Prescription Medications
The biggest problem
with prescription medications is not the known factors,
but the unknowns. By the time a medication makes it
through the FDA approval process, it has been tested
on people just enough to indicate some basic safety
standards. Long term use, and use by pregnant women
is not yet statistically documented, and may not be
for 20 or more years after it is introduced.
Generally, new medications
are not prescribed to pregnant women. After a while,
a few women who took them anyway will report on whether
or not their pregnancies or babies had problems. But
unless a targeted study is done, affects on fertility,
miscarriage, birth defects, and other negative effects
may not be fully reported, or properly documented.
When a mother has a
baby, and there is a problem, she often does not attribute
it to a specific medication. When she has trouble getting
pregnant, she may not make the connection either. So
you have to look at four factors with Prescription
Medications:
1. Known effects. This
is really very little for some medications. I suggest
you get a copy of the insert that comes with it if you
can, or at least, do some research online (mayoclinic.com
is a good source), and read the fine print. One medication
that I could have used during pregnancy, that my doctor
considered to be safe, had "fetal demise"
listed as one possible effect. No way would I risk that! "Infant mortality", "Infant morbidity", "Maternal mortality", or "Maternal morbidity" are terms that indicate serious issues or death as well.
2. Importance of the
medication to your life. How necessary is it? I chose
NOT to take anti-depressants during pregnancy, even
though I was affected by a type of clinical depression
that was very severe during pregnancy. I managed the
depression other ways, even though that was harder.
On the other hand, I did take Demerol for two months
while pregnant with one child, because I was having
gallbladder attacks which put me into shock, which was
more harmful to the baby than the Demerol.
3. Least harmful, most
safe choice. Sometimes you can choose a less risky drug
instead of the one you are taking. Often, there will
be documentation on an older drug, but not on a newer
one, or an alternative that is routinely prescribed
during pregnancy. That doesn't mean there aren't risks,
but it can significantly reduce them. A record for pregnancy
is not quite the same thing as a record for fertility
issues, but it is as close as you can get.
4. The way the drug
works. You can often find clues in the way the drug
works, and in similar drugs to determine risks. Ibuprofen
is a good example (though it is an over the counter
medication). Specific risks to pregnancy may not be
stated, but we know it can reduce blood flow to the
uterus, so we can surmise that it would not be good.
If it is designed to do a specific thing that would
not be healthy, or if it has a side effect which would
not be healthy, then you can assume it would not be
something you'd want to be on if you were trying to
get pregnant.
With prescription drugs,
you need to do your homework, and you need to understand
how the pharmaceutical companies work. They will state
side effects by who suffered what during the trials.
Even if someone had a cold during the clinical trials,
and it had nothing to do with the drug, they have to
list it. But they also want their medications to sound
as safe as possible, so when reports come in about what
is going on during actual use, AFTER the clinical trials,
they do not change the information in their product
literature until a specific number of reports have been
made, with similar results. So the information you can
find on them, may not be everything that is actually
known or suspected about them.
You may find other sources,
non-medical ones, which give reports of this or that
side effect. Be cautious, and do not believe them if
they are not supported by more than one source - watch
out, because some people will post in more than one
place, so cross reference to weed out the duplicates,
and even then, take it with a grain of salt, because
some people DO just try to make trouble.
When I researched Paxil,
I found not just one, but multiple reports of side effects
similar to those which I suspected were caused by Paxil
in my husband. They came from a wide variety of sources,
and a wide variety of backgrounds. This helped me to
believe there was some credibility behind them. But
I also found reports that were so filled with contradictions
that I KNEW someone was making them up!
Be very cautious though,
and understand that people on BOTH sides of the prescription
drug discussion have an agenda. They have motives to
make you believe that they are perfectly safe, or that
they are responsible for mass destruction. The truth
is somewhere in between. Caution and wisdom are needed,
and you must weigh the risks and benefits for yourself.
|
