Celexa for PPD?

Did she know you were breastfeeding? If so, I agree you should find
another Dr. I'm off to see a new one on Tuesday and I'm going to ask for
Zoloft.

Yes. She was a midwife..

well, I'm not precisely sure what you mean by midwife, as a midwife in the
UK would not be able to prescribe, so she's really not the best person to be
treating this, midwives have very limited knowledge of PPD and no knowledge
of any other depression

Anne

I started on Lexapro (active ingredient of Celexa) when ds was 4 months
old. It worked great for me and he did great.
Hales only concern is somnolence in the newborn, my son showed no side
effects, he also didn't show any side effects from the occasional Xanax
or Klonopin I took.
I started on 10 of Lexapro and worked my way up to 20mg. I fully intend
on going back on it as soon as this baby is the same age (is usually
the time when I crash)

Betsy's baby is much younger, I loose track, but I think only about 6 weeks,
I was also thinking the dose sounded high (which is now backed up by the
doses you've had), even with very severe depression doctors usually start at
the lowest dose and work up, Zoloft is a slightly higher dose, usually start
at 50mg, even with my very severe depression this had a noticeable affect
very quickly, though we did up it to 100mg after a month or so. I'm very
suspicious of this prescriber, 40mg would seem to be the highest dose
available as a single tablet, but I checked the BNF (book british doctors
use for prescribing) and it suggests starting dose to be 20mg, as does the
packet insert that I managed to download for Celexa.

Karen, obviously this it right for you, but with a younger infant when there
are better drugs available it plain doesn't make sense, I'm also concerned
about the prescriber ignoring all guidelines as to initial dose.

Anne

Did the doctor give you a reason why she wouldn't give you Zoloft?

We never discussed Celexa, only Zoloft. Then she said she'd call the
prescription over to the pharmacy. I didn't know it was Celexa until I
got home. I haven't taken any, and plan to call the doctor to see if
that's really what she meant to prescribe.

huh, she may have made a mistake, particularly as she seems to have also got
the dosage wrong, it would be very wierd for you to have a discussion about
one drug and then the doc deliberately give you something else. They would
usually say "now I see what you are saying, but...."

Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...

Did she know you were breastfeeding? If so, I agree you should find
another Dr. I'm off to see a new one on Tuesday and I'm going to ask for
Zoloft.

Yes. She was a midwife..

well, I'm not precisely sure what you mean by midwife, as a midwife in the
UK would not be able to prescribe, so she's really not the best person to
be treating this, midwives have very limited knowledge of PPD and no
knowledge of any other depression

you are right that she is not the best person to be treating this. It was
my understanding that she was a nurse practitioner, which can prescribe
drugs. She told me she was a midwife. When I called to make an appt for
PPD, this is who they scheduled me with...

oregonchick wrote:
"Amy" wrote in message
oups.com...

oregonchick wrote:
I saw a doc today for the depression and she prescribed me 40mg of Celexa
even after we discussed Zoloft. The paper that came with the
prescription
said in bold letters, "DO NOT USE WHEN BREASTFEEDING". Then I get home
and
read things online that really freak me out. Now I don'y know what to
do-take the Celexa, try to push for a different drug, stop bf'ing, or
tough
out the depression. Can anyone help?

Did the doctor give you a reason why she wouldn't give you Zoloft?

We never discussed Celexa, only Zoloft. Then she said she'd call the
prescription over to the pharmacy. I didn't know it was Celexa until I got
home. I haven't taken any, and plan to call the doctor to see if that's
really what she meant to prescribe.

It must have been a mistake. I'm hoping to find out that you have
Zoloft in hand by the time I get to the end of this thread.

I wish I could send you my zoloft - I have tons.

Uh, I'll send you my address?

If it weren't a felony, I totally would. I only commit misdemeanors
for people on newsgroups - felonies are reserved for friends and
family.

Amy

Anne Rogers wrote:

Betsy's baby is much younger, I loose track, but I think only about 6 weeks,
I was also thinking the dose sounded high (which is now backed up by the
doses you've had), even with very severe depression doctors usually start at
the lowest dose and work up, Zoloft is a slightly higher dose, usually start
at 50mg, even with my very severe depression this had a noticeable affect
very quickly, though we did up it to 100mg after a month or so.

I started at 25 mg, then 50, then to 100 before it did me any good, but
I tapered up (is that even a phrase?) in that order. They had cards at
the doctor's office with samples of it, and it was a punch out (like
birth control) to keep you from taking the wrong amount too quickly.
'Course, then they gave me a ton of samples (they were about to expire)
so I had to do math every morning (am I going to take 4 25s, 2 25s and
a 50, or 2 50s today?), which kind of defeated the purpose of the
cards...

Amy

I started at 25 mg, then 50, then to 100 before it did me any good, but
I tapered up (is that even a phrase?) in that order. They had cards at
the doctor's office with samples of it, and it was a punch out (like
birth control) to keep you from taking the wrong amount too quickly.
'Course, then they gave me a ton of samples (they were about to expire)
so I had to do math every morning (am I going to take 4 25s, 2 25s and
a 50, or 2 50s today?), which kind of defeated the purpose of the
cards...

interesting, it's not available in 25s here, though whatever you take it is
normal to start low and work up, I had a friend who was really really ill,
she was in hospital and she started on prozac, they gave it here in really
tiny doses to start with, smaller than tablets, she had to take it as a
solution

Anne

well, I'm not precisely sure what you mean by midwife, as a midwife in
the UK would not be able to prescribe, so she's really not the best
person to be treating this, midwives have very limited knowledge of PPD
and no knowledge of any other depression

you are right that she is not the best person to be treating this. It was
my understanding that she was a nurse practitioner, which can prescribe
drugs. She told me she was a midwife. When I called to make an appt for
PPD, this is who they scheduled me with...


grr, I would never say over the phone what the problem was, there are things
I would be very happy to go to see a nurse for, I would go for repeat
prescriptions for depression, but the first prescription, no way, I'd go
back, see the proper doctor and maybe consider a polite note to the clinic
manager (or whoever is in charge) that you didn't think this was
appropriate. She might be great for talking to etc. but someone like this
really shouldn't be prescribing antidepressants, personally I feel that GPs
should not prescribe them either, it should be left to psychiatrists, I've
seen GPs make too many mistakes, one poor friend of mine had some kind of
postviral fatigue and she was prescribed anti depressants and she ended up
depressed! She was on different ones for 3 years and eventually she just
went off them and got better, shortly afterwards her marriage broke up and
she has coped fine, but her marriage may never have even broke up had she
not been so ill. GPs also have a tendancy to take you off them too quickly,
with not enough monitoring, psychiatrists say you should be on them and well
for as long as you have been ill. For me this would have meant stopping
during pregnancy, but we decided that I should continue a low dose to
protect me from the approaching postnatal period. I've been through one
postnatal period with horrendous management, only getting the drug I needed
after 6 months, but after I had nearly died twice (once because I tried
another because I had such a bad reaction to a drug), now I'm in another
postnatal period under the supervision of an expert and I'm pretty good, not
perfect, but comparatively on top of the world.

Anne

I couldn't remember how old her baby was.
One would need less Lexapro than Celexa as it is a 'purer' drug.
There are a few qualifiers on why I was put on Lexapro vs another SSRI.
I wasn't being treated primarily for depression (but for anxiety, my
depression was secondary to the anxiety) and I had already been on
Zoloft which
didn't work for me and the side effects were wicked.
I hope that she can find SOMETHING that works.
To oregonchick-
your best bet would be to get an appt with a psychatrist who has
experience/specializes in PPD.
My first bout of PPD/anxiety was "treated" by a family physician. She
threw a Zoloft prescription at me and sent me on my way-which is BAD
for anxiety. Second time around I saw a psych and he actually listened
to me, looked at the whole picture and treatment was successful.
Psych's have much more experience with these drugs and their efficacy
and side effects. I was fortunate to fall in with one who had treated
tons of breastfeeding mothers and was up on what was what.

"Amy" wrote in message
oups.com...

oregonchick wrote:
"Amy" wrote in message
oups.com...

oregonchick wrote:
I saw a doc today for the depression and she prescribed me 40mg of
Celexa
even after we discussed Zoloft. The paper that came with the
prescription
said in bold letters, "DO NOT USE WHEN BREASTFEEDING". Then I get
home
and
read things online that really freak me out. Now I don'y know what to
do-take the Celexa, try to push for a different drug, stop bf'ing, or
tough
out the depression. Can anyone help?

Did the doctor give you a reason why she wouldn't give you Zoloft?

We never discussed Celexa, only Zoloft. Then she said she'd call the
prescription over to the pharmacy. I didn't know it was Celexa until I
got
home. I haven't taken any, and plan to call the doctor to see if that's
really what she meant to prescribe.

It must have been a mistake. I'm hoping to find out that you have
Zoloft in hand by the time I get to the end of this thread.

I wish I could send you my zoloft - I have tons.

Uh, I'll send you my address?

If it weren't a felony, I totally would. I only commit misdemeanors
for people on newsgroups - felonies are reserved for friends and
family.

Oh I know! I was just kidding... I just wish it were easier to get what
you need from your doctor.