ADD and miscarriages?

[Anonymous]

I have been on Adderall XR for 8 years and in the past two years have had three miscarriages. Every time I get pregnant I quit taking it. But now I’ve seen a fertility specialist who wants me off of my meds completely, even before I get pregnant. She says there is no studies about Adderall and pregnancy and whether it’s safe to take it while pregnant. So she thinks it could even do me harm even before I get pregnant. Does anyone have any research on ADD meds and pregnancy? I have quit taking Adderall for almost a month now and just feel terrible. My doctor has tried to replace it with Wellbutrin but it just isn’t working for me. I am having terrible fights with my husband about stating my Adderall again. But he agrees with the doctor that it could be doing be harm in the long run. Any thoughts or suggestions about new meds?

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Wow. That is scary stuff. I am not sure if Dr. Jain will chime in at some point but certainly you need to speak with a doctor, preferably an OB.

Is your Doc aware of the miscarriages and the adderral? Just wondering if the Doc thought it could be something else. I had a miscarriage, and I send you my sincerest sympathy. I would first check with the OB re: do they know why you had three lost pregnancies? And also, if there is a ADD med you can take while pregnant. I have been on Ritalin/or methyphenidate for many years. However, I think I stopped all medication when I was pregnant with my other pregnancies. Please check with professionals. While this site offers much support, shared experiences and info, this is something a doc should answer.I send you my thoughts and hopes of ADD relief and a healthy pregnancy.

PS Wellbutrin was not good for me. Two days in I had horrible migraines. also recently had a bad experience with Adderral. It really needs to be individualized, and the future pregnancy will make need to be even more so.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I have seen an OB and they cannot find a reason for the miscarriages. She’s guessing it’s a combination of my age, 35, and my lifestyle. I don’t have a consistent work schedule. Well there’s nothing I can do about that but she can get me off my meds. The only meds she’s approved is Wellbutrin. I was just wondering if anybody else has had any luck with other medicines that are safe to take while pregnant.

REPORT ABUSE

[Cat Alberts]

I think that most, if not all medicine or drugs, can influence the development of a baby.

Wellbutrin as well is contra-indicated for pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Try and give the small one the best start, and the healthiest brain by staying clear of everything.

Some extra omega3?

I heard that during pregnancy ADHD-symptoms are less, so the time to deal with symptoms is during trying to make the BB.

Which can be fun…

Maybe clear your schedule, take a holiday together, and keep trying?

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Please do not stop adderall during pregnancy when you miscarried after stopping it. Epecially if you have been on it for years, your brain is used to function on it and without it, it finds it hard to even sustain a pregnancy. It takes a lot of energy and proper chemical interactions from your brain to build an efficient placenta that will produce constant hormones. I stopped adderall when I found out I was pregnant, and I miscarried at 11 weeks due to failing hormones. Your baby is not affected with adderall during the first trimester anyway as he does not have any dopamine receptors yet, the only concern is how fast YOUR heartbeat gets. Don’t rely on doctors to tell you what to do. Most of them have no idea. I continued adderall for this pregnancy and everything is going awesome. I am a chemical engineer and assure you, a prescribed dose of amphetamines, taken as directed, had never never never been associated with any birth defects. Ad trust me, amphetamines abuse have been going around for way longer than since adderall came on the market. Google is full of misleading informations. Please try to find unbiased full reports on research using database aimed for chemists and doctors. Avoid any website from uk and always look for at least 3 different reviews on each unbiased research you find. Remember that the number one priority of most doctors, sadly, is to stick with conservative guidelines to avoid any lawsuits or backfires, even when they don’t know better!

REPORT ABUSE

[Tiddler]

I had 3 miscarriages before I was diagnosed. Mostly we never get to find out what causes these sad events. Linking them to taking or not taking drugs at the time without having any evidence is not logical, but it is a way of helping us grieve.

I knew a woman who was taking folic acid when she miscarried and refused to take it during subsequent pregnancies, maintaining that it was the folic acid that caused her to miscarry.

I’ve had surgery on my cervix twice so I may have an answer, though this tends to be more of an issue in later pregnancy. Whatever the cause of mine, I HAD to take a boatload of drugs to keep me alive during my 2 successful pregnancies and I’m very grateful for that.

REPORT ABUSE

[g.laiya]

(FDA regarding Adderral)

Pregnancy

Teratogenic Effects

Pregnancy Category C

Amphetamine, in the enantiomer ratio present in Adderall® (d- to l- ratio of 3:1), had no apparent effects on embryofetal morphological development or survival when orally administered to pregnant rats and rabbits throughout the period of organogenesis at doses of up to 6 and 16 mg/kg/day, respectively. These doses are approximately 1.5 and 8 times, respectively, the maximum recommended human dose of 30 mg/day [child] on a mg/m2 body surface area basis. Fetal malformations and death have been reported in mice following parenteral administration of d-amphetamine doses of 50 mg/kg/day (approximately 6 times that of a human dose of 30 mg/day [child] on a mg/m2 basis) or greater to pregnant animals. Administration of these doses was also associated with severe maternal toxicity.

A number of studies in rodents indicate that prenatal or early postnatal exposure to amphetamine (d- or d,l-), at doses similar to those used clinically, can result in long-term neurochemical and behavioral alterations. Reported behavioral effects include learning and memory deficits, altered locomotor activity, and changes in sexual function.

There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. There has been one report of severe congenital bony deformity, tracheo-esophageal fistula, and anal atresia (vater association) in a baby born to a woman who took dextroamphetamine sulfate with lovastatin during the first trimester of pregnancy. Amphetamines should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.

Nonteratogenic Effects

Infants born to mothers dependent on amphetamines have an increased risk of premature delivery and low birth weight. Also, these infants may experience symptoms of withdrawal as demonstrated by dysphoria, including agitation, and significant lassitude.

“There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women” is key here. personally, i would not want to take any chances with my precious cargo. make sure you have plenty of support and structure in place to help compensate. and try not to beat yourself up over your difficulties. if you don’t already work with a psychologist, this would be a great time to start. also a coach can be really great to help keep you on track. make use of all the tools ( we should do anyway, but sometimes don’t, right?)

i sympathize with you, and am so sorry for your losses. i experienced mmc between my son and daughter. also was blamed on ama.

randine lewis has a great book chock full of suggestions for getting your body ready for a healthy, full term baby from an alternative med perspective. which you can use in conjunction with your fertility specialist recommendations – just be sure to let her know any herbs/supplements you may start if she wants to start you on fertility meds. there is research that supports the use of acupuncture as well to help optimize the body for pregnancy – one i remember had to do with increasing the uterine lining thickness before implantation.

perhaps being off the med for a period of time before TTC will avoid the shock the pp referred to. i would think over a few months you’ll adjust to the altered chemistry. try to simplify and steamline as much as possible. get hubby on board with supporting you however you need it. and remember this is temporary. you always have the option to go back to meds after baby is born

good luck! big hug!

REPORT ABUSE

[Tiddler]

Are there adequate and well-controlled studies on the herbs and alternative meds?

There were none on the drugs I took because it’s unethical to test on pregnant women. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t gathering evidence of safety or otherwise, so physicians can give women a good idea of what needs to be done.

I can’t begin to say how much medication I needed – steroids, anti-biotics, anti-emetics, various asthma meds which were off-license doses because they were so high – unresearched obviously.

We have to balance so many things to keep our precious cargo safe and that includes being able to manage debilitating conditions that may have us wander out in front of a car while we’re pregnant.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

The only report of birth defect reported by g.laiya was a severe congenital bony deformity known to be caused by lovastatin NOT dextroamphetimines. Lovastatin is category x… Again a misleading information.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Herbs and supplements should be avoid all together as they do not abide to FDA. And beside FDA have been known to label pregnancy safe medication and ban it 30 years later with a full generation of kids with birth defects. The withdrawal effects on babies from mother who took amphetamines were from abusers, NOT prescribed ADHD . Please do some background research on scientific reports, especially when source of the original full report is not stated before copy/paste. I will post the full background with sources of those research as it important to understand that a lot of what you read on google is missing essential key parts of the reports. Like the addicted babies were from hard core amphetamines abusing mothers, which put things in perspective.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

There is not point in guilting other pregnant women by saying I would not take ADHD medications while pregnant based on the principle that there is a potential risk and I want my little one to be the safest..blablabla The potential risk remains an opinion and based on what we really know so far, it is as justified for any pregnant women to think that there is NO risk in taking her ADHD medications. It is a personal choice and many experienced OBGYN do not take pregnant women off adderall when no abuse have been reported after years of usage.

REPORT ABUSE

[g.laiya]

good point tiddler.

i feel pretty low functioning in many ways even with med, in part because i haven’t begun to implement even half the tools i need to yet. just the same, i got through 48 years and multiple pregnancies(though only 2 full term) without wandering out in front of a car, or otherwise killing or maiming myself or others – tg! but, yes, i understand your point…there is a lot to consider besides just the way in which a medication may or may not influence the risk of miscarriage or the development and health of the fetus.

it’s a personal decision that has to be weighed by the individual whether or not to medicate while ttc/pg, benefits vs risks and such.

personally, even with the enormous benefits of the meds i have seen, i would choose to skip the adderral if i were wanting (and able) to ttc. that’s simply my opinion, sharing my perspective.

i apologize – i should have made that more of a point when i posted above.

no judgement nor offense was intended for anyone who chooses to continue add meds while ttc(or any other meds should it be determined that benefits outweigh risks)

btw, also, i did do extensive research on any herbs/supplements as well as meds i was considering taking during pg and also breastfeeding, information largely dependent on gathering evidence of safety rather than clinical trials, so i am familiar with this concept.

perhaps dr. j has more info about the current status re evidence of safety for adderral in pg?

REPORT ABUSE

[BuxomDiva]

Flygirl33 you didn’t mention if you have other children? (or if you did I missed it). After my second miscarriage the doctor wanted my husband and I to go for genetic testing – karyotyping. Even though I had a child from my first marriage, 2nd hubby decided that there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with his sperm and blew off the appointment! He went on to father 2 kids with his second wife and I had a second son with a boyfriend years later.

Just saw your post that they can’t find a reason that you’re miscarrying, so maybe the problem isn’t you at all! I don’t know how far along you were, and I know firsthand how heartbreaking it is to lose a baby, but it could be there was something wrong with the babies. My mom once told me her periods were so irregular she might have had a number of miscarriages before she even knew she was pregnant. These tests that tell you before you even miss a period aren’t doing anybody any good imho!

Based on my personal experience, if it’s at all possible (not sure where you are, what kind of medical coverage you have etc) I think you AND your husband should get tested. Maybe it’s something in your genetic makeup that you can’t make a healthy baby together.

Good luck and I do hope you get everything sorted out!

REPORT ABUSE

[kc5jck]

Can ADHD meds affect your grandchildren?

I recall reading about a study, I believe having to do with nutrition, that correlated the diet of the father and the diet of the grandmother to the expression or likelihood some factor occurring, I don’t remember what. The theory was that they looked at what was going on (how well the father ate) during the formation of the father’s sperm, which happened prior to conception of the child, and the mother’s egg, which was formed when the mother was in utero. ( or how well the grandmother ate)

So could you be affected by ADHD meds if your father was on them at the time of your conception or if your grandmother was on them while pregnant with your mother? I’ve not seen or heard of any study addressing this question.

The link below is to a study, though not the one I remember, where they look for correlations between child and grandparents.

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/epigenetics-feast-famine-and-fatness

I find the idea interesting even though it is a bit off topic, as if anyone would care or notice.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts