pregnant and on meds?

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Question: I take medication to manage bi-polar disorder and I just found out I'm pregnant and I'm not sure yet what I want to do about it. I'm afraid to stop taking my meds because my hormones are making me a basket case and I'm afraid to keep taking my meds because of what it might be doing to the baby? What should I do?

Answer: You need to talk to a doctor ASAP!

When I was in graduate school I had a great professor who used to tell us, "when ever you are stuck between two choices and you are not sure what to do, what you need is more information, then one of the choices will become clear."

There are 4 places I would suggest you go for information. 1.) your psychiatrist. Who ever is prescribing you your medication for mental health symptom management hopefully knows you well and the two of you need to have a conversation about how to best balance your needs without creating a risk to your potential unborn child. Even if you decide to terminate the pregnancy it is important to communicate with anyone who helps support you because that will have a significant impact on your stress and hormone levels and consequently your emotions.

2.) Your OBGYN, hopefully you have one, if you don't you need to see one right away. I would like to tell you that all doctors are perfect and never make mistakes about drug interactions and potential impact on a fetus, but why risk it? Whatever your psychiatrist tells you, you also need to compare notes with a doctor who is an expert on fetal development. This decision is too important to just trust one source of information.

3.) The drug manufacturer. People think drug companies are all about making money and they will say anything to get people to buy their product. That is only half right, they like making money but they do not want to do anything to get themselves sued because that will cost them a lot more money. No one knows better than the drug company what the potential impact of a medication would be. E-mailing the drug company or going on their website and finding a phone number to call is a free way to get the most expert information on your medication.

4.) community agencies (ex planned parenthood) Many of my clients don't really know/trust their psychiatrist, don't have an OBGYN and would be too flustered to play around with a drug company website to try to find info. Community agencies will not have the drug information themselves but they will help you to find someone in your area that you can trust for a price you can afford.

BEWARE of Internet information! The Internet is fantastic, but there is generally no accountability for putting incorrect or out of date info up on a website. Using google or web MD is fine but do not let that be your only source. You need to talk to a real live person to help you review the options of your specific case and create the best plan for you.

Having a baby is an emotional roller coaster for any woman. A person dealing with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, depression, anxiety, OCD, etc... can certainly find a way to go off their medication and manage their symptoms, if that is what they need to do for the health of their child. To do this successfully they need to find ways to reduce stress levels and increase their reliance on the supportive people in their life. If they are not in regular counseling they will probably need to start or increase the regularity of their visits. The key to symptom reduction is stress management and and with a good plan you and a baby can be stable and healthy until it is safe to begin taking medication again. Just don't try to do it on your own!