My doctor gave me Latuda to try, but I told him I am 10 weeks pregnant Is that goint to affect the baby? Also, I ask my doctor if Latuda have any side affects. Before I take this drug I would like to get a clear answer in what I am taking and if it's safe for my baby. Please help.
I am pregnant and Bipolar can I take Latuda?
Question posted by Question? on 28 April 2011
Last updated on 1 November 2018
10 Answers
starbucksqueen218
18 April 2017
Regarding use of Latuda during pregnancy, I would like to offer you a STRONG WARNING in regards to using Latuda while pregnant. I also have bipolar and was taking Latuda while I was pregnant several years ago, as it was considered to be among a class of 'safer' meds during pregnancy (category B: in animal reproduction studies, no apparent risk to fetus). I did not detect anything alarming with the pregnancy for about the first six months, although many people constantly commented on how small my belly was at this time. This being my first pregnancy, I did not know exactly what to expect. Around this six-month mark, however, I began to notice that I could not feel the baby moving at all for several days in a row.
I then went to the hospital where they told me that there was virtually no fluid in my placenta. A few short minutes later, I was whisked away for an emergency C-section. Despite some difficulty at first, he was born alive. He continued to survive throughout the span of the next six days. Doctors tried to relay to me exhaustive lists of a dozen complications during this time. Sadly, my husband and I lost him upon the sixth day.
I was far too traumatized at the time to analyze the symptoms that led to his failure to thrive. My mom, however, (who is a nurse) took it upon herself to take his medical record, along with information gleaned from conversations with his doctors to identify symptoms of our son's illness that were listed among the side effects of my then-medications (lithium and Latuda). A review of lithium did not turn out anything substantial; however, despite having been reported as one of the safer antipsychotics, the list of side effects shared between my son and myself (while having been pregnant, and at no other time) were numerous: loosely a dozen, and roughly 6-8 very clearly identifiable ones. (I am not able to recall them specifically, as to this day I believe I have still blocked it out.) To me this indicated a causal relationship between my use of the drug Latuda and the loss of our six-day old child. While I may never be able to prove this (I declined an autopsy for personal reasons), it is a belief that I hold to my very core to this very day.
HOWEVER, Latuda may well benefit your mental health, including inhibiting relapse, which can also be critical to the safety of mom and baby. I would encourage a thoughtful review of your medication options, particularly by seeking it out from a psychiatrist--all the better if he/she has a focus on pre- and postnatal care.
Your health comes first. You will be the healthiest and the safest with the medication(s) to which you respond the best.
May you and your baby be well. God bless.
Msbrowngotitdown
24 Sep 2016
I am also pregnant and have bipolar. Very manic and when it's bad I crash into real crappy depression. When I found out I was pregnant I was about 8 weeks and my primary dr took me off ALL My meds just like that. After being on800 mg of Seroquel for the last 7 years just about.
I got an apt with my baby dr.( He is a high risk pregnancy dr) and he said that I could go back on my meds if me taking them out weighted the bad... He wanted to wait till the 2 and trimester if we could. Well I decided I needed to go back on the Seroquel after being completely off for the last 2 months. Well I was very hesitant because most phyc. Meds are class c witch means they haven't done enough research in pregnancy to know weather or not it cause's any birth defects.. but... I need to be ok to carry this baby and take care of my other4 kids.my 2 girls and my fiancé 2 bots we have part time. So if u need to be on meds...
Take them now before u crash or the symptoms become worse cause then the medication takes twice as long to work and your still driving yourself nuts with the racing thoughts and the hyperemesis and the insomnia( witch I have now).
Good luck your baby will be ok Hun as long as mommy is ok. Especially if it's a class b that's better than c.:)
I am 18 weeks pregnant now and thank goodness I started back on my meds cause idk how o would feel if I didn't with my hormones already not helping..lol
mseelogy
12 May 2013
Yes. It may make you drowsy so take it at night.
cheezemeplz
18 Sep 2012
I am about 4 weeks from delivery and have been taking latuda for the durration of my pregnancy. So far so good, everything is fine, i talked to the Dr. about the side effects it could have once the baby is born and she said that the most common side effect in infants is the possibility of tremors. She informed me that it should not be taken while breast feeding and for that reason alone i have recently quit taking it. It is highly reccomended that you take your prenatals while taking this as it will decrease the risk of birth defects, but judging by my last ultra sound a few days ago, there are no physical visible defects. I hope this information helps.
mama2509
16 April 2017
how much MG did you take
Monstermash
27 Oct 2018
Hi, I know you posted this in 2012 which means your child is 6 now. Just in case you still get email updates- does your child have any side effects of taking Latuda while pregnant?
stillgoofy
24 Dec 2011
Considering there is always a risk for any rx meds you take while pregnant, the very best advise I think would be to discuss this with your OB and get his opinion first. If your comfortable with his opinion, go with it. If not, do the research in depth. You have to feel 100% good about it either way. I was one of those pregnant moms that wouldn't even take aspirin and drank milk for 9 months! Still, 1 son has ADHD, and my other 2 children sometimes deal with a mild depression. So... you just have to do what's best for you, and pray for a happy and healthy baby. Best of luck ^_^
mseelogy
12 May 2013
Good comments
slattery
23 Dec 2011
I don't know the specific answer to this, but I'm taking it that the other posters are correct in saying that the studies may only have been conducted on rats and rabbits, and that the results are inconclusive as to it's affects on humans.
I never was in your position, what with having to make a value judgment about either taking a bipolar drug and taking a risk with my baby's development, or not taking anything for the well-being of my baby. I had four children, and Thank God I was never in that bind. However, with my first, I got a horrible infection courtesy of an incoming impacted wisdom tooth, and the pain was unbearable. I went around for nearly three months in excruciating pain... couldn't sleep at night, nor was prepared to go for surgery. The doctor COULD have given me an anti-biotic specifically for that kind of infection, but he said that it had only ever been tested on rats.
So my decision was to foregoe on the drug, as I was unwilling to take that gamble.
This is quite different, as we are talking about bipolar now. I disagree totally with stopdrugging that bipolar doesn't exist... I don't think that he/she ever experienced a psychosis... otherwise she'd come to a very rude awakening that it is far from a speculative, intangible thing. Madness/mania/bipolar DOES exist..and it's a little bit more than an alternative state of mind, or some people's reactions to stress.
My prayers are with you whatever you decide to do. I probably know what direction I'd lean in on this, but only you can make a choice decision on it. God Bless you and your baby.
LifeonthePharm
17 Dec 2011
According to the product insert paper (the long description which comes with the drug) their rat and rabbit studies resulted in no birth defects. However-they go on to say that its use during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy has resulted in infants having a number of different problems, some of which "have required intensive care unit support and prolonged hospitalization."
In short, the product insert paper says "Latuda should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus"
I hope that this helps,
lifeonthepharm
trios
3 May 2011
I also just received Latuda from my doctor for my bipolar. Being 16 weeks pregnant, I could no longer continue my regular medications as they cause birth defects. My doctor told me that it is safe for pregnant woman to take.
nohemisol82
11 May 2017
Hello, I'm planning to get pregnant and I'm taking latuda. My doctor recommendations were that it's my decision to continue with Latuda while I try to get pregnant and during the pregnancy. How did it go with you ? Did your baby come up fine? Did you have any complications with Latuda during and after your pregnancy? Did you baby have any complications because you were taking Latuda? I would appreciate your response thank you.
nohemi
Ashliguori
1 Aug 2017
Hello, as other ppl said the doctors say it's a safer drug. I took it for the first 3 months of my pregnancy. My bipolar was pretty bad but I wish I would have tried to stick it out without meds because I can't be sure that it was latuda (that was the only med I took then) that caused so many problems with my son but I wish I didn't take the chance. My son has so many social, emotional, developmental and educational issues. He's a 10 year old fuctioning as about a 6 year old. It..Is..So..Hard. He suffers everyday and I just wish I didn't take the chance. Those 3 months might be the cause of a lifetime of problems for my son
nohemisol82
1 Aug 2017
Thank you for your advise I really appreciate it.
Nohemi
Blanche82
2 Nov 2018
Stop.
stopdruggingkids
30 April 2011
I do not think you should be taking any psychtropic drugs while you are pregnant and also when you have your baby. They can cause horrendous side effects including brain damage. Biopolar cannot be proven scientifically by any form of medical or biological test and your behaviour and present feelings could probably be caused by the fact that you are pregnant and your hormones are all over the place and your body is going through huge changes.
Embrace this and go with it. Dont try to drug what is natural. I do not accept biopolar as being a valid and genuine disorder. Every person is different and we all react to stress in different ways. Having ups and downs in life is natural.
Not everything is a mental illness ... Put your real health and your baby first and look forward to your bundle of joy and good luck.
Dsc1974
9 Feb 2013
Ughhh... "I do not accept bipolar as being a valid and genuine disorder"... And of course your authority prevails over the years of studies done on the matter. My family is plagued with it, including me , some days I wish condescending and ignorant idiots like you could spend a day on the god awful roller coaster of bipolarity and all its ramifications and then maybe, just maybe they would refrain from saying such things.your attempt to sound all smart and technical did nothing but prove the depth of your stupidity. Zip it and go back to your bundle of joy , and pray that he/she never shows signs of chemical imbalance, you'd be a poor support.
stopdruggingkids
9 Feb 2013
Being pregnant causes many natural changes in the body and it would be a risk to both mother and baby to take psychotropic drugs during pregnancy. Latuda can cause low blood pressure and heart irregularities. It can also cause tardive dyskinesia. A baby deserves the right to be born healthy and I dont think psychiatrists care enough to stop prescribing their drugs during this very sensitive and special time. The symptoms of Bipolar are actually very similar to how a pregnant woman feels. They can be happy one minute and crying the next. It is perfectly natural and with NO valid laboratory test for bipolar how on earth can anyone distingquish the two. ? Smoking, drinking and drugs can all harm an unborn child. What about their rights?
Sammy007
19 April 2013
Bipolar disorder is a horrible horrible condition that takes control of your entire body; it is very hard to fight off something that is not within your control. It's not as if we (I suffer from type II) like yelling at our loved ones or being so angry without being able to let it go. These things are not "normal reactions." It is something that is a much bigger reaction to things than should be. For instance I am 33 weeks pregnant right now and did very well during my pregnancy until a few weeks ago and I started taking L-theanine to help ease the feeling that my brain was just going to run itself down. That is not working for me anymore, neither is my anti-anxiety medication I am using very precociously, not often, and in low doses. I am hopefully starting Latuda this weekend. It would be wonderful to get relief from this awful thing that plagues me every day and night.
Not only myself, but my husband as well, who is having a hard enough time at DLI training for the Air Force. Some people need to be on medication during their pregnancies rather than suffer with it; sometimes not being on medication can be more harmful to the baby than being on them. I take a lot of herbal supplements and have used low doses of klonopin for a few weeks now and my baby measures two weeks ahead of schedule; he is already 5 pounds at 33 weeks and 18 inches long. Do not feel bad for considering medication during your pregnancy and you (stopdruggingyourkids) should not tell people that it's bad to take medication during your pregnancy. Babies for hundreds of years have been having babies and in the old days they didn't know about "harming the baby." They smoked all kinds of things and I'm sure did a lot worse on top of not having prenatal care and their babies were all just fine.
mseelogy
12 May 2013
Your an a-hole! Bi!!!
mseelogy
13 May 2013
What I meant was whoever wrote this comment was an a-hole! Bi!!!
Blanche82
2 Oct 2016
You are the worst and should not comment. Bipolar can be clinically diagnosed, and treated successfully but during pregnancy this treatment is toxic. A pregnancy safe alternative is Lamictal and Wellbutrin. Is not as effective as lithium or Latuda, and be prepared to be tested, but it's better than nothing. I'm severely bipolar. I'm pregnant again .. 25 weeks. Trust me.
hammerbros
1 Nov 2018
Not everything is a mental illness! For instance, your reckless arrogance is just that: reckless arrogance!
LaurieShay
28 April 2011
Hey Question?,
As far as using Latuda while pregnant, the literature say the following:
Pregnancy
Teratogenic Effects
Lurasidone was not teratogenic in rats and rabbits. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of Latuda in pregnant women.
No teratogenic effects were seen in studies in which pregnant rats and rabbits were given lurasidone during the period of organogenesis at doses up to 25 and 50 mg/kg/day, respectively. These doses are 3 and 12 times, in rats and rabbits respectively, the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 80 mg/day based on body surface area.
No adverse developmental effects were seen in a study in which pregnant rats were given lurasidone during the period of organogenesis and continuing through weaning at doses up to 10 mg/kg/day; this dose is approximately equal to the MRHD based on body surface area.
Non-teratogenic Effects
Neonates exposed to antipsychotic drugs during the third trimester of pregnancy are at risk for extrapyramidal and/or withdrawal symptoms following delivery. There have been reports of agitation, hypertonia, hypotonia, tremor, somnolence, respiratory distress and feeding disorder in these neonates. These complications have varied in severity; while in some cases symptoms have been self-limited, in other cases neonates have required intensive care unit support and prolonged hospitalization.
Latuda should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
The common side effects of Latuda include the following: Agitation; anxiety; dizziness; drowsiness; fatigue; lightheadedness; nausea; restlessness; stomach upset; vomiting; weight gain.
If any of these side effects become bothersome, please contact the doctor right away.
Best wishes,
Laurie
Related topics
bipolar disorder, pregnancy, doctor, latuda
Further information
- Latuda uses and safety info
- Latuda prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Latuda (detailed)
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