Adderall and pregnancy

I was told the same thing, stop taking ADHD meds "if you can". I've done some of my own research, and the few studies on humans at therapeutic doses did no show any effects on the baby. Most of the scary studies are those done on animals at 10x therapeutic dose, or humans who abused amphetamines (prescribed or not) while pregnant. I have been off my medication now since week 7 (currently in my 11th week) and have been miserable. My job performance has really been affected negatively and it takes me forever to get anything done. (I'm a clinical social worker). I made the decision today to continue my ADHD meds as needed (which my psychiatrist said would likely be ok, especially heading into 2nd trimester). It really angers me that doctors tell those of us on medications for mental health disorders to just "stop if you can", as if it's just that simple. If I had a heart condition, or diabetes, or a seizure disorder I doubt the doctors would be telling me to "stop if you can". It goes along with the stigma and lack of understanding about how debilitating ADHD symptoms can be. I would say, talk with your psychiatrist about it, do your own research (actual peer reviewed articles) and do what's going to be best for you. My mom had to take a seizure medication throughout her pregnancy with me, which is a very high risk medication. They never told her "stop if you can", lol. Again, talk to you psychiatrist, do what's best for you. Your help and well being are very important to baby's health, also.

did drs say anything when baby was born about you taking the medication while pregnant?

Thank you for your honesty very helpful

I took Adderall IR 20mg tid thorughout my entire pregnancy. I wasn't proud of this and tried to stop so many times. This was my 2nd pregnancy and i knew i was addicted to the medication but was terrified to ask for help. I reduced the quantity as much as i could in the last trimester, and had weaned off completely by 37 weeks. I was scared at every OB visit, just knowing something HAD to be wrong with my baby. But...every visit was perfect. I went full term and baby was 7lbs 4oz and healthy. She did have Torticollis, which is rare condition in which the neck muscles contract, causing the head to twist to one side. We did physical therapy and she responded very well to that and has had zero issues related to that to this day. She is 6 years old now and is reading at a 3rd grade level, her memory is incredible, though she has had some behavioral issues throughout her life. The first 2 years she cried ALOT, she never slept more than 3-4 hours at a time until she was 3 yrs old. She did not like to be anywhere but in the Baby Bjorn at all times. She started walking at 9 months, she picked up sign language for awhile-but mainly i noticed she needed to be on the go constantly. She now exhibits ADHD tendencies along with ODD traits that could really just be part of the ADHD. We have not had her Officially tested as her father and I are not willing at this young age to simply throw her on addictive medications and let that "fix" things. We work with her through her struggles, whether they be emotional or otherwise. We dscipline her in a very step by step constructive manner, because that's what works. We take our time with her. We see and hear from other parents that our daughter is a handful in a good and challenging way. She loves to talk non-stop, and i do mean NON-STOP which also includes alot of interrupting and inability to wait her turn. She will switch the subject halfway through her sentences at times, and almost seems manic when shes really going. She has had some violent outbursts through the years, and displays a short fuse. I work with her on deep breathing techniques, using essential oils, and really talking about the problems she has as they come up. All around she is an amazing little person, but the things i have listed above weigh heavy on my mind and they will forever. My addiction could have caused some of these issues, and i want the community to be aware instead of just ignoring that some of this may very well have been caused by Adderall use during pregnancy. Your doctor will tell you weigh the risks and the benefits, but really, if i were a stronger and less selfish person during that time and really talked with someone who could have helped, i would have come out of that cloud and truly put the childs health first. Its less than a year of being off the medication-i wish to this day and forward that i would not have taken that medication during pregnancy. Its only purpose was for MY benefit, not the child's. If that isn't selfish i don't know what is. This isn't a blood pressure medication, cholesterol or diabetes medication. This is an elective one. You will NOT die if you don't take it for awhile, its a small sacrifice to make. Like i said in my post-My decision to take adderall during pregnancy will weigh heavy on my mind until the end. No exaggeration there.

My daughter also takes adderall and is 25 weeks Pregnant. She didn't know she was pregnant and has been taking it all this time. Do you still take it or did your doctor tell you to stop taking it. She has gotten conflicting responses from her ObGYn and her Psychiatrist ?

My daughter has been on adder all since a young age her due date is Jan 30 and Im curious of the withdrawal symptoms of not having adderall ? Her mood to me had been pretty much terrible and between not smoking, drinking, adderall and hormones I wondered if anyone can help ? So far everything is fine with the baby that I know of. Thnaks

I have taken adderall 35mg a day for about 10 years now. I found out I was pregnant ay about 4 weeks and stopped adderall at 5 weeks. I discontinued the use throughout my whole pregnancy even though there were days when I wanted even 10mg. I scoured the internet for research but didn't find any. I decided to stay strong and not use it throughout my pregnancy. My son was diagnosed in utero at 28 weeks with a congenital heart defect and had to have open heart surgery upon delivery. He was born full term at 8 pounds 4oz. He had surgery at a couple hours old and recovered beautifully from surgery. He had no other heath issues until at 2 months old and he developed a very rare vein disorder called Pulmonary Vein Stenosis which currently has no cure. He passed away at 2 and a half months.

With that said I have absolutely no idea if the adderall I consumed the first four weeks before I knew I was pregnant caused this but I can tell you I live every day worrying it did. The guilt is almost too much to carry. For all I know it had nothing to do with the adderall and was just horrible luck!

I am currently 4 weeks pregnant with my second and stopped taking adderall during my ttw so my hope is by some off chance it was the adderall that caused my sons heart defect I have avoided another horrific outcome.

The reason I share is not to shame anyone or scare anyone. There is no judgement on my end and I am a true believe in every woman has the right to make their own decisions and choices. Just figured I would share to put my story out there.

I just wish there I was more research out there!

Good luck to you all!

I took Adderall throughout my pregnancy; I saw a perinatal specialist, from my 10th week of pregnancy. I knew I was pregnant at 2-3 weeks, but no providers would take patients before 10 weeks gestation, which actually pissed me off quite a bit, because I was instructed to be seen at 6-8 weeks due to an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy (I had my tubes untied exactly one week before getting pregnant and the possibility of blockage was very real, especially since I wasn't fully healed; but, that's a story for another day lol). As for the Adderall, my perinatal specialist prescribed it to me for the duration of my pregnancy, monitoring me and my daughter very closely (ultrasound every single month). I did stop taking pain medication during my pregnancy, however, and it was rough, but the specialist minced no words and, in no uncertain terms, expressed his feelings about taking them during pregnancy (and that was just tramadol). Now, I have a very legitimate condition that the painkillers are used to treat and the specialist knew that. Still, he never even considered prescribing any. With that said, he made no apologies and had no second thoughts about refusing to treat me with tramadol; likewise, he didn't hesitate to prescribe a treatment plan that included adderall (40mg/day). If he truly believed it posed a threat to my daughter, he would have had no problem telling me exactly what he thought and giving me exactly zero choice in the matter. I'm sure he would have discontinued the Adderall if he had any concerns about my daughter, during my visits. I think monitoring closely is important; that, and, being WILLING to stop taking it if the doctor becomes concerned

Ok so I don't know if I'm pregnant or not but my period has always been regular for me but last month it came a few days early and this month it came 2 weeks late I just got it yesterday and my friend said that it was only because I was so stressed out this month but I don't think that was it. I have been taking Adderall (40mg a day in the morning) for the past 5 or 6 years and I just started taking Trazodone (25mg at night) to help me sleep. There have been a couple of times in the past 2 months where I have drank a few Mike's and do a couple of shots of Blue UV a night. I'm kind of worried that I might be pregnant because I have been getting a bigger belly lately and now with being on my period I can't take a pregnancy test cause my hormones are all over the place and I'm scared to go see an OB/GYN to do an ultrasound to actually see if I am pregnant. I just don't know what to do anyone that could help is much appreciated. Also I did just turn 20 years old at the beginning of the month.

I know this can be a scary time for you. You are young and are faced with the possibility of a great responsibility. Before any major life decisions are made, go get the ultrasound if you haven't already. If your cycle has ended, go get a pregnancy test. You do not need to stress yourself out on "what ifs". You need to know what you are facing first. If you do find out you are indeed pregnant, THEN start to think about everything else. And no matter what anyone says - you will be ok. You will adjust. Women (no matter how scared and fearful and impossible a situation seemed) have been doing it since the beginning of time. I would stop drinking though - whether pregnant or not - as you are on two different medications. Unless you have worked out a schedule where the medicine is out of your system before you drink.

Thank you. I've been worried but feel better now! Same thing-adderall and drinking for first 5 weeks.

Happened to me as well. I’m sorry for your loss :(

I was prescribed Adderall (20mg IR 2x per day) and taking it for a few years and found out I was pregnant in 2014. I immediately stopped taking it because I was unsure if it could be taken while pregnant. Because my ADHD was pretty severe and I had a stressful job with tight deadlines, it was tough quitting so I asked my OBGYN and my psychiatrist if it was okay to take during pregnancy. They both told me it’s considered a class C drug and okay to take. I was still worried about side effects for the baby, so I took it only if I absolutely needed it (about 6 pills total between my 6th and 17th week of pregnancy.

Everything was great until I went in at 17 weeks for routine checkup and no heartbeat could be found for my baby. Unfortunately the baby had died and within the past 24 hours they told me after several ultrasounds. It was devastating. I had a D&E (because of placenta previa) done by specialists at the University of Chicago. They had also done extensive chromosome testing to find an explaination as to why the baby had died. Everything came back just fine. I have an older son with no problems so it was strange, but they told me sometimes these things just happen. I beat myself up and always wondered if it was because I had taken Adderall.

In 2015 I was taking Adderall (same dosage as before) until I found out I was pregnant again (5 weeks) then immediately stopped. My daughter is now one year old and perfectly fine. I never took it again during my pregnancy. She was not low birth weight and had no complications.

I breastfed my daughter until 6 months (never took Adderall while breastfeeding). I started taking it again when breastfeeding was done. I am currently 10 weeks pregnant and discontinued again at 5 weeks. Because of my previous loss, they watch me closely and all ultrasounds look good.

It was extremely difficult to stop taking Adderall because of my ADHD on top of being pregnant with my hormonal changes and brain fog. I think it is worth going off it though. Just remember that pregnancy only lasts 9 months.

I hope you understand what you are speaking about before jumping to conclusions. Please don’t make assumptions. I understand Adderall has a bad wrap because of abuse, but there are many people who have been prescribed the drug who take it as directed and do not abuse it. It sounds like the women on this forum are being responsible and trying to help others by sharing their experiences. In many cases, they have been consulted by medical professionals on their use of medications. They obviously care about their pregnancies and are doing extra research by reaching out to the community for support.

Adderall (Amphetamine) and methamphetamine are closely related, but on a molecular level, are different. Methamphetamine is double methylated phenylethylamine as where Amphetamines are not. This double methyl group creates the difference between the Amphetamine and Methamphetamine groups. The extra methyl group in meth makes the drug much more potent and creates a big difference in how fast the drug crosses the blood brain barrier. Methamphetamines also contain chemicals which are neurotoxic in which Amphetamines do not. Methamphetamine is an illegal drug and used to gain some sort of high. The responsible women taking Amphetamines, do so as prescribed to treat ADHD or narcolepsy.

Again, if you’re just going to be rude or judgmental, do it somewhere else. People here aren’t looking for someone to shame them or claim they are abusing an illegal substance the same as meth. They are looking for support and experiences shared from the community. I suppose you came across this page by looking up information about Adderall and pregnancy. So unless, you are a pharmacist or a doctor, do not make such ridiculous immature claims and spend your time more productively.

Don’t be so ignorant. Yes, adderall is chemically similar to meth but they are not the same! Adderall is a prescription drug that is regulated. Adderall is used to treat ADHD and help someone maintain focus, meth is solely used to get high. Meth is a street drug that is synthetic and contains chemicals such as battery acid! Do you also think morphine and heroine are the same? Chemically they are similar and are both in the opioid class. But would you tell a cancer patient taking morphine to control pain that what they are taking is basically heroine? SMH do your research before replying.