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1434024 tn?1329812840

medications while pregnant

I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. Before finding out I was pregnant, I was prescribed adderall xr for my ADD to help me be motivated and focus at work. Once I found out I was pregnant, I stopped taking it. But, I did ask my doctor if it was okay or not okay to take it and he told me that he had other pregnant patients who were taking adderall on a daily basis, and have had patients in the past who took it their entire pregnancy and their baby was born fine with no mental or physical disabilities, etc, or anything bad. Just perfectly healthy babies. But I still decided not to take it anymore, even though my dr said it was okay. He didn't suggest to continue taking it, and he didn't suggest that I stopped, he just told me that it was 'okay', but me being extra curious, I recently started googling and reading other peoples's experiences and advice, opinions, etc..

Most of the things I've read were good: baby was born healthy, no mental problems, no physical problems, no pre-mature births or problems with delivery or pregnancy, etc etc etc.. But I did come across the few not so good things that were said about adderall, but again these are posts by patients, not professional doctors.

My question is, does anyone have any experience, advice or opinions they'd like to share about taking adderall while pregnant? I don't want to take it daily, or even take a full dose, I just have a lot to do and am extra-not-motivated because since I became pregnant, I've become a little clumsy and spacey, so I was going to try taking less than half one of these days coming up, but wanted some opinions first.

Of course I know the only person I can really ask or speak to about this is my doctor, but he is currently out until next month, but I did message his nurse and am waiting for a respond if she can give me any answer at all, but until then I am asking here in this post.

Any opinions, experiences, and advice would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time!
5 Responses
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Avatar universal
There is actually not an "ADD" diagnosis in the DSM-V. It's all under the umbrella of ADHD. With that said, you may have more treatment options than just aderall. Many with adhd find that aderall is not as effective at helping them as other, more improved, stimulant drugs. Your OBs speciality isn't mental health so he may not be as up to date on treatments as an actual mental
Health provider. Maybe consider talking to a
Mental health provider so you can get more treatment options. Just a thought, take it or leave it :)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Well if u decide to take it I said take it when ur schedule is full and when its not just take half or none at all.
Helpful - 0
1434024 tn?1329812840
actually, my OB is the one who prescribed it to me. he was my OB back in 2012-2013, and after my first pregnancy, i was put back on the adderall, and was off of it for a while when i lost insurance, but when i regained insurance, maybe 2-3 months before getting pregnant this second time around, my OB prescribed it to me again.. and when i found out i was pregnant, (estimated date of conception in august 2015 and didnt find out til september) , i was still taking it but stopped as soon as it was confirmed i was really pregnant by a blood test.. thats when i asked him about the adderall and he said he had plenty of pregnant patients in the past and currently, who have taken it the entire time or what not.. i just chose on my own to stop taking it while pregnant.. i can function fine without it, im just extra clumsy and more spacey than i normally am, but ive read that becoming pregnant can do that, and everyone is different.. im going to ask himabout it again when i see him, but i just posted on here for other peoples experiences, advice, opinions, etc.. thank you
Helpful - 0
15695260 tn?1549593113
Hi there.  This is Pregnancy Category C.  This means that there are no real studies on humans done at this time but harm has been shown in animal studies.  What doctors generally do with drugs deemed Pregnancy Category C is weigh benefits to risks.  If you are debilitated by your ADD and can not function, the benefit may outweigh potential risk.  However, there are no studies that show safety in a fetus and therefore, there is a risk to consider.  I would only take the medication under supervision of your doctor and am glad to hear you've talk to them about it.  Best of luck to you.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I understand why you would be cautious. Have you talked to the doctor that prescribed the adderall? Not the OB. See what that doctor says too. Sounds to me like you've found more positive info than not. How are u doing without it? Maybe just take it when u really need it. But like I said, talk to the doctor who prescribed the medication (although I'm sure your OB knows what he's talking about)
Helpful - 0

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