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1.) How many people here have decided to forgo having children because you have Mental Health issues? Are you glad that you stayed childless? 2.) If you DID have kids - do you regret your decision? Was it more (or less) challenging/upsetting/depressing than you expected? 3.) Does anyone here feel that having kids was the most fulfilling, meaningful choice in their life? Why?

Is it normal to seem as though you have just developed a linea negra even tohugh you are a virgin who suffers with psychosomatic pregnancy issues?

Please can someone help. I am very stressed and worried. I am 19 weeks 3 days pregnant and have been taking 400 mg of quetiapine the whole pregnancy so far for physocosis, insomnia, and anxiety. Can someone please tell me if they have ever or is taking Quatiapine during pregnancy ??? If so how did it effect the baby, mentally.. physically.. please Help. I don't think me stressing about the answers to this is good for me and the child.

Hello old friends. Well, I'm having some difficulty. My husband and I have decided to try for another baby. That means I had to go off my meds (which were Cymbalta 90 and Abilify 5 mg.) Pdoc switched me to a new therapy called EnBrace. It's a multivitamin that is heavy on a type of folate and it's specifically made for depression. I've been taking this EnBrace for a few weeks now and I have to say, I feel better than I did the last time I ditched my meds, when I wasn't taking anything. But I am still having some problems. I'm moderately depressed in general, crying a lot. But I can deal with that... The weird thing is, I feel like I am losing my mind. I have been thinking a lot about spiritual nonsense and believing that I'm having meaningful dreams... In one case I even heard a voice of my baby (even though I'm not pregnant yet, we haven't started trying) calling "mooooom" to me.... I believe it was true and I am scared and disturbed by it all. I am not sure if this is psychosis or being off the meds is actually opening me up to the spirit world. I really don't want anything to do with this spiritual stuff and I want to go back on my meds, but I also want a baby. And now that I heard the baby's voice I don't want to tell it "Sorry, I decided not to have you." My husband thinks that if I just exercise and eat right I will be ok. I am just not feeling well at all. In other news, I did stop drinking for the most part. I hope everyone else here is fine.

So my husband and I are working on another baby, and of course my thoughts turn to all of the meds that I'm taking. My pnurse and I decided I should only take max 1-2 drugs. After some research, only one of the things I take is relatively safe for me to take (Wellbutrin). Everything else will need to be tapered if at all possible, and just stopped if not. I'm just curious what experience the rest of you might have had with tapering meds for pregnancy. Did you have a lot of trouble being off your meds? Did you have a plan for going back on them after birth? Anything you can share would be helpful.

Hi everyone, I'm new here, but have been reading a TON from the various forums over the past week. I've been struggling with major depressive disorder for 20 years - since I was 16. I typically have around 3 severe depressive episodes per year, each of which tends to last anywhere from 1 to 4 months. I've been on a ton of different medications, been hospitalized 3 times, done outpatient programs at least twice, and have been in therapy for 19 years with the same wonderful therapist. With my most recent episodes (of which I am in the middle of one now), my psychiatrist and therapist both are describing me as treatment resistant. We are considering ECT (I have a consultation with the ECT doc next week - I've been basically living in the ECT forum all week). In the meantime, my doc has increased my dosage of Lexapro and added Wellbutrin. I have been on Lexapro for several years and we thought it might have been working, even though I still had 2-3 depressive episodes per year. I started out at 20mg of Lexapro, and now I'm on... wait for it... 100mg. I've never heard of anyone being on such a high dose, and I'm wondering if anyone here has heard of it. I asked my pdoc if that was a safe dosage and she said it all depends on the individual and their tolerance and side effects. I haven't had any major side effects. To complicate things further, my hubby and I have been trying to have a baby for 2 years (have had 3 miscarriages). Everyone agrees that it would be far less harmful for the fetus for me to be on an antidepressant than for me to be as severely depressed as is my norm. Pdoc did say that we'll stop the Wellbutrin as soon as I know I'm preggo, but I've stayed on Lexapro during my last 3 (failed) pregnancies. I can't help but wonder if the meds are contributing to the miscarriages, though I know 100% I cannot be off them. Whew! That's a LOT of info. I'm sorry for the novel! I'm thrilled to have found this forum, and you guys seem like a very intelligent, supportive, and well-informed group. Thanks so much for reading and letting me know your thoughts!

Hi Everyone I'm new (hence the introductory post lol) here and wanted to share a bit about me. I have been reading this forum for awhile and you all seem very kind and helpful. I have struggled with anxiety and depression for years. I am now 26 (actually my birthday is tomorrow lol) and I work in a helping profession and recently went from full time at my job to 32hrs per week because I feel overwhelmed. I have loving and supportive family, boyfriend and friends. I have been in IP once before for an anxiety attack that began a major depressive episode (lasted about a month). I was put on Pristiq 50mg and it worked well for a few years, but the withdrawal symptoms if I took a dose late were getting out of control, so I was weaned off of it. Currently I take zoloft 100mg daily and Ativan .5 twice as needed daily. I take Provigil twice daily for fatigue (nap at least twice per day without it) for a total of 300mg. Also, I was on birth control for 9 years and since i stopped it last June - I realized I also most likely have Premenstrual Exacerbation of my anxiety/depression symptoms. My life is currently at the mercy of my symptoms and I feel like I am drowning. My Pdoc and Tdoc had a little chat this week and decided they would like to put me on BuSpar. My libido is already very low and I am afraid that the Zoloft and BuSpar could make it worse and or cause weight gain. *sigh* we'll see! Thanks for reading my random complaints haha - feel free to say Hi in the comments! Dx: Anxiety, Depression, Suspected PME Current Rx: 100mg Zoloft, 300mg Provigil, 1mg Ativan PRN Former Rx: 50mg Pristiq

So, I found out on Monday morning that I'm pregnant. I stopped taking my meds with the exception of the Prozac because I know my cousin was recently on an ssri while pregnant and everything went fine. I know I need to talk to my pdoc and my next appointment with her is soon (the 1st); I'm just curious if anyone has any experience to share regarding meds and pregnancy. And I have an appointment with the obgyn's office this Monday, so I can ask them, too. I know that taking care of myself in turn takes care of the baby, but I don't want to be using meds that could potentially harm the baby, either. I looked up the pregnancy class for my meds (in my signature) and all I could find for all of them was class C and the advice that if the benefits of using the medication outweigh the potential risks, then use the medication. The exception is the kolnopin which is class d. I'm just very wary about all of this. Also, if anyone has general advice on being bipolar and pregnant (sounds like a winning combo, right??), it would be much appreciated. I know I'm in for an interesting 9 months.

Hello Crazies! I haven't been around in a while, so I'll give you a short bio: I just celebrated the 2nd anniversary of my 29th birthday (for those of you who don't feel like doing math, that means I'm 31) and my husband and I are ready to start a family. I have dysthymia, major depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. I had been taking Ativan PRN, Lexapro, and Wellbutrin, but I'm down to just the WB so I can minimize the risk to our as-yet-unconcieved fetus. I think I'll be okay without the Ativan, which I take very rarely anyway, and without the Lexapro, which was only 5 mg a day anyway. The WB was non-negotiable. I am a useless puddle of misery without it, and that's not good for baby or mommy. I consulted with my pdoc, ob, tdoc who has 3 kids, gp, and several other doctors before making this decision, so I feel pretty good about it. What sucks is the brain shivers. I did 5 mg every other day with the Lex for a week (I was already splitting 10 mg tablets and didn't think cutting them into quarters would work very well) and took the last dose a week ago. The brain zaps set in a couple days ago and have been in overdrive since late yesterday. Any guesses as to how long they'll last? I've got some other concerns with all of this. I get UTI's pretty easily anyway, and that's supposed to be more common during pregnancy. Then there's the whole OMG I'm going to be responsible for a tiny human thing, which is pretty freaky. Here's hoping I get knocked up soon so I can go back to my chemical routine as soon as possible!

I know it's stupid. It was thoughtless, irresponsible, immature..., well I could go on, but I won't. We had sex, I won't go into details, but there's this really really tiny, but nonetheless existing chance of me being pregnant. I don't know yet, I'm still waiting. It's very unlikely, but ever since we had sex, I FELT pregnant. I don't want to be, he doesn't want me to be.. we've talked about it. We can't become parents right know. We're too young, and it would just mess up everything. Still, I had this strong feeling. And some suspicious symptoms, that caused my mother (she's kind of sensitive when it comes to stuff like that.. mother's instinct, maybe) to repeatedly aks me wether I was pregnant, making remarks, asking for reasons for my strange mood etc. Now I stopped taking my meds. I know that's stupid, too. But I can't go on taking them. I don't want a child right now. But it feels like I'm hurting "it" without knowing that it exists. It's more of a feeling than a thought. I just can't make me do it. I didn't tell anyone, neither my mom nor my boyfriend. I know it's wrong. But I will tell my tdoc next week. We have an appointment. Maybe by then I'll know more about my "situation" Please don't just tell me I'm stupid. That one I know already... Well... feel free to yell, but it would be great if you could maybe help me to put things in perspective...