- Username
- AnonymousOCD23
- Date posted
- 2y ago
In need of support please :(
Im a mom of my 18th month old daughter and I’ve been taking sertraline for years (even before my pregnancy). In fact I kept taking the medication during my pregnancy and now post partum. Now I get to see the same nurse practitioner every few months to get updates on medication and treatment. However, every time I go in I just end up feeling horrible/massive guilt for taking medication while I was pregnant and now as a breast-feeding mom. His attitude seems to be dismissive, and unprofessional. Today, the nurse practitioner said he does not even treat pregnant mothers (or as he said “I don’t treat babies, they are not my thing”) nor women who are breast-feeding (and has no experience in it). He said that this is because moms are typically recommended to bottle feed their children instead of breastfeeding because as he said in his own words “they don’t want to risk harming their babies.” I understand this sentiment but I just thought it was a bit insensitive given the fact that I already feel horrible for taking medication. He also stated that studies on taking antidepressants while pregnant or breastfeeding are limited and it’s because they, again, don’t want to put their babies’ safety at risk. However, he then looked it up on a website and said that they are generally safe to take…so i don’t know what or who to believe anymore! My daughter’s pediatrician had said she’s treated many moms who take antidepressants and their babies are fine….but then it takes me back to thinking of the times I have skipped a day of medication and how that could have affected my child. I had also asked my pediatrician about how not taking medication ever so often could affect my child she said it shouldn’t affect her at all but it would affect me though…I just don’t know anymore. I don’t want to take the risk anymore, I think I’ll stop. I feel so guilty I feel helpless I feel anxious I feel like I’m alone in this, I feel like I have harmed my child and I have possibly hindered her from developing right. It breaks my heart that sometimes I even forget to take my medication for one day and I obsess over how much harm could I have cost my child if I stop taking the medication for one day ever so often. I am thinking about being off of the medication. Even though my daughter is completely healthy and developing as she is supposed to, I can’t help but think what if there’s something invisible to the eye that happened or will happen to her? How will her brain develop? Will this be the cause of something tragic for her mental health in the future? Please any other moms who take medication and would like to give advice on this matter because On my end, I am alone.