Resolved question:
Hello! I'm am 40 years old patientold and am currently 16 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. I also have ADD and am prescribed Adderall 10 mg (fast acting) a day. My OBGyn is fine with my current dose but my Psychiatrist is concerned. My Psychiatrist will continue to prescribe Adderall with my OBgyn's consent. With all that being said, I've been trying to research on my own whether I am doing any long-term harm to my child. Without Adderall (I was without adderall from weeks 5-14), I become severely depressed and inattentive (one car accident and problems at work). I went off completely with my first,was miserable, and ended up on lexapro due to suicidal thoughts postpartum. I understand it's a class C and it's a cost/benefit scenario but is there any specific research or concerns I should consider? I would even welcome a personal opinion to weigh amongst my doctors. Thank you for your time and input!
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Pediatric Neurologist
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query at DoctorSpring.com
I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through.
One should generally avoid all kinds of drugs during pregnancy. However as you have mentioned, there is a risk benefit ratio while making a decision. While discontinuing the medicine would be in the best interest of the child but then the psychiatric issues that you would be facing will be troublesome for you and also finally to the fetus.
ON the other hand continuing adderall will keep you stable but then it carries the teratogenic potential. The magnitude of this problem is still not clearly known as the research in this area is still lacking. However let me tell you that any drug will have the maximum teratogenic effect during the first trimester. Now that you are already into the 16th week, ,most of the major body organs of the fetus would have been already started and hence here on the risk of continuing adderall is not much. The effect of the adderall on the growing fetus is the most during the 1st trimester. Now that it is done with, you need not bother much at this stage and personally suggest you to keep taking the medicines. Final choice rests with you....
Hope this helps,
In case if you have any further query, do let me know.
Kind regards
Dr. Srikanth Reddy