OK, I finally decided to put my 2 cents in about prozac...not only is it
popular in California--I worked for 5 years in LA-I have just as many
people requesting it in a semirural town in WI where I am now!! I agree
with Dr. Hale...blood levels being low and having the baby appear to be
healthy unfortunately can not tell the future of a medication effect..look
at DES for example. The children of women who took DES during their
pregnancy were found to have problems as adults, and we are still screening
these women born 2 decades ago. I guess I worry about psychactive drugs in
general, and whether these kids are going to be at increased risk for
depression or some other neurotransmitter-related pathology in the future.
I have given prozac to nursing moms...but it makes me sweat, and more
recently I have been asking breastfeeding supportive psychiatrists to make
the call for me, on whether the woman truly needs antidepressants. If the
woman cannot afford a psych eval, I try to consider the use of imipramine
first.-Anne Eglash MD