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Will Taking Fluoxetine Affect The Fetus?
I m wondering if taking fluoxetine 20mg while trying to get pregnant can be harmful to the fetus/baby. I recently had a miscarriage @ 9wks of development. I have not started back on the medications and am worried that doing so will harm my chances of a healthy and full term baby next time. thanks
Tue, 25 Aug 2015
Hello, and I hope I can answer your question.
Fluoxetine is one of the best tested and safest antidepressants in pregnancy. It does not interfere with fertility and it does not cause miscarriage, so there is no reason you need to go off your medication in order to conceive. Most OB's recommend discontinuing the medication in the late third trimester because some babies have withdrawal symptoms and rare breathing problems at birth. If you can manage without it- ok- but if your depression is severe you certainly can safely take the medicine until you conceive and as soon as you do so talk to your OB about when to stop the medicine. But again, Fluoxetine does not cause miscarriage or birth defects, and on ein 10 pregnancies will be a miscarriage, which means 90 percent of the time your next pregnancy will be viable.
I hope that I adequately answered your question and that my advice was helpful. Best of luck with your future pregnancy.
Sincerely, Dr. Brown
Fluoxetine is one of the best tested and safest antidepressants in pregnancy. It does not interfere with fertility and it does not cause miscarriage, so there is no reason you need to go off your medication in order to conceive. Most OB's recommend discontinuing the medication in the late third trimester because some babies have withdrawal symptoms and rare breathing problems at birth. If you can manage without it- ok- but if your depression is severe you certainly can safely take the medicine until you conceive and as soon as you do so talk to your OB about when to stop the medicine. But again, Fluoxetine does not cause miscarriage or birth defects, and on ein 10 pregnancies will be a miscarriage, which means 90 percent of the time your next pregnancy will be viable.
I hope that I adequately answered your question and that my advice was helpful. Best of luck with your future pregnancy.
Sincerely, Dr. Brown
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