antidepressant sway?

[luvalittleman]

My doc has prescribed zoloft to help with my horrible PMS that I've been suffering with. I am supposed to take it just the week before AF. I will not be taking it the month that we TTC, but if I am taking it before hand, will it sway? If so, which way will it sway?
I never had really bad PMS before, but within the past year, it has become really bad. As soon as I ovulate, my breasts start to kill me (like how they hurt when milk is coming in right after giving birth). I also suffer from bad headaches and my patience is absolutely nothing.
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to make this better? I am 34 and menopause does run early in our family...my mom went through it in her early 40s. Could this be the beginnings of early perimenopause???

I would strongly advise you not to take them.
I was on them for 4 years in my 20's for depression and they destroyed my sex drive. I have researched this and apparently it has happened to a lot of other women as well.
I also had dreadful PMS and have experimented with vitamins and diet and now don't suffer it anymore.
I enlisted the help of the naturopath at the local health food store and we worked on building up my calcium and iron stores and taking withania to help with adrenal fatigue (in a nutshell, you need healthy adrenals to make proper hormones) . I also included maca powder and my cycle went from 7 days (dreadfully heavy bleeding for 2 days) and severe PMR (pre-menstrual rage) to 3 days with 1 slightly cranky day. You can do it naturally and there won't be side effects. Please give it a try.
Good luck.

[LacePrincess]

Hah, sex drive? What sex drive?!?

Yeah, this is true. Though mine was dead as a doornail from the depression anyways. When you can't see a reason to exist, sex isn't really on the forefront either.....

But yeah, I haven't really had a libido since my early 20's. Which, not so coincidentally, was when I first had major problems with this crap. I didn't have a choice about taking meds, I ended up in the hospital with major depression so taking this stuff was better than being suicidal, let me tell you!

I hate it with every fiber of my being though. I hate it right now that I don't know if it's my brain gone haywire yet again or the meds going rogue on me and making things even worse. It's a hellhole and you don't want to be in here if you don't have to. Ya just don't mess around in the brain if you haven't exhausted the alternatives.

Gosh this is a depressing post, sorry....

Anyways, the thing is, I still had PMS even on meds. Vitex was a total miracle worker getting rid of my PMS.

[Momofboys]

Ive never heard of n anti-depressant being prescribed for short term. Ive struggled with depression and anxiety for over 10 yrs. I took Paxil after my ds #2 stopped after almost a yr. Then started again after yds n stopped after only 6 months. I stopped taking a daily med and just relied on an as needed Ativan. Then my depression turned into a very severe anxiety issue. In the past year and 4 months they had tried 7 different meds to help balance me out (including paxil,which ended up making me MORE depressed this time around) none of which worked. Either made it worse or made me a zombie. I finally told them no more! I couldn't take all the med changes. As of right now I only have klonopin, which I take on n as needed bases cuz the Ativan stopped working. My midwife has already told me I can continue them if I become pg. I'll prolly refrain as much as possible to not take them if I become pg. Heck I don't even take anything for headaches when im pg lol Im a worrywart. I refuse to take a daily med especially since were ttc now. Any anti-depressant can mess up ur sex drive and fertility.

[vanasse2002]

Thanks again for all the helpful info. I am in the O-AF wait right now and then next cycle we'll be giving it a go. I think that I will just up the B-vitamins to help out this month. Hopefully, we'll get preg first cycle of TTC like we have with our previous 2. I'll remember the vitex for after our next one is born!

[LacePrincess]

Good luck Vanasse!

Momofboys, so sorry to hear about your experience. This sh!t sucks, don't it? I feel like we've kinda derailed Vanasse's thread though, so I've started a new thread on the Chit Chat board. I'm currently struggling a lot right now and could use the company anyways.

http://genderdreaming.com/forum/chit...razypants.html

[Adoptapom]

My dear friend's baby boy has had 3 heart surgeries due to the Zoloft heart defect- he isn't even one yet.

[LacePrincess]

My dear friend's baby boy has had 3 heart surgeries due to the Zoloft heart defect- he isn't even one yet.

That's very sad. I'm sorry and I hope he's doing well.

These defects are still very rare, but the risk is there. Which is why I really don't want anyone to take these meds lightly. But if you truly need them they can also be a lifesaver.

Mental disorders are a terrible, terrible illness, but they aren't something to be ashamed about, and they aren't a personality flaw. Of course who wouldn't want to avoid all meds if possible, but sometimes it isn't possible and I don't want anyone to feel guilty about that. When it's serious no matter how much you want to or how strong you are, it's not enough.

You wouldn't tell a pregnant epilepsy patient to stop taking antiseizure meds (which can definitely be risky for the fetus) because everyone can agree that the benefits outweigh the risks. And it's similar in a serious mental illness. At the same time, though, it is a measure of last resort during pregnancy because the risks to the baby, while small, ARE there.

[atomic sagebrush]

Vitex and pep tea can sway pink, but I think less effectively than the Zoloft and also without the risks.

The other thing I would try (which you are prob. doing this already) is discontinuing caffeine and upping intake of essential fatty acids - EPO and fish oil will help with your blue sway.

[atomic sagebrush]

My dear friend's baby boy has had 3 heart surgeries due to the Zoloft heart defect- he isn't even one yet.

That is so sad. that he's ok.

[Adoptapom]

He is constantly in and out of the hospital, unfortunately. His mom didn't know she was pregnant for 2 months, so he was exposed to the medicine.

I didn't mean to imply that people don't have the need for antidepressants, just that for something like pms the risk seems to outweigh the solution.