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anxiety disorder, pregnancy, babies, genetics, ect.

I have panic disorder and mdd and taking 50mg of zoloft for it. I've always wanted to get pregnant and be a mom when the time is right but I never thought that I'd have to consider being pregnant and having babies when I have an anxiety dosorder. I was wondering how big of a chance would my baby have of developing a mental disorder like anxiety, depression or something even worse? What if both the babies father and I both have an anxiety disorder, would that raise the baby's chances of having one too? And is it ok to continue to take zoloft while trying to conceive or even being pregnant? I know these are all questions I would need to ask my doctor of course, but I would just like some input. Please and thank you.
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Avatar universal
Thank you both. Y'all have been such a help.
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Avatar universal
Hi I believe ur ob dr can tell u wat her feels is the safest. As for me I had two children while on Zoloft 50mg as well as other meds slit of people wud say r unsafe during pregnancy. My ob told me we have to outweigh the risk to the baby n it's worse to suffer anxiety while pregnant for the baby then to take my meds. It really all depends on the dr n their beliefs. Btw my kids r very healthy and never had any adverse affects. Ur dr will monitor u very well n u will need to pay close attention to ur body but I had no problems wat so ever. It's crazy cuz with my oldest daughter I had anxiety but wasn't officially diagnosed till after n it was horrible. The labor and me having trouble caring for her cuz of the anxiety n this is an example to y my dr said with my last two children he wud rather me stay on my meds. Let me tell u my last two were great n easy pregnancy. I'm not a dr but I don't want u to give up on the possibility of having a baby. My advise is talk to ur dr n see wat his opinion is. I hope I helped a lil n good luck nutthin is more sacred then the birth of a child n u deserve to have that experience.
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Avatar universal
You're asking about truth, and that's a hard question in this area where so much is unknown.  But stress and anxiety are bad for you, and Zoloft is bad for the baby -- your baby will eat what you eat and take the drugs you take.  But I'm sure some will say the stress and anxiety are bad for the baby inside you as well.  All I can tell you is that the recommendation is not to take these drugs when pregnant, but there are always people who do and doctors who believe otherwise.  
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Avatar universal
Some articles and such I've read where some women are better off staying on the zoloft while pregnant rather than getting off because the stress and anxiety does more damage than the zoloft would. Is that true?
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Avatar universal
The general recommendation on the Zoloft while pregnant is no -- you generally don't want any drugs in your system while pregnant, but especially those that affect the brain.  Some psychiatrists will allow it anyway, but that's the general rule.  As to genetics, nobody really knows.  People have guesses and theories.  My parents didn't have the disorder, my sister and I did, my brother may have but has lived such a conservative life staying in one place that he's insulated himself, but neither my sister's nor my brother's kids have the disorder.  So there you go about genetics.  The truth is, there are no factual explanations yet for the disorder so there can't be a real genetic marker -- you'd have to know the cause to find the genetic marker.  Otherwise, it's just the kind of studies that find correlations, and while those are interesting they are never definitive.  So that's not a reason to avoid children.  Plus, even genetically "proven" disorders can skip generations or members of a family, and a genetic predisposition doesn't mean you'll get something, it just means you have a higher chance.  And then there's the unexplained issue of why so many more people are suffering mental disorders (as well as auto-immune disorders including allergies) now as opposed to what was reported historically.  Could be better reporting now, or it could be all the toxins we've dumped into our lives, most of which disproportionately affect children.  So again, not a reason not to have children.  
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