Ativan, Effexor and Seroquel during pregnancy

[Worried4baby]

My current dose:
Ativan: 2MG in AM
Effexor: 75mg in AM
Seroquel : 100mg in PM

I have been on these current doses all 31 weeks of my pregnancy so far. I have heard from several doctors, psychiatrist and Maternal Fetal Medicine and they ALL have different opinions about each drug.

I have heard I will need to expect a stillborn. My baby will have horrible withdrawals. One medication is ok and the others are not. And so forth. Everyone says something different.

My two main concerns are; if I stop taking these meds while pregnant , I go into horrific withdrawals. Won't the baby as well?

If I stop taking these meds, my anxiety is still there and amplified by hormones. Is my baby more at risk from the medications or my VERY BAD anxiety attacks?

I never get a straight answer and have found little to no information about all of this.

One thing is, I have yet to hear from ANY other pregnant women on these drugs nor a woman who took them during pregnancy.

I feel alone and scared.

[admin]

Worried:

Sorry, but you've been given a lot of lousy information, particularly about a stillborn infant. None of this is true. All of these are relatively safe to use during pregnancy.

Its true that about 30% of infants in this situation may have a short withdrawal, but it only lasts a few days and they do just fine afterwards. Remember, 70% don't have any withdrawal.

So stay on your meds, deliver a good baby, and go on and breastfeed your infant. Remember, a healthy mom makes a healthy baby. Don't damage your mental health by withdrawing, as this won't help your infant at all.

Talk with you pediatrician about these drugs and if you have any questions call my staff.


Tom Hale, R.Ph., Ph.D.
Director
InfantRisk Center