Antidepressants- anyone with experience?

[heythere]

Apologies in advance if this is kind of all over the place. I'd love to hear from others with experience, especially anyone who nursed while taking ADs.

I've been feeling off lately- not myself, so saw my doctor this morning. She concluded that I'm suffering from moderate levels of depression and anxiety. She prescribed a low dose of Prozac. To be totally honest, I'm not thrilled about taking them, which is ridiculous because I've been the first to advocate for others to take this type of med if recommended because I know they can help. For the record, I do plan to take them.

My daughter nurses generally once a day for about 5 minutes or so. My doctor did not seem too concerned about this with the Prozac, but is pretty conservative re: meds and breastfeeding, so when I said I was considering weaning (not related to the meds, just have been considering it for awhile) she encouraged it. DD is 2, and I never in a million years thought I would nurse this long, but have been torn on whether to wean or let her self-wean.

All of that said, I guess my questions are
Did you take Prozac or another AD? How did it work for you?
If you nursed while taking an AD, which med were you on and did you worry about it at all?

Any other input welcomed.

[imimahoney]

For my PPD I took/now weaning off of Zoloft. I started taking it around 6 weeks pp and bfed until my son was 16 weeks old. Since Zoloft is safe for bfing moms I had no problems taking it and nursing.

It helped me tremendously. I was really anxious and detached from my son. It allowed me to calm down and enjoy him much more. I was also super stressed because he was diagnosed with a milk intolerance and helped me figure out what I needed to do.

I also saw a therapist 3 times. Once when I started the meds, then 2 weeks later and then a month later. Talking everything through with someone who has experience with PPD was really helpful.

[pugz]

I was on zoloft while pregnant and nursing (have been on it since 2008 for anxiety and depression) and discussed it with my OB and my PCP. Risks are very very low. I don't know much about Prozac. I do know Zoloft is considered safe for nursing moms.

[cjeanette]

Prozac made me very very tired and killed by sex drive.

[Brie]

I am EBF and on Zoloft for PPD. The risks are extremely low and I'm comfortable with it.

[liveintheville]

I was put on Prozac while pregnant with Kid 2 and nursed while on it. It did help (I'm still on it) and Kid 2 has had zero issues due to me being on it.

[Deleted]

I was on Zoloft for about a year while BFing. No regrets whatsoever. It was necessary and the right thing to do.

[greekypie]

I was on Zoloft for a while, and it worked wonders for my depression but totally F'ed up my digestive track. I switched to Prozac. These meds have been a life-saver for me. Literally. And I was extremely hesitant/resistant to take them at first, too.

Hugs. No experience with BFing and the meds. It is on my mind, too, for baby numero dos.

[heythere]

Thank you all so very much. It's really helpful to me to hear from those with first hand experience. I asked my doctor about Zoloft this morning -- based on what I'm reading (via kellymom and some other sources), it seems like a slightly better choice than the Prozac since DD is still nursing (though I agree with PPs who said that since she is nursing so little, it would be unlikely to have effects and also that the benefits here outweigh risks).

I'm going to pick up the Zoloft in a couple of hours. Here's hoping I have great results like so many of you have. Thanks again for your help!

[Deleted]

Well, I am on prozac for PMDD, so PMDD symptoms were gone my entire pregnancy and only started to come back when DD was a year or so, My OB and internist both wanted me to wean before going back on Prozac. I didn't exactly-- I only nursed her briefly at night for about 3 months before completely weaning. She was fine.

I may go off it when we TTC, since, again, I dont need to be on it when pg, but I'm afraid of being off it too long if I dont get pg right away. I am not good when I am not on it before my period.