I have had depression since I was 13 and have tried prozac, zoloft and about 7 months ago my doctor put me on Celexa aka citalopram. Since then I have been doing really good, I feel happy and able to deal with everything again.
My question is- I am almost to the point of trying to have kids, I have heard that this drug can cause birth problems, addictions, etc in babies. Has anyone had any experience in that? Do I need to wean off the meds before trying to get pregnant, can I take them safely while pregnant.
Hi ginger. I'm in a similar situation and stopped the tablets 9 days ago ready for starting to try for a baby in a few months. I read quite alot beforehand and i don't think citalopram has been around long enough for doctors to say it's safe i've spoken to two and a pharmacist who say it is amatter of weighing up what's best for mother and baby and that it's ok to take it if needed. I still ended up taking the decision to try coming off because i felt that was best and i'm also much more settled than i was when i went on and i thought i should see how i reacted. The physical side effects have been fine for me but i am really struggling with tearfulness. I am going to try to give it 6 weeks and see how i feel, i will know if i need to go back on a low dose. I do have worries about post natal depression but again, i think i will know if i need help.
Hope this has helped in some way.
Thanks for your response, I thnk thats about the same decision I am coming to. Go off it before getting pregnant. I just keep reading about all the side effects to the person taking it and I can only imagine what it would do to a baby.
Thanks again for the reply
It's a tough call to make and i still don't know whether i will need to be on 5mg just to keep me steady. We can only try to come off and see how we get on. The dr says plenty of people have babies while on them, it's just that there's no long term evidence to say it's ok.
If your GP is happy for you to reduce the dose and you do it slowly then just take it one step at a time.