My girlfriend is pregnant and I am concerned

General Discussion
#1

My girlfriend and I just found out we are having a child, about 4 weeks in.

I am concerned because she is on anti depressants such as venlafaxine and trazodone at pretty high dosages. She has no intention of stopping and my biggest fear is our child being born with PFS.

There has been some evidence that children born to mothers talking SSRI show symptoms of PFS such as jitteriness, insomnia, irritability, respiratory distress. The reasons for this are presumed to be because of the withdrawal of SSRI.

I just hope this disease is only an adult condition and this will not pass on to our baby.

My girlfriend doesn’t seem to have any issues but I met her while she was taking them so I wouldn’t notice a change.

Anyone else have kids with mothers on SSRI?

#2

The kid can have a pretty brutal withdrawal syndrome upon birth. I am not too familiar with the affects of ssris on fetus, but if it fucked me badly enough I can only imagine what this poision can do the a newborn.

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#3

I wouldn’t recommend any women who is pregnant to take SSRI’s they cause neurotoxicity.

#4

Maybe she could just lower the dose she is taking? The problem is tapering off completely is a delicate art form that takes a lot of time and work. So ideally probably should have been done prior to getting pregnant. Also, the hurdle you face is she might not believe that there is any risk to the newborn - and if she asks her doctor they will almost certainly say there is no risk.

You will need to convince her of the dangers and also take into account if she is off her meds she might be emotionally really up and down which is also not good for the baby.

This is where doctors ARE SUPPOSED to help in making these kinds of decisions but they have their heads up their own ass and deny PSSD even exists and deny the harm these drugs cause.

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#5

My take on this is:

I think it’s a valid concern, but talk to actual doctors before jumping to conclusions.
Talk to your girlfriend about this.
Don’t ask strangers on a forum what to do.

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#6

Because doctors are so knowledgeable when it comes to ssris.
Do your own research on the web (anacdotal reports count too)
And if you ask for my personal opinion, those meds fuck people on the genome level (aka pssd), those meds are far more dangerous than any of us could have ever imagine. I’d say play it safe.

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#7

I spoke to my doctor today, he said SSRI are totally fine. But again, they also say a lot of drugs are okay so I am highly skeptical.

Interesting though he said Accutane, high dose vitamin A and antibiotics are highly dangerous and should not be taken.

#8

Your doctor is wrong they are not fine they cause neurotoxicity but since your girlfriend is already on them I’d avoid going off because of the withdrawal symptoms which can cause a whole host of issues on their own. Also if you want to learn more about antidepressants give this a watch: https://youtu.be/eTskSu5fOTQ

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#9

I’m a parent and I know parents on ssris and my kids play with their kids and they’re fine all fine. Normal healthy kids who laugh and play , sleep fine scream and yell , fight and have wild imaginations.

#10

Lucky kids. Not all are lucky, especially if their parents are already predisposed to those med induced syndromes.

#11

Newborns have not given consent to have highly questionable pysch meds go into their brain. Doctors telling you they are fine is beyond worthless IMO.

#12

Lots of kids are born unhealthy for plenty of reasons thanks for pointing that out. Why dont you try to convince all the depressed sexually active women in the world they should stop taking their SSRIs while you’re on a roll.

#13

Lol what? Are you even familiar with the effects of ssris? Or pssd?
If he can dodge a bullet, and give birth to a healthy newborn, why shouldn’t he do that? You’re saying it’s ok to take meds while being pregnant?

#14

No point in arguing over this - highly unlikely she is coming off meds at this point. Tapering takes a long time and probably is too late for that now. Also observing some kids playing isnt the same as knowing what implications being exposed to SSRI as a newborn is- you have no way on knowing the possible damage that could have been done. I also can go out and have fun with my friends and probably look completely normal but have been sexually ruined by antidepressants and have lowered ability to feel love and intimacy…just sayin

#15

Longer than 8 months?

#16

I’m not an expert on tapering - but from what Ive read on survivingantidepressants.org ya it can take a long time to do it properly. Even doing liquid doses once you come down to the lowest mg dose available. Tapering for 8 months isnt unheard of by any means. There is no final authority on it - most doctors really dont understand anything about these drugs - so probably unlikely they would know about the importance of tapering properly or have any insight - although some might.

#17

Wow, I had no idea. Thanks @John099

#18

You’re an adult and have learnt how to deal with your symptoms put on a show to trick everyone into thinking that you’re feeling fine at work with your friends , at dinner with your girlfriend , in bed with your girl friend, I’ve been doing the same for years. Do you think a two year old has those abilities!? It is very apparent quickly when something is wrong with a child, a child can’t hide a disease.

#19

Ok good point but also kids haven’t developed sexually yet so they would have no way of knowing anyway. I think the problem is that we don’t know the repercussions of an infant having those drugs in their system - could be fine or could have tendency for depression or sexual issues or anxiety or something wrong once they hit puberty. That’s the concern and just because a doctor tells you there is nothing to worry about doesn’t mean much of anything - that’s why we are all here to begin with.