Breastfeeding and Antidepressants

[lisdol]

Originally Posted by boob73

Where are all the opinions? Why is no one really touching this one?

What I got from the thread:

One person had a friend who took Wellbutrin (IMO a miracle drug for a depressed person) and was happy with it.

One person took ADs while breastfeeding and felt that it was absolutely necessary for her, and has seen no adverse effects. But, she says that nothing is 100% safe.

Others did not have the experience but gave some resources (medications and Mother's milk is a great resource, esp if your dr does not have a reference for drugs during pregnancy and lactation - at least you will have a starting point of information).

If it were me, I would not do it - I would probably breastfeed for as long as I could hold out without ADs, then wean before taking them. And I have been depressed during pregnancy - its no walk in the park, I know. And it might turn out in the end that taking ADs while pg or bfing is better for the baby than being depressed. So, I can't give an opinion of how ADs affect a nursing baby (or if they do) because I just don't think I would do it.

Good luck with your decision. Its a hard one to make.

[treeg26]

I was struggling with depression while nursing and my doctor advised me to try exercise for 30 min a day to see if that would help before we went to medication. It worked and I didn't need medication.

[Synergy1]

Depression and breastfeeding is a touchy subject because bad or inaccurate advice can lead into problems for the one who is asking for assistence. This should be strickly something that your personal doctor could answer with some kind of accuracy.

I do know that the drug fluoxetine for depression and the MDs tell all that "Use of fluoxetine during the third trimester of pregnancy may lead to adverse effects in the newborn".

[suzannewright]

I have actually been on Fluoxetine for over a year and I love it. BUT, we are talking about trying to get pregnant and I actually just talked to my OB about taking it while preg. He told me to wean myself off of it asap. He said that alot of women do NEED to take it during pregnancy, but that I shouldn't if i didn't need to. There have not been any long term studies on taking depression meds while preg. He did say that they have noticed more autistic children being born to mothers that took depression medicines, but again, NO PROVEN STUDIES. As for breastfeeding, anything you take goes directly to your milk. Personally, I would not take anything while I was breastfeeding because I would not want to chance anything with my baby. On the other hand, if you feel like it's more than the "baby blues" and something more serious, then I would talk to your dr about something that may be safe to take while nursing. Postpartum is NOT something to take lightly and I commend you on asking this question!!! Good luck!