OCD Action

S*F
Member

Hi all,

I am currently trying for a baby. At present I am on Citalopram 40 mgs. I am concerned about breast feeding whilst on meds. I wondered if any of you had had any experience to share. I have been looking on the net and see that Lustral is supposed to be slightly less of a risk. Not sure whether to ask my doc to change me to those. Any advice/experience would be welcome.

S

Wed Feb 1 2012 17:45:59 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hi there S*F -

just caught your question in time, but I have to log out. However, I did a quick search on Pubmed, the world's largest medical database with many, many published articles. Will look again tomorrow.

From what I saw (mind, I had only a couple of minutes), there are not many indications about SSRIs such as citalopram having negative effects; and results are controversial at any rate. In particular, some experts think that breastfeeding's positive effects simply outweigh any small presence of medication that may be transferred to the newborn.

I'll send you my e-mail address via PM, now. Then you may PM me yours, and I'll send you an article I just saved as a PDF document (by way of attachment). So: please watch your inbox.

Best, Cuthbert in Holland.

Wed Feb 1 2012 18:48:48 #
S*F
Member

Bless your heart Cuthbert! I will PM you now. S

Wed Feb 1 2012 19:00:30 #
Twitchy
Member

Hey S, i would love to have a baby,but first i am giving myself 6 months to try and sort myself out a bit. Have you spoken to your GP? Just wondering what advise they have given you?

Fri Feb 3 2012 9:06:25 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hi Twitchy and S*F -

from my personal experience I would say that a referral to a psychiatrist, if possible one who is specialized in matters such as mood disorders and pregnancy, would be advisable here (a GP can do that). GP's in general don't really know that much details about the profiles of all available types of psychotropic medicine. It's not their fault, they have to deal with such a bewildering array of different illnesses that they work 'in breadth' rather than in 'depth', so to speak.

And: it is very understandable that women are wary of using mood altering substances whilst being pregnant, and during breast-feeding. The risks of alcohol use and smoking are well known, these days. Of course, illicit drugs are out of the question too.

With antidepressants, it's more complex. People with mood disorders tend to have a pretty high level of stress, continuously or frequently. They have disbalances in hormones and neurotransmitters, caused by stress and depression. For instance, their levels of cortisol are higher (the stress hormone). Freely available serotonin tends to be lower. And there are more such abnormalities. One could argue that medication should be lowered or stopped, but then the changes I just described might have an impact on the foetus or the newborn of their own. When these abnormal levels are successfully reversed by antidepressants, that might be beneficial for mother and child. So it's a matter that must be carefully considered by an expert.

Fri Feb 3 2012 10:23:09 #
BT
Member

I was advised to stop medication before becoming pregnant, but views vary greatly. Another thing to be aware of is that hormone changes are likely to make OCD worse.

Found this which may be of interest:

“A recent research about the effects of Citalopram in pregnancy and lactation by a Finish expert group showed no major problems for the babies. Taking 20 or 40 mg Citalopram there were only very low plasma concentration for the infants and no problems of delivery or any neurodevelopment problems of the babies. So the authors concluded that there is only a very small risk for the babies.

Source : Heikkinen T, Ekblad U, Kero P, Ekblad S, Laine K : Citalopram in pregnancy and lactation. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2002 Aug; 72(2):184-91”

Fri Feb 3 2012 13:22:04 #