Lexapro/Nursing/Sleep issues for mom and babe - input please!

[JessasMilkMama]

Some background:
I used to take Zoloft and that didnt work so well for me
So now I take lexapro 10 mg a day
It really does help.

My daughter is 18 months old and has always been a horrible sleeper. It's a good night if she only wakes up every couple hours. Its much more common for her to wake up all night and want to be latched on. It seems like once I get her back to sleep and try to fall asleep again, she is awake again. She fusses and cries out. We cosleep.

I know this can be normal behavior for toddlers.

But I have been having bad nightmares. I looked it up and a possible side effect of lexapro is nightmares. I asked a friend if maybe my baby could be having nightmares too because of the lexapro.

She looked up lexapro in Hales and tells me that somnolence (not sleeping) is a possible SE of lexapro in babies. Hale notes "several cases" of this. I google some and see Hales is now "more reluctant to recommend lex" to nursing moms since hes had more and more cases of the somnolence.

So maybe this is why my baby (who is a toddler but who nurses a lot) doesnt sleep well? She NEVER sleeps well. Not through the night, not only waking up a few times, but like every hour at least.

Has anyone experienced this? What were your experiences on lexapro?

Has anyone ever weaned off lexapro? I know I start to have bad mood swings when I am off it (forget to get it refilled, etc)

Since I now have to try a third med, what do you think will be recommended to me? Before the Dr wanted me to do wellbutrin, but Eva was a newborn and I didnt feel it was a good idea at the time. I think I would be comfortable with it now, though. Does anyone take that and what has been your experience with it? Or would something like Paxil be better? I dont know much about Paxil or Prozac or anything else really...

I really appreciate any input or advice. Thanks so much.

[Plummeting]

Somnolence actually means drowsiness, not insomnia.

However, ALL of the SSRI antidepressants (Lexapro, Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Paxil, Luvox) cause insomnia in a huge percentage of the people who use them. Since they do pass through breastmilk in small amounts, I would definitely believe they could cause insomnia in a nursing child. However, if you're thinking of switching to Wellbutrin, you should know that Wellbutrin is just as well known for its ability to cause insomnia, and even more well known than SSRI's for its ability to cause nightmares.

Weaning off SSRI's is hard, unless you switch directly to another one. Paxil has the shortest half-life, so it's the worst to wean from. It's highly, highly addictive. (Not in the "I've gotta have it cause it's so good" kind of way, but in the "I am so miserable I want to poke my eyes out because I didn't take my Paxil today" kind of way.) In fact, I would never recommend it at all. I think Prozac is so much better for someone who needs an SSRI. The half-life is measured in days, whereas the half-life of Paxil is measured in hours. This means that it's much easier to quit taking Prozac, because it is removed from the body more slowly, so you won't experience as many or as severe symptoms of withdrawal, if you experience any at all.

I've found natural alternatives that work for me, so I haven't needed medication in a few years. However, I've taken Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft and one of the older tricyclics, over a period of several years, so I do know a fair amount about the side effects of those antidepressants.

[forestrymom]

I have been lurking for quite some time, waiting to post. Anyway...I have been taking Lexapro for about 4 months now and I am a nursing mom. At first, I experienced the same symptoms you are describing with my dd--she was very restless and wouldn't settle to sleep. I actually emailed Dr. Hale and he said he has never heard of this before but that he doesn't recommend Lexapro to nursing moms. Because it was working so well for me I thought I would stick it out for a while and see--my ob didn't think it would have any affect on my dd since she was already 2 months old. He did suggest taking it in the morning rather than at night to see if that would help. I dont' know if that helped, the insomnia was totally unrelated, or if she just got used to the medication but we are doing great. She still doesn't sleep through the night, but she only wakes 1-2 times.

I hope that helps you to make a decision. I know switching drugs can be troublesome, to say the least.

[purplepansy12002]

I was on lexapro but not anymore. My doc recommended zoloft while i was breastfeeding but i couldn;t deal w/ the SE's of zoloft. I stopped breastfeeding for other reasons and not until then did my doc suggest lexapro.