Adderall and pregnancy

I'm so glad to find that I'm not alone here! I've been prescribed adderall for the past 13 years with a dosage of 90mg a day. Seems high compared to other posts, but I became immune very easily. At my (first) 8wk appointment, my doctor suggested that I slowly wean myself off of the 30mg 3x per day instead of going "cold turkey". At 19 weeks pregnant, I am now down to 30mg daily. At the moment, I can feel my daughter practicing her circus antics and I'm loving every minute of it!

Same thing happened to me 3 times. I would find out I was pregnant, stop taking adderall, and miscarry. I even watched once, and still miscarried!! So I stopped taking it even before I got pregnant the next time, and now my healthy 5 month old daughter is sleeping next to me. I went back on my adderall after having her, and have gone through 2 more miscarriages. Needless to say, I've stopped taking it. I've been prescribed for 5 years now, but it's just not worth it to me. Quitting has been hard, and I've slept a lot, but I don'tcare. It made me miscarry my children, and I want nothing to do with it. As far as weight gain goes, it's called self control. I have managed to keep my weight the same even after quitting Just because a few people got away with taking it while pregnant doesn't make it okay. I understand that some people have doctors allowing it, and that's fine. But even still, my doctor allowed me to take it, and look what happened. I'm not judging anyone, or trying to scare anyone. I'm just proving there are two sides to every story, and every Mother and baby handles things differently. I know others who have miscarried because of adderall as well.

Weaned** not watched.

I've been on Adderall 30 mg everyday for over 12 years. Every situation is different considering we all have different health issues. However, my doctor told me to stop taking Adderall 2 months before trying to get pregnant. It is a type 3 prescription medicine and a narcotic. For you to tell us lighten up when you know so little about the drug is idiotic. You are not a doctor. These women have a right to worry. They should be more careful when taking prescription medicines and be responsible. I pray for your babies to be normal. But be more careful next time.

I agree every situation is different. My OBGYN also recommended being on a stable Rx drug regimen (either on or off) for at least two months prior to conception, but that's not practical, wise, or even recommended for all people, especially since it can take many months to conceive. Every woman and every pregnancy is different, so let's try not to judge.

Also, just a side note, Adderall is not a narcotic in the medical sense (since narcotics are pain killers), but yes, it has a high potential for abuse and is a controlled substance. It's in pregnancy category C, but so are many drugs, including most antidepressants and caffeine.

Thank you and congratulations! :)

I have also been on Adderall for several years. When I found out I was pregnant I tried to stop taking Adderall prior to my first doctor visit (and was completely miserable), however my doctor told me that it was okay to continue taking the drug throughout my pregnancy. She did recommend taking the lowest dosage possible. I was taking 40mg of Adderall IR twice a day (80mg total), and now I only take 20-40mg per day. I was also taking Celexa for anxiety and my doctor did recommended that I discontinue that drug during my pregnancy. There are several OBs in the practice I go to (and it is one of the best practices in the area) and every single one has okay'd me to continue taking Adderall throughout my pregnancy. Yes, I worried about harming the baby at first, but I am currently 22 weeks and she is completely healthy. I am very careful about avoiding caffeine and rarely take over the counter medications and have not had any issues. I have severe ADHD and without medication I have a difficult time functioning - I do not plan to take it forever, but I also do not think during pregnancy (which can be stressful for a normal person) is the best time to stop taking the medication. For me personally, I feel that the stress and difficulty I would have without the medication would be more harmful to the baby. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Caffeine are also Category C drugs during pregnancy and most people would not object to a pregnant woman taking a Tylenol for a headache or drinking an occasional soda. All I am saying is that everyone is different and even doctors have different opinions about medications during pregnancy. I feel lucky to have a doctor who supports my decision to continue the medication and feel the same way my doctor does - which is that in my case the benefits of continuing the medication during pregnancy greatly outweigh the risks.

I've been taking Adderall on & off for over 10 years.  I took it at the beginning of both of my pregnancies, but stopped once I found out I was pregnant.  With my 1st, it was 7-8 weeks.  The 2nd time, I found out about 3-4 weeks.  My kids are now 6 and 8 years old and doing well.  I would advise giving it up until after birth or breastfeeding.  Remember, it is a powerful stimulant and can cause low-weight and lung issues in babies.  My son has both, but can't be certain how much Adderall is responsible - probably a combination of factors.  I sympathize .. I know giving it up is near torture - I've done it a few times, but if you can suck it up for a week, you'll make it through the withdrawal (mostly fatigue and headaches) and then you'll be ok.  Well, except for all the lovely pregnancy symptoms!  ;)

Good luck!

Being sick during pregnancy is normal and actually more healthy than if you were feeling fine or normal. It means that the hormones are at a high level, these are hormones that usually aren't present or at a high level unless pregnant. So morning sickness fatigue and breast tenderness means u have high hormone levels which indicates a healthy pregnancy. Not to mention that each pregnancy is different. I hope this helps

I have been on Adderall XR for 10 years. This past March, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Well before conceiving (she was planned) I talked to both my general prescribing doctor and my OB. Both physicians concurred that there is a risk-benefit analysis for all medications, and that academically, the primary issue concerning Adderall is that it's a vaso-dilator which can affect birth weight. One of the reasons that I was particularly cautious about doing the research and asking about this before trying to conceive is that Ohio Administrative Rules (established by the the governing medical licensing board) forbids any doctor in Ohio from prescribing Adderall (or a similar medication) to any pregnant woman. In other words, my doctor could have had her medical license revoked if she continued to prescribe me the medication while knowing that I was pregnant. My OB even went so far as to look into the reasons why this rule was created and wasn't able to find any medical reasons whatsoever for the rule.

Long story short, I continued to take Adderall throughout my pregnancy. As a general rule, I did not take it on the weekends, but I continued to take it during the workweek. I DID have pretty bad nausea all day long, but found that Zofran did wonders towards treating it. My baby was born at precisely 39 weeks; 7 lbs 9 oz. She is perfect in every way, and I can tell you that my 10 month old has a better attention span than I do without Adderall. I highly doubt that she'll be diagnosed with ADHD herself, but only time will tell on that. She's several months ahead in gross motor skill development, and perfectly on track with all other forms of development. No issues mentally in any discernible way. She's also 50th percentile in weight and height and was between 50th-75th percentile at birth.

I didn't breastfeed, but that was due to a completely unrelated problem.

I took this from a medical website,

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.  I'm about 10 weeks along and struggling at work and in a doctorate program.  Here's what I found:

This medication should be used only when clearly needed during pregnancy. Infants born to mothers dependent on this medication may have birth defects, be born too soon (premature delivery) and have low birth weight. They may also have withdrawal symptoms. Tell your doctor immediately if you notice possible mood changes, agitation, or unusual tiredness in your newborn. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.

Hope this will help. I guess at the end of the day, just discuss it with your doctor and have them advise you!

I am taking Vyvanse now and about 22-25 weeks prego. I have just started to take it again after I have been on it for over 6 years it was very hard to not take it during the first few months!!
I just started and I just wanted to see what you though about me taking it now this late into my pregnancy. I have heard that its best not to take anything in the first and 2nd trimester. Now i am going into my 3rd.

I have been reading through all the posts regarding pregnancy and Adderall.  I am 38 years old and 28 weeks pregnant.  I take Adderall 20mg tablets twice every day.  My pregnancy was not planned and I did not know I was pregnant until 13 weeks.  I discussed my Adderall with my obgyn and he was fine with me remaining on it.  Every check up, ultrasound and blood test has been fine.  My doctor is more concerned about my 'advanced maternal age' and the risks associated with childbirth over the age of 35.  Because of that, he sent me to the high risk maternal unit for specialized testing. Again, everything is just perfect with this little baby.  He is right on track in every way.  I work full time in a very busy law office and have ADD inattentive (extreme issues with focus).  There is absolutely no way I could maintain my job, home, parenting (I have two other children, 13 and 9) and all of the demands of life without my medication.  I will come back and report after my precious baby boy is born.  As my obgyn said to me, he is much more concerned with what may come of me stopping a medication that truly has been a miracle in my life (I was diagnosed with ADD later in life so my first two children were never exposed to Adderall in utero.)  The only problems I'm having with this pregnancy is extreme fatigue and tiredness, so if I were to discontinue Adderall at this point it would be impossible to function.  Even with my medication, I struggle to get out of bed and to my office on time each morning, I have horrible problems focusing throughout the day, and I completely crash in the evenings.  I am doing what is best for my family and being very overprotective of my sweet baby boy growing inside me, discussing the medication at each doctor's visit and continuing to be reassured that my baby is doing so great, and so am I, and that the worst thing any of us could do as mothers is worry ourselves sick during our pregnancies.  My prayers and support to all of you - whether you continue your medications or not is your decision to make based on the risk and benefits.  I am blessed to have an obgyn who has delivered many healthy babies to mommies who were on all kinds of medications.  The only medication he forbids me to take whatsoever is Imitrex (migraine medication).

Im sitting next to my 9month old son, took 40mg of adderoll my 12th week on till his birth. No complications or issues at all. He was born healthy and of my 3 kids he was the only one I took the med with during pregnancy and he was my biggest baby. So its really risk vs beniefit to mother

There is NO absolutely NO reliable research that states ADHD symptoms can be decreased by diet- for years now there are groups that insist this is true and what it does is make a difficult group of symptoms even more distressing because the diet stuff does not work- never has been proof of it working by scientific principled research.