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Effexor is ok during pregnancy - although it is always better to be on nothing if mom can stand the effects.
I myself have been on all of the previously mentiond ADs and several more. To date, I am on Buproprion(xr), Celexa, Geodon, and Topamax. I am on a couple other meds that "help" these meds also. I'm pretty messed up, I guess. But, I'm friendly and cheerful - FINALLY! The drug to stay away from - to RUN from - is Zyprexa. I started taking it and gained 40 pounds in 1 month. Yes, you read that right! I worked my behind off and lost 10 of that. A few months later, my dose was increased by 10mg and I gained 10 pounds in a weekend! For 2 years I remained rather stable, then I gained another 35 pounds in 6 months!
I was not 1 to worry about my weight. I was 113 from middle school to 21. 125 from pregnancy at 21 to 30 when I started Zyprexa. Yes, it worked wonders for me mentally, I admit that. But it took a major toll on me too. Sorry, I rambled.
~Al
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| I was on depression meds with my last child.PAxil in fact.It did not go well for me or really for him either.I did ahve lot of problems I develop toxisma and they had no idea why no garden and no cats.I had per term labor.Some said it was the paxil others said it was not.My son was born with a ear infection and spinal mengitious.He also did not have proper respiratory and has suffered all his life.He is learning disabled.And severally dyslexia.He is 16 and can not and the professional feel never read about 3 grade.He has alot of emotional problems and suffers from manic depression himself and has always been obsessive compulsive even as a toddler with his hands being clean.Now I ahve had doctors of all walk of life to say it was paxil and others say no it was not.I can not say myself.I mean my oldest son that is just 2 yrs older has depression.But nothing like this.And I didn;t take anything with him.I would say go with what u feel an what your body can handle some can not be with out meds as a danger to them selves and its not good to be a emotional wreck the whole time u are pregnant either.So go with what u can do.I would say if I had it to do again.I would not take med in the first 3 months period and if I really need them only up till the 8th month.I know that is not long but the baby gets more in the first few month and right before birth.Just like they say about aspirin or Tylenol.research what u take and ask lost and lots of question doctor and others that have taken meds and then make your decision.BEST OF LUCK!
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LOVEMYMAN
4/10/07 11:12 P
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| I agree. You need to go talk to you OB. When you are planning a pregnancy you should always start early on Folate and prenatal vitamins so they can help square away other issues at that time. I just had my IUD removed yesterday, but forgot to ask about the Effexor. I have a fe months for that though. Good Luck to you!
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| Thanks I appreciate it. I did fine on Paxil in my first pregnancy only after month 5. I got very sick on the 25 mg because of my son sapping it all from me and my dr's didn't notice it. Paxil has one of the worst case of withdrawl. I was hospitalized and then immediatley bumped up to 50 mg where I did great and has no trouble with my c-section. (Cause of my weight gain lol) And my son had no problems either. It's been confirmed in rare cases the babies can have an elevated heart rate and trouble sleeping and breathing. My son was a dream lol However I wanted mroe information because why tempt fate twice?
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LOVEMYMAN
4/10/07 11:05 P
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| I have heard that it is safe through my classroom grapevine, bu I forgot to ask my own DR. I too want to get pregnant and I am on the same dose. Would be nice to know for sure. One thing I know is that Paxil is not good for pregnancy, so if you did fine then Effexor should be fine.
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| I take 75 mg of Effexor, have since last December, and my hubby and I want to get pregnant again in November, do you know if it's safe or not? I had my son on Paxil CR and was REALLY not well till I increased my dose. Baby takes half and I went though withdrawl. My son was one last week and he has never had a side effect. However Paxil is an SSRI and Effexor is and SSNI, so I'm not sure what the risks are Does anyone know? If not I'll call Motherisk, if anyone in Canada wants that number just ask me. They are great on getting information for you on ANY medications. However some personal expereince would be nice.
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LOVEMYMAN
4/10/07 10:56 P
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| Def. take it in the evening AFTER dinner. On a full stomach will help and then having all night to digest will be a good thing. Make sure it is about the same time every night. I think that will help a lot.
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1st Day: 4pm
2nd: Noon
3rd: 9am
4th: 7am Got really nauseous and tired
5th: 11pm Slept OK Still kinda sick in the stomach.
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| What time of the day do you take it? Maybe try at night if you don't already. Also try to make the little bit of calories you eat count. I know it is hard if you have no appetite. Sorry, that is all I can offer.
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I just started taking Zoloft... I'm on my 4th day of 25mg (once the week is over I'll go to 50mg.)
I'm losing weight and I've been eating around 500 calories a day including some chocolate.
I'm just not hungry and it makes me sick to eat.
Any advice?
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DAISEY1203
4/9/07 12:52 P
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| My Dr started me on Effexor and I started taking it on Friday. I feel a little weird on it, but I know that is the side effects until you are used to it. Each day that is going by on it the side effects aren't as much, but it's only been 4 days. I am supposed to increase the dose after 7 and then stay on that and see if it's ok and after 3 weeks as long as I am ok on it he will give me a perscription. Thanks for all the advise.
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| I started on lexapro and moved to Paxil CR, but I wasn't happy until I switched to Effexor. Feel much better now, but I want to get pregnant at the end of the year and I am nto sure what to do. Anyway, I hope you find something good for you.
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there are three of us on ADs in my family.
I take prozac successfully. Ms 15 can't take anything in the SSRI family. SHe takes wellbutrin. Has taken wellbutrin now for 8 years. she has chronic depression... She is also bipolar so we had to be careful with an AD.
My oldest daughter is taking luvox for her OCD.
with regards to weight gain, I have not gained weight.. but you also said you couldn't take prozac.
My daughter on wellbutrin has not gained a single pound of weight.
My 17 year old has not gained weight either..
What I have learned over the years is that what works for one person may not work for another. One may have tons of problems and another can sail into the medication with virtually no problem...
I wish you well and hope you can find a remedy soon.
you are in my thoughts...
Caeryl
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| I have taken Wellbutrin, actually the generic buproprion(sp) for about 5 years and it has worked wonders for me. I have heard that it causes weight gain in some people but I have never had that problem. I started with zoloft and that didn't help at all, plus I didn't like the side effects. Zoloft is an SSRI, while Wellbutrin is an antidepressant. I'm not a dr. or pharmacist but I understand that they are slightly different types of drugs, and I think that slight difference can affect the success or failure of the drug for a person, because as we know, brain function is a delicate thing. I do know that there is something that is made better by the medication. Everyone on my dad's side of the family has some form of mental illness or addiction, and they either take medication or self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, like I used to.
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| Oh I know how the anxiety attacks go, they caused me to drop out of highschool and I stayed in my bedroom for 3 months and in my house for a year, I couldn't leave. I couldn't even pin point what it was I was "afraid" of. They can really take over. I made a point of putting my foot down and getting help for this when my son was born. He didn't ask for a mother who will be outside playing and lkaughing one day and locked up in the house shaking and crying the next. I was very fortunate too that I have a husband who understands, and sometimes just being near him will calm me down. I also have another medication called Clonazepam. They are 0.5 mg and you take them at the onset of an attack and they stop it in it's tracks. In my expereice they take about 3-10 minutes to work, depending on the severity of the attack. They can be slightly addictive however. Only because they work and I personally developed a fear of doing anything without them so it can backfire. I had to teach myself to gauge how bad the attack was on a scale of 1-10. anything 5 and under could be managed, if it was an 8, I needed meds. I hope that things work out for you, I know how this can take over your whole life. Get mad and tell it to back off it's your life and no panic attacks is going to stop you! Sometimes false bravado helps lol I find if I get mad, the panic goes away. Maybe determiend is a better word than mad lol Either way we all have little traicks. Another than can work, is pain. Pain blocks the nerves the carry panic so you stop it dead. I used to wear an elastic on my wrist and would snap it when I felt anxious. I have been told however that it does border on self harm. I don't do it that often and I use the coated hair elastiocs so it's more of an annoyance then pain, gets your mind re-directed. Anyways, I didn't mean to be that long winded but I like to offer some of my expereices as advice. I just want to help. Good luck with everything!!
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| Thanks that did help. I think my dr said the last time that the next time he might try me on that one. I am just in the slump. I feel good today and yesterday I was miserable, I can cry at the drop of a hat. My muscles hurt from being tense all the time, I grind my teeth from it all the time and I am constantly causing my self to have panic attacks over everything. I get a pain and I worry about it thinking oh god could this be something that could kill me. For the last 3 months I haven't needed anything, but I think I have been getting progressively worse and just not so noticible until this past sunday when it turned into a panic attack and now that it turned into a panic attack the fear of having another one is keeping the anxiety going. This disorder runs in my family so I am familiar with it, but it doesnt make dealing with it any easier.
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| Hello, like you I take anti depressents as well, I have been on Celexa, Zoloft, Paxil and Paxil CR. I also went through my pregnancy on them as well. Like you I gained weght too but had more trouble losing it then gaining it. After my son was born is was realized the Paxil CR was no longer working and was in desperate need to change. Coming off the Paxil CR is one of the worst withdralws I've ever seen. I was then put on a different medication called Effexor. It has Norepinephrine it in making it work differently. Two months on this medication and I lost 15 pounds of pregnancy weight that was still clinging. It also worked alot better. Mind you I take this to be trweated for Bi-Polar as well, so it may be a little strong, but there is no harm in trying it or talking to your Doctor about it, as there are no side effects other than a little dry mouth, and there is no withdrawl if you need to come off of it. good for you for allowing to be treated for depression, I knwo too many people who refuse and they are missing out on how much better their lives can be. Hopefully I've been some help to you.
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Just saw your post on anti-depressents. I was on them a year ago and my health only got worse. I do not think anti-depressents were the answer for me. Like you I was prescribed every one on the market. When I took them they only made me more depressed. I told the good old Doc. no more. I decided I felt better when I wasn't in lala land. So I started to eat right and get more exersize and write in a journal about how I was feeling and why, then I could figure out what was making me depressed in the first place and I fixed it. It was a long time coming and took a lot of soul searching but now I am no longer depressed, and feel great. I just try to remember that we can't change over night and that we can't change the world. We can only change ourselves and the way we see the world. So no more rainy days. Be happy in your life and get well soon.
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DAISEY1203
4/5/07 10:44 A
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I am looking for suggestions on Anti Depressants.
I have an appointment today with my DR and I have been taking Zolof for a little over 2 years off and on now and have gained so much weight from it. I come off it for a few months and then the anxiety and panic attacks come back and I need to go back on something. I have taken prozac for a week and it made it worse, so I know i can't take that. I did try paxil for a few days and it made me feel like I was racing and I looked like a drug addict with huge pupils. So I haven't had too much luck, I know the zoloft worked for me, but I don't want to go back on it since I just lost 10 lbs so far and I still have 35 more to go before I am even close to my pre pregnancy weight and at the rate i was going with that I am just going to keep gaining and gaining and I am already miseable with the weight i have put on I don't see me getting happy putting more on. What luck I guess is what I am getting on has anyone had with anti depressants and not gaining a million pounds.
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