What is the determining factor in having children when OCD &Panic Disorder are present- Mom’s please help!
I wrote this in another forum and one person suggested I ask here also. I am 33, married for 10 years- very happily. Both of us have good jobs.
I asked what is the determining factor in deciding to have a baby. I have OCD and Panic Disorder. I am currently on 150 zoloft and 20mg valium. I’m wondering if anyone has had these disorders and had children. If yes, did you have to stop the medication while pregnant? What effects did you have while pregnant? Did you breast feed? Could you take meds while breast feeding? Can/could you handle the stress of a newborn or was it overwhelming?
Any info would be soooo helpful. Please…
Tagged with: Children • determining • Disorder • factor • Having • help • Mom's • Panic • Please • present
Filed under: Panic Disorder
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I have Bipolar Disorder. I was on 100 mgs of Seroquel (an antipsychotic) and 20 mgs of Lexapro during my entire pregnancy with my son, with no negative effects or worsening of symptoms. I actually felt better during my pregnancy! Pregnancy hormones tend to make things either better (about 70%) or worse, and it all depends on how you react as an individual. I had gotten off lithium prior to conception, and went back on the week I gave birth. Your dr may suggest dropping the dosage of the Valium or stopping it alltogether, at least for your first trimester, if not prior to conception, but the Zoloft I don’t think should be an issue.
The biggest concern will be the possibility of post-partum depression and psychosis, but if your p-doc pretreats you for the condition, it won’t be as severe, maybe even non existent. I had no post-partum symptoms, and that was the #1 biggest worry.
If you are taking any psychoactive medications you cannot breastfeed.
My take on the mental illness inheritability, from a perinatologist (who gave us genetic counseling) was that it’s about a 1 in 4 chance that your kid will develop SOME sort of mental illness if both you and your partner have a mental illness (even a propensity toward depression included). It’s much less (1 in 16) if only you have a mental illness and your partner does not, but has a family history, very unlikely if only you have a mental illness. But the specific type is up for grabs. If you child does have some problem, it could be just mild bouts of depression, or mild ADD– both of which are readily treatable. The upside to all this is that, if your child does develop some sort of mental health problem, you’ll already be looking for it and will have help on the ready.
My son is now 2 1/2 and shows no “oddities”– save a bit of a preoccupation with personal hygeine, but my dr says that that’s normal for his age.
regarding using medication during pregnancy I would positively check with your doctors first.
regarding why people have kids, a deciding factor is if something is missing in your life that nothing else can fulfill except for an offspring to love, then that’s pretty much life. as long as you believe you can handle it, have the nurturing environment, and unconditional love for another