Is It Safe To Take Prozac During Pregnancy?

Posted on Wed, 22 Apr 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 Answered on

Wed, 13 May 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm 5 months pregnant and dealing with a lot of anxiety and depression. My doctor told me I could take either Zoloft or Prozac. I had diarrhea and jitters with the Zoloft and quit taking it. I know Prozac is very similar and I have read it is more stimulating. Is it possible to have better success with it? I know many people take something like Xanax to ease them into SSRIs but I don't have this option and I'm very nervous. Also, my mother and sisters take Prozac and have not had side effects. Is this a good sign for me? I meet with my doctor again on Friday.

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (26 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
You can't predict the side effects

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

the risk of side-effects for the population has been estimated with clinical studies but for any individual patient the risk cannot be predicted. You can only find out by trying it. All of the SSRIs you've mentioned are on the C category regarding pregnancy. Xanax is on category D, which means that you should avoid using it.

It makes no difference for you, that your relatives took prozac and experienced no side effects. You can only find out by trying...

Best wishes for your pregnancy!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar