Posted by CareBear04 on January 14, 2005, at 16:59:37
hi--
i'm not pregnant and have no reason to believe i will be in the near future. still, i'm wondering how other people have dealt with preganancy and the need to stop meds that could be harmful to the baby.when i was in the hospital last year, i met a pregnant manic depressive woman who was there to get off lithium, which i learned is one of the most harmful meds a pregnant woman can take. lithium is the only drug i've found that keeps me stable, and just being off it for a few months because of toxicity has caused me to cycle rapidly when i was never a rapid cycler. also, i've been on high-dose benzos and SSRIs for two years. each time i've tried to taper off, i've been very negatively affected. sleep meds, antipsychotics, and others-- i don't know how i would fare without them; certainly they would be painful to get off of and i'm not sure how i would stay stable for 9+ months without lithium and other meds. do most women in this situation forego breastfeeding to get back on their meds?
as i said, i'm not in this situation right now, but it's recently occured to me that this is a serious question for the future. i very much want to have children, but i also need to keep myself safe and stable so i won't hurt myself or the baby. does anyone have experience with pregnancy as med adjustment?
poster:CareBear04
thread:442239
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050113/msgs/442239.html