With increasing frequency, postpartum women who have taken antidepressants during pregnancy have shared – usually in tears – that while in the hospital for their labor and delivery hospitalization, a health care provider at the hospital said something judgmental about their being on an antidepressant. For example, one woman said that a nurse told her, [...]
Tag Archives: medication
Clinical Question: Topamax and Seroquel in a Woman with Bipolar Disorder Planning to Breastfeed
December 1, 2009 – 5:40 pm
A clinician asks: “I am a psychiatrist treating a patient with Bipolar Disorder on Seroquel and Topamax. I would like to know what information is available regarding the safety of these medications to the infant if used during breastfeeding.” With regard to topiramate (Topamax), there is relatively little information on breastfeeding. One case series included [...]
Generic Medications
August 10, 2009 – 10:41 am
Many patients ask questions about generic medications, wondering how they differ and if they’re as safe and as effective as the more expensive brand name versions. To better understand this concept, we’ll discuss an example. Many patients have heard of the medication, Prozac, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant, generically known as fluoxetine. The company, [...]
Dr. Lee Cohen talks with Dr. Oz about Pregnancy and Mood Disorders on Oprah.com
December 8, 2008 – 10:54 am
Earlier this year, Dr. Lee S. Cohen, Director of the MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health, spoke with Dr. Mehmet Oz from Oprah.com and a woman with bipolar disorder about mood disorders during pregnancy and weighing the risks of treatment options. Click here to listen to the interview on Oprah.com.
FDA Proposes Major Revision of Prescription Drug Labeling
June 10, 2008 – 9:52 am
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed major revisions to prescription drug labeling in order to provide more accurate and helpful information on the effects of medications used during pregnancy and breastfeeding. As it stands, the current system used by the FDA classifies the reproductive safety of medications using five risk categories (A, [...]
Bipolar Disorder and Pregnancy: Should Medications Be Discontinued?
March 7, 2008 – 2:44 pm
As many of the traditional mood stabilizers used to treat bipolar disorder, including lithium and valproic acid, carry some teratogenic risk and the reproductive safety of other medications, including the atypical antipsychotic agents, has not been well-characterized, many women with bipolar disorder decide to discontinue their treatment during pregnancy. A new study from Dr. Adele [...]
Medication Changes During Pregnancy
February 28, 2008 – 10:44 am
At our clinic we have the opportunity to see patients at various stages of pregnancy. When we evaluate a patient while she is still in the planning stages, we may recommend changing medications to those that have a better studied safety profile during pregnancy and see how she does on those medications prior to conception. [...]
Can Paxil (Paroxetine) Be Used While Breastfeeding?
December 4, 2007 – 10:47 pm
All medications are secreted into the breast milk, although concentrations appear to vary. There is a fair amount of information on the use of Paxil (paroxetine) in nursing women. While Paxil may be detected in the breast milk, there have been no reports of adverse events in the nursing infant. The only situation where one [...]
