PLEASE
I just can not keep my mouth shut any longer about two studies about antidepressants and birth defects. I keep seeing it everywhere. Over and over I am hearing “Doctors and pregnant women can feel more at ease that women can take SSRI’s during pregnancy.” PLEASE what are they trying to do cause even more babies to be born with birth defects? There is a RISK these studies have just proven what everyone already knew about antidepressants and birth defects. OK so they are playing on the fact that it is a small risk. With birth defects so severe it is not worth it.
Why did they not ask me to be a part of their “study”? How about putting all of us mothers who took an antidepressant during pregnancy and had babies born with birth defects into a study. Guess what the stats would say then. 100% of women who took antidepressants had babies born with birth defects. Not such a low risk then is it.
I do not care if it is 1% or a 100% of women who take antidepressants that have children born with birth defects the suffering these babies have to go through is too much. What woman would want to be that 1%? No one would, but they are saying take the chance if you need too. GSK PLEASE stop funding these studies and misleading woman. Have you not done enough already. Except the fact that you did wrong instead of trying to belittle what my son and others have gone through with these studies that say the risk is so small. You are just trying to take some of the heat off. GSK it seems to me you have just made a big ass out of your self again. I for one am not fooled by your attempts to lessen what you have done. I only hope that other women listen to the whole story instead of just the headlines and realize that antidepressants do cause birth defects.
BREATH 
I Know He SmiledGod smiled when He made grandchildren~He’s very wise, you see.He knew how much I would love themAnd how much they would mean to me.Each one is so different and specialWith dreams and Plans of their own,I love them so much as babiesBut even more now that they’re grown.Sometimes when I look in their facesI can see my own child there.So I know God smiled when He made themAnd He keeps them in his care.So if you should hear me boastingof things they do and say.Just smile to yourself and be thankfulYou’ll have some of your own ~someday.GSK, how are your grandchildren?Is just one of them worth the Billions of profit?Mine is !!!!Manie’s grampa
I am not sure if I have left a comment yet on your blog. . . I discovered your blog and bookmarked it recently. I really appreciate it. I was on a generic-make of Prozac when I conceived our son. I had checked it with my doctor even before we conceived, and he said to just try to wean off of it by week 20. I had heard bad things about Paxil (which I was on for a while five years ago), so I knew I should ask about prozac. He said it should be fine. Even after our son was born, and they didn’t find any chromosomal issues, the doctors said it was probably highly unlikely that is was caused by my lowish dose of fluoextine, or even by the low dose of lexapro my husband taking (what about sperm and antidepressants???). Our baby had HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome), DORV, Vein Atresia, Hypoplastic Right Lung and a small cleft palate. I would have like to have been included in a study. I doubt that will happen, either. After our baby died at almost four months old, after he went through open heart surgery, two caths (it may have been a bleed out after the second one that caused his death), a number of other procedures, and never able to get off the vent, my husband weaned off of Lexapro. I had already weaned off prozac during pregnancy, and right after I had my c-section, the nurses and doctors kept trying to push it back down my throat. I refused. My husband’s and my guts tell us that it was probably the drugs we were taking. We are going to try to conceive another baby again soon, and we are so hopeful this time.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I would guess it was the drugs too. My prayers are with you and your husband to have a healthy baby( which you will since you both are not taking any type of antidepressants anymore) It is so sad that your baby had to suffer like he did. No baby should have to suffer because of these drugs and because of these companies. I ask time and time again where is the government that is suppose to protect us and where is the government that should stop this from happening again. Instead of protecting and serving us they are serving each other. The more we speak out the better because we have to help each other.God bless you guys and best wishes.Julie
Umm I don’t know what to say. I think I need advice on how I should go about this. In the beginning of my pregnancy the doctors had me on Prozac. And in third trimester had me on effexor xr. My son was born with a heart defect, hypo plastic left heart syndrome to be exact. And he only lived 14 days. he never made it to surgery cause his lungs somehow got bad. there s a lot more that happen before birth and right after birth that has us suing the hospitals. Now after researching I think the drugs the doctors gave me caused his defects in the first place. So I know first hand that these drugs are deadly to unborn babies. please write me back. Dkinsey84@gmail.com
Wow, DeAnna. I was also on Effexor several years ago (after being on Paxil), and I hated it. It did nothing for me (prozac actually worked for me – that’s why I was still on it when I got pregnant – it kept my anxiety well under control. I loved it, and feel so guilty now about my son.) It was absolutely horrible, though, when I weaned off of Effexor. For six weeks, I was so dizzy and ill – and I wasn’t even pregnant then! I couldn’t imagine going on it during pregnancy! I weaned off of prozac before the end of prengnacy because of the increased incidence of pulmonary hypertension in the baby. We didn’t know before he was born that he also had a hypoplastic lung. The doctors didn’t even find it until after they did his first step Norwood surgery. There have been times since losing my son that I have wanted to go back on something (well, prozac/fluoxetine, since it made me so calm and so less anxious), but the thought of having another baby who will just suffer and then die stops me completely from taking anything.