby coming. My youngest will be two, but I am still suffering from some PPD/or something(there has been talk of posibly being bipolar), so need to stay on the med, and possibly need to be on something else. Anyone know if effexor is okay while pregnant? Also what are some natural things I can do starting now to help with moods/energy/anxiety/etc?
TIA~Debi

[SpiralChrissy]

Mamamoo-
Hi! Welcome and congrats on the new babe on the way. I'm not sure about Effexor but I do know that there are some drugs that are pretty o.k. for pregnancy--especially Prozac and Zoloft. You may want to try some Omega-3 Fatty Acids (I take 4/day for depression). It does help and so does exercise. My advice, talk to your MD. They can help!
Chrissy

[layla]

Have you thought about acupuncture?

[intensity_too]

I took Effexor XR 150mg through out my entire pregnancy with my second ds. He was born 5 1/2 months ago perfectly healthy. My psychiatrist said that it was just fine to take but of course, you'll be told it is better to take no medication. However, she felt it was a greater risk to take me off the medication than to continue it.

Anyway, I took it and everything turned out just fine. If you have any other questions . . .ask away!

Jaime

[GoodWillHunter]

I took Effexor XR 75 mg throughout my pregnancy with my twins, DS3 and DS4 (just born). So far, no problems.

[mamamoo]

Thanks mamas...this helps my decision to stay on the effexor for now. I am going to start taking some supplements in addition to the effexor, and see if I can't taper off a bit. I am on a 225 dose right now, and would like to be off it all the way eventually, and am hoping with diet and exercise, and the supplements(flax oil, vitimins)will help me towards that goal. I always feel 100x better when I'm pregnant anyway. LOL
Debi

[intensity_too]

Bacareful when stopping the medicine. The side effects are HELL!!! If you want to stop taking it, I suggest a tapering off program set up by you and your doctor. I did a 6 week ween myself and it was the only way to avoid the nasty, icky side effects.

[MommyCat]

(Edited to Add : Like above poster****** DONT TRY TO WEAN YOURSELF!!! Youll go crazy, its horid and they sure dont tell you that when they suggest you start the stuff! Its just about as bad as kicking dope IMO and should be outlawed as such, but I digress.... Get on something else , prozac, or one of the others like it in order to get off it even if you dont intend to keep taking the new med. Good Luck!)

"Venlafaxine (Effexor) is a phenethylamine. Thus it's a benign if distant chemical cousin of MDMA. Its manufacturers launched it as "Prozac with a punch". Venlafaxine inhibits the neuronal reuptake of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine in descending order of potency. If dopaminergically augmented, it offers another opening for creative psychopharmacology. "
*This I just found while looking through that link I put below......*
X anyone?



I just wanted to say that I was on Effexor XR when I found out I was pregnant so I maybe took it 3 months then switched to prozac. I really stressed myself out about it worrying but all in all everything seems to be alright, my son was full term (after 2 preemies) and was 20lbs. at 4 months old and the happiest baby ever. I was so stressed during the time of my pregnancy I knew I didnt want to take the chance to just go cold turkey and find out what happens, I knew I wouldnt be any use to anyone as a crazy pregnant woman. I kept taking the prozac(I even uped it to 40mg from 20 at one point) until I guess Janurary, when I started taking Udo's oil to get my omega3's and 6's. I was in a much more stable place in my life at that point so I felt I could chance stopping.
It worked out great for me but everyone is different but you might try supplimenting with Udo's or some other source of omega3 and 6's.
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/index.html here is a study on depression and omega's among other things....
(sorry the link didnt go directly to the study but its there if you look)

[Foobar]

I am on lexapro right now, but I did research Effexor too.

I believe both are safe and TRUST ME, you should stay on the meds. I had gone off of celexa shortly before becoming pregnant. Then APD hit and I was not being safe for me or the baby. It was the best thing for me to go back on meds.

Weaning right now is not a good thing, your system is in flux from the pregnancy....

[Summertime Mommy]

My OB just gave me an RX for it today, so I am assuming it is safe. I know that it is a class b drug, but it looks like all of the newer antidepressants are. I am kind of concerned though that this drug isn't gonna work for me, especially after reading the quote about it being very similar to MDMA, I took alot of that stuff when I was younger (well, not that much younger because I am only 21 now, but between the ages of 16 and 19, I was really into the rave scene) and now SSRIs don't really do anything for me, so I am kind of doubting a drug that so closely resembles an SSRI will help either, but I guess I will try it anyway. I really wish that they would give me Wellbutrin though, I have no doubt in my mind that it would work. Anyways, sorry for derailing the thread, sometimes I don't know when to stop talking.