My Experience with Effexor and Pregnancy

I've spent almost ten years trying to figure out why my birth daughter, 9 ½, has a food aversion and a feeding tube since the age of two, having been in about ten programs to help her, all to no avail.

After doing relentless research, talking to numerous doctors who told me it was nothing I did, I just found out that it was, in fact, something I did - something I took because my gyn at the time told me that it was safe.

When I found out I was pregnant Jan. 2, 2000, I immediately got off the Depakote and Effexor I was taking for fear it would affect my unborn child.

My new gynecologist assured me it was right to get off the Depakote but that the Effexor wouldn't hurt the fetus and that in my extremely depressed state, that any benefits outweighed the risks.

So I believed him.

I didn't know that Wyeth, the drug company who makes Effexor, knew as far back as 1993, along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the medication had a 30 percent chance of causing respiratory and heart problems for newborns as well as feeding difficulties.

But neither the pharmaceutical company nor the FDA bothered telling the doctors who were assuring pregnant women as recently as until 2006 that it was perfectly safe to take Effexor while expecting.

Recently before I found out this latest development, I was assured by a physician's assistant who had treated numerous kids with food aversion, that my daughter would outgrow this condition and that it was psychological.

Imagine my shock when, in the middle of the night battling insomnia shortly before Mother's Day this year, I got online for the upteenth time to do research about her condition, only to discover that the answer was within me all along and that the Effexor was the culprit - something that could've been prevented.

Thank God I got off the Depakote immediately the second I found out I was pregnant or McKenna, my birth daughter, would've been born with Spina Bifida and a host of other problems.

I realized, having received a You Tube video of her performing at Mayfest along with some emailed pictures of her posing in ballet right before Mother's Day a few weeks ago that McKenna is extremely fortunate; that we got lucky.
This issue has become a legal one for many. There are an astounding number of Effexor cases in all 50 states. Even Effexor attorneys, which surprised me.

A statement reads: "In babies of mothers who used an SSRI antidepressant in the second half of pregnancy add to concerns coming from previous reports that infants of mothers taking SSRIs late in pregnancy may experience difficulties such as irritability, difficulty feeding, and in very rare cases, difficulty breathing." (Source: Drug Recalls Newsletter).

And yet, after doing extensive research I find that it's not rare at all. In fact, it's fairly common.

And another quote reads from steadyhealth.com in an article entitled "Safe Detox of Effexor While Pregnant" - "Effexor may be harmful to an unborn baby, and may cause problems in newborn baby if the mother takes the medication late in pregnancy. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment."

"I took Effexor XR 150 mg. while pregnant with my little girl who is now 14 months old," states one mom. "She was born with a hole in her heart and an irregular heart beat. She is doing fine now but I have to tell you that it was scary for little while."

Another husband's wife weaned down to 37 mgs. of Effexor and they were currently in the whole respiratory distress, possibly being blamed on the Effexor.

"Get off the Effexor ASAP," says one consumer who's pregnant taking Effexor and trying to wean herself off through a doctor's care. "Google 'babies born on Effexor.'"

The drug is not approved for use in pediatric patients, according to paruresis.org.

Even scarier? There are no adequate, well-controlled studies of Effexor in pregnant women and never have been.

Ehealthme.com shows that 50.00 percent of babies born on Effexor have a congenital anomaly and 25 percent have developmental delays, a feeding disorder, or food aversion.

"According to Dr. Jay Cohen, author of 'Over Dose The Case Against The Drug Companies,' the 'drug companies have marketed SSRI antidepressants vigorously not only to psychiatrists, who are supposed to have some expertise with these drugs, but also family practitioners, pediatricians, gynecologists, internal medicine specialists, and anyone else who can pen a prescription,'" states Evelyn Pringle ("Big Pharma Hits on Pregnant Women."). 'But that doesn't mean that they possess in-depth knowledge of SSRIs or their actions and toxicities.'"

On July 9, 2004, Web MD reported that over the past decade the FDA had received "hundreds" of reports of adverse effects with infants born to mothers taking SSRIs.

That same month, the FDA changed the labeling for all SRRIs, warning that upon delivery, some infants exposed to SSRIs required respiratory support, tube feeding, and prolonged hospitalizations.