seroquel and pregnancy

hi there. i am desparate for info. i take seroquel . . . a drug commonly used for mania . . . for anxiety and depressoin because ssri's don't work on me. i want to get pregnant and know i have to stay on pregnancy otherwise i crash hard. i take 75mg at bedtime for the last 4 years. it is such a new drug there isn't alot of info on pregnancy so any personal experiences or knowledge would be greatly appreciated. thank you so much.

I took seroquel. I have not heard of it being used for depression. That is interesting. I do not think you're supposed to take it when you're pregnant, but I do not know for sure.

I would discuss this with my pdoc, if I were you, even possibly put pregnancy on hold till you are made assured that it is safe, or see if any safe alternatives can replace what you are taking, personally I cannpt see giving up possible normalcy vs mania, for getting pregnant, it is best to be stable, totally, before deciding to bring a new life into this world, I think it would be totally cruel to mess with the health of a fetus, and unfair to this child.
Sorry, just my 2 cents
But take this up with the prescribing physician.

Good luck,
DE

Hi dnna

I'm on serquel and have been for well over a year. Even though the doss can go real high im sensitive to meds and low dosses work for me most times. The side effects for me on serquel are hair loss and rash.
I've been on up to 75mg at night as well but even though it worked great the side effects were real bad.
I'm now on half a 25mg pill a night and so far so good. That would be 12.5mg if they made a doss that low but they don't so i very carefully break it in half.
"TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION"
I am having a tubal reversal OCT 27th and will be tring to get pregnent. My phycitrist told me it shouldn't be taken during pregnancy because of low to med. risk of birth defects as well as other things. I was there when she looked it up. I've also read it somewhere myself.
I have no entention on taking it if i'm pregnent. Its not a risk i'm willing to take.
As for the drug its self- its a ANTIPHSYCHOTIC DRUG used origionally for schizophrenia. These past years though doctors have been finding new usses for it like treating bipolar.
Like Thelema said, i haven't heard of it being used for depression ether. If it works, thats great but if your going to have a baby, there are many avalible drugs out there which are safe.

I hope that helped some,
Jacqui :-))

I have been on seroquel for years on and off. I have never heard of any one taking while pg. or trying to get pg. seroquel is some pritty strong stuff!! Defanitly talk to you doc a.s.a.p.

whisper

I agree with whisper

Once my tubal reversal is done and i know i'm going to be tring to get pregnant, the seroquel will stop. Never in a million years would i take chances with such a powerful drug.

jacqui :-))

I was on 75mg of seroquel before i become pregnant with my 1st son. My gp reduced the dose to 50mgs during my 1st trimester and it stayed at that dose through my pregnancy. My son was born healthy and weighed 6lbs 11oz at 40 weeks gestation hes now a happy thriving 3 year old. The only issue i had with taking seroquel and having baby was breast feeding or formula feeding because seroquel is produced in the breast milk

Seroquel can be used for psychosis, mood stabilization, and treatment resistant depression. It is in class C for safety during pregnancy, which means the risk is uncertain, and risks to fetus should be weighed against risk to mother during pregnancy. There may be other similar drugs that are better established as safe during pregnancy, but there is no evidence that seroquel during pregnancy will harm the fetus either. A mother who is depressed/manic is also harmful to the developing fetus because of changes in stress hormones, such as cortisol. Plus, once the baby is born, if mother is unstable there are likely to be attachment problems for the baby, which can lead to life long psychological and relationship difficulties. So going unmedicated can be as harmful as taking the wrong meds. Where I live there is a reproductive mental health clinic, where regular pdocs, GPs, and NPs can refer pregnant patients for consults about meds. Is there something like that where you are? It's not as simple as saying seroquel is or is not safe, your individual circumstances need to be considered. There are drugs that are definitely not safe, such as depakote, but I think seroquel is in the grey area.

First thing! Put your fears to rest and get some real info by making a preconceptual consultation appointment with a perinatalogist. You may need a referral from your OB. They have the info at their fingertips and can tell you their experiences.