Pregnancy and SSRI's

[i-square-jere.livejournal.com]

Hey friends!

So my husband and I have had plans for awhile to conceive this fall. He'll be starting graduate school, I'll have a year off until I start my grad program next fall, and we'll have health insurance through school. And we've both wanted kids for a while, and we definitely feel emotionally and financially prepared for a tiny human.

I'm also taking an SSRI, 10 mg Celexa q.d., and I have been for about a year. I remember when I went to get a rx renewal back in February, I mentioned to my doctor that we were interested in getting pregnant before the end of the year. She told me about a recent study that looked at a correlation between SSRI use within a year of delivery and autism, and said that the results were fairly significant. I kind of took it with a grain of salt (because seriously everything causes autism, amirite?), and didn't really find anything conclusive. But it still kind of freaked me out that my doctor was concerned enough to tell me about it.

I'm usually pretty level-headed about things, and am pretty good at deciphering actual statistical data from news extrapolation, but I can't help but worry about this. Also, since neither one of us are in school right now, we don't have access to a journal database, which is kind of what I rely on to see original studies.

So does anyone know anything more about the SSRI/pregnancy/autism connection? How much should I trust my doctor on this? I could get off of my Celexa, but I've worked on tapering off before and it seems like 10 mg is the lowest dose I can take while still keeping my head above water, and I'm hesitant to get off of it completely because I think I owe it to my future progeny to offer them a mentally healthy mom.

Thanks!

Comments

(frozen)

[i-love-freddie.livejournal.com]

Exactly this! My doctor and I have agreed together that when I try for pregnancy I will discontinue my sleeping pills because they are very risky, but I will stay on my anti-depressants and my thyroid medication, because it is important that my depression remains under control. It's still not an ideal situation, but I agree with your last line: every decision we make carries risks and benefits.