I'm 5 weeks pregnant and bipolar?!


Question: I'm 5 weeks pregnant and bipolar?
i have been on lamictal in the past and it has been very helpful. i stopped taking it a while ago because i lost my health insurance and couldn't afford it. i want to get back on the medication now that i have health insurance again, but i recently found out that i am pregnant and lamictal can cause birth defects. at this point, the health of my baby is the absolute most important thing to me, but i still feel like i really need to get on medication. does anyone know of any options for bipolar disorder while pregnant? medications or something natural, or any suggestions.

thank you.

Answers:

Munkee2: Telling her to "have some common sense" can definitely be taken as rude, especially when you didn't have the common sense to read the entire question and know that she isn't taking the medication now.

Anyways, I'm glad that the baby's health is your number one concern. Most medications are most likely not safe to take while pregnant. If you plan to breast feed you'll have to wait even longer until you can take medication. I've heard fish oil can ease the symptoms of bipolar but am not 100% sure. Fish oil is also very beneficial to take while pregnant so why not give it a try! If you're looking for something a little more effective, talk to your doctor about your options.

Good luck and congratulations on the baby!



How do you know you're pregnant? Have you seen a doctor? If you had, then you'd have had the medication discussion with your doctor. Nobody here is qualified to advise you on whether you should continue with this medication at your usual dose through pregnancy. Have some common sense and speak to a professional. You're talking about two lives here so be careful what advice you take from the internet.

EDIT: NOBODY has been rude to you or 'treated you like crap' as you put it. All that's happened is people have given you advice. If anybody is being rude, it is you.



This free 97 page downloadable ebook on bipolar disorders may help you.

http://forwebresources.com/ebooks/bipolar-disorders.html



Most academic psychiatrists now work for the drug companies, and one psychiatrist at Harvard, as I recall, got in a lot of hot water for saying a certain psych drug was safe in pregnancy, and there was little or no evidence that was true (I don't remember the specifics). given the wholesale coverup mentality of drug companies, I would suggest that NO psych medications are safe during pregnancy - the risks are unknown, and the docs who tell you otherwise are likely working for drug companies. All areas of medicine are having these problems, not just psychiatry. A lot of docs are just banning drug company reps from their offices.

psycheducation.org is a good reference site, this harvard doc (is he still there? I dunno) has not gotten into trouble, and he has a whole section in there on dark therapy light boxes and dawn simulators and avoiding blue light in the evening, keeping a regular schedule etc. and that excercise is VERY important to prevent mood swings, so I would suggest that is good reading

I've had bipolar for 30 years




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