Lithium in pregnancy

[Mommynum1]

Hi,

Thinking about a third pregnancy with a history of post partum psychosis after tje second. Can anyone share experiences of being on lithium while pregnant? What are the risks?

[Sally_at_APP Administrator]

Hi Mommynum1,

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully some of the experiences of those affected by postpartum psychosis will help you. It is great that you are thinking ahead to options during pregnancy.

I do not have any experience of being on Lithium. I had PP in 2015 and I was treated with antipsychotics, antidepressants and ECT (electro-convulsive therapy). I do know women on here who have experience of being on lithium, so hopefully you will find some useful information.

I wondered if you were based in the UK? If so, you should be able to be referred to a perinatal mental health team who can talk through all your options about medication during pregnancy. Also, the website below might help, as it gives you information about different medications for mental health conditions. However, it would be really good if you could talk this through with a health professional too, as medication options can be very individual and you know what and what doesn’t work for you.

choiceandmedication.org/devon/

I am sorry I can’t really give you a definite answer to your questions, but I hope this has helped in some way. I am sure there are other women on here who can share their experiences with you too.

Take care and do keep us updated,

Sally x

[Mommynum1 in reply to Sally_at_APP]

Hi Sally,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply. To answer your question, I do not live in the UK. I live in Israel. I tried accessing the medication and choice website, but was denied due to my location. Still, very glad to b part of this forum and looking forward to learning more.

[Sally_at_APP Administrator in reply to Mommynum1]

Hi Mommynum1,

I am sorry you can't access the website. I will see if I can find you some more information that you can access.

Do you have any health professionals where you live that you could talk to about this too?

Take care and I'll be in touch soon,

Sally x

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hello Mommynum1

Good that you found us across the miles from Israel! It's very wise to consider the effects of medication while pregnant. I wonder if you can see this full page whether under 'Related Posts' some of the replies under 'Lithium in late pregnancy' might be helpful? I'm sorry I have no experience to share as I didn't take Lithium during pregnancy.

I don't know whether you will be able to access another site called 'Bumps' (best use of medicines in pregnancy) at medicinesinpregnancy.org/ where you can search for Lithium in "Leaflets A-Z" and there is some info there regarding risks, etc.

There is also a PP Guide "Planning Pregnancy : A guide for women at high risk of Postpartum Psychosis" at app-network.org/what-is-pp/... with info, although some of the links are only relevant to the UK.

Wishing you all the best. Take care.

[Pikorua Volunteer]

Hello Mommynum1,

wishing you a warm welcome to this forum.

I will keep it brief as it is rather late.

I have had PPP in 2010 and after 5 years of isolation I finally found this forum and a tribe of pretty amazing mums. I've been learning so much about my traumatising illness and knew I was not alone anymore.

I was last year diagnosed with bi-polar1, but decided against lithium. Thus, I really do hope that some of the mums will be able to share their experiences with lithium and pregnancies.

Wow you are in Israel. I've been there once a long time ago and travelled from Eilat to Telaviv...with my parents on holiday.

Wishing you well.

Good night,

x