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mirjamles Pregnancy in waves and windows


mirjamles

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Hi,

 

I am 37 years old woman, having one kid age of 7 and was put on Effexor 4 years ago since I got very anxious  due to the lack of sleep and tiredness (the child did not sleep well at night for the first 3 years of his life).  I was feeling very good for 1 year on Effexor 150 mg. So, I asked my doctor if it is ok to get off the tablets because we wanted to have another baby. She said yes and said to gradual discontinue the tablets for 2 weeks. I took longer time and gradual tapered them for 1.5 month. In last days of tapering I got withdrawal symptoms and was put back on the Effexor again. That was 3 years ago. I could not stabilize at the previous dose (having waves and windows), so additionally I got mood sabilizer Quetapine 100 mg to take at night . I still could not stabilize. So the doctor raised my dose to 225 mg. The anxious was getting bigger and bigger. The waves and windows still remained. 

One year ago I realized that I am a victim of the combination of withdrawal symptoms and symptoms of raising the dosage. This combination stressed my nervous systems so much, and I have decided to start to live without the tablets, since I have never experienced such symptoms before taking the first tablet. So this is how I went:

- In one month I gradually won off the Quetapine for sleeping and slept good

- in 3 months : from 225 mg to 150 mg of Effexor

- in 3 months: from 150 to 75 mg of Effexor

- for last 6 months I have been tapering my last 75 mg of Effexor (I have only 8 beads to get off, 1 bead / per week)

2 months ago I was hit by a major withdrawal symptoms, but that did not get the courage out of me.

All of my last 3 years I have windows and waves and have learned alot through them. They do not frighten me anymore, although they are very hard to deal with sometimes. 

 

And now I have a question: I still want a second child and since I am 37 I do not have much time. I hope I get off my last 8 beads successfully. BUt what I am afraid is that:

- what if I continue to have waves and weaves for another years and got pregnant: can my waves have any affect on my child? (I know this is not a medical forum, but any advice from women being in the same situation would be fine to hear)

- if my nervous system settles, do you think the birth of the child and lack of the sleep can trigger the nervous system again to start to react as it does today?

 

Some people say: go ahead, have another child! But I am afraid what consequences this withdrawal symptoms can leave to my body. Despite to that my wish to have one more kid is so strong!!! And that keeps me going on in the waves. I just wish I was at least 5 years younger and have more time to heal my nervous system.

 

What is your opinion? Thank you.

 

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Hi,

I'd say you should go for it if you are completely off the meds long enough for all traces of the drug to be out of your system (can probably be calculated by half-life). You could go a few different ways...

 

You could be GREAT and even euphoric because life is moving on from withdrawal and you are getting what you really want (another baby), so even if you have symptoms you will be generally happy anyway.

 

You could get more symptoms, though the healing curve leans towards getting better mixed with days where you feel a little worse while moving towards getting better slowly.

 

You could stay on the path you are on now, which sounds like you are feeling good enough to think about having a baby!

 

I think there is never a right time for having a baby, and we start feeling pressure to get it over with once we go past 35 (I had my second kid at 36). I say go for it. The other thing to think about is that once you are pregnant, you will likely sleep a lot and like a brick because of being pregnancy tired. If you are having withdrawal related sleep issues, that may be a welcome pregnancy side effect. Sleeping helps with the brain recovery, so I can only think that would be a good thing!

 

And when you hold your baby, you will be thankful that time moved on, and life continued to contain good things, despite the horrors of withdrawal. If you don't go for it, my personal reaction (if this were my decision) would be regrets about what withdrawal took from me, the chance to have the baby I wanted.

 

Good luck!

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  • Administrator

Welcome, mirjamles.

 

I moved your topic here as your Intro topic. You can keep track of your progress here and we can better understand your situation.

 

Do you have any symptoms now that you're down to 8 beads? If so, you may wish to hold for a while until they go away.

 

The good news is that lower doses will affect the developing baby less. Still, you may wish to wait until you are entirely off Effexor and your nervous system is stable before getting pregnant and experiencing those huge hormonal changes.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

I'm very interested in this topic and you will soon see why. I'm 36 and don't have a child, partly because I have been on drugs all these years...

 

I'm stabilising after a too fast tapering and also feel like I'm running out of time. And then think, women give birth at 40 and after, especially if it's your second so give yourself enough time to heal.

 

Somewhere on these pages I found a link to such a nasty site on pregnancy and AD. Nasty in the sense that it is very pessimistic and gives some bleak research results... It really scared me.

Current: 9/2022 Xanax 0.08, Lexapro 2

2020 Xanax 0.26 (down from 2 mg in 2013), Lexapro 2.85 mg (down from 5 mg 2013)

Amitriptyline (tricyclic AD) and clonazepam for 3 months to treat headache in 1996 
1999. - present Xanax prn up to 3 mg.
2000-2005 Prozac CT twice, 2005-2010 Zoloft CT 3 times, 2010-2013 Escitalopram 10 mg
went from 2.5 to zero on 7 Aug 2013, bad crash 40 days after
reinstated to 5 mg Escitalopram 4Oct 2013 and holding liquid Xanax every 5 hours
28 Jan 2014 Xanax 1.9, 18 Apr  2015 1 mg,  25 June 2015 Lex 4.8, 6 Aug Lexapro 4.6, 1 Jan 2016 0.64  Xanax     9 month hold

24 Sept 2016 4.5 Lex, 17 Oct 4.4 Lex (Nov 0.63 Xanax, Dec 0.625 Xanax), 1 Jan 2017 4.3 Lex, 24 Jan 4.2, 5 Feb 4.1, 24 Mar 4 mg, 10 Apr 3.9 mg, May 3.85, June 3.8, July 3.75, 22 July 3.7, 15 Aug 3.65, 17 Sept 3.6, 1 Jan 2018 3.55, 19 Jan 3.5, 16 Mar 3.4, 14 Apr 3.3, 23 May 3.2, 16 June 3.15, 15 Jul 3.1, 31 Jul 3, 21 Aug 2.9 26 Sept 2.85, 14 Nov Xan 0.61, 1 Dec 0.59, 19 Dec 0.58, 4 Jan 0.565, 6 Feb 0.55, 20 Feb 0.535, 1 Mar 0.505, 10 Mar 0.475, 14 Mar 0.45, 4 Apr 0.415, 13 Apr 0.37, 21 Apr 0.33, 29 Apr 0.29, 10 May 0.27, 17 May 0.25, 28 May 0.22, 19 June 0.22, 21 Jun updose to 0.24, 24 Jun updose to 0.26

Supplements: Omega 3 + Vit E, Vit C, D, magnesium, Taurine, probiotic 

I'm not a medical professional. Any advice I give is based on my own experience and reading. 

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