Klonopin and Pregnancy

chb74 · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 27

I did take the Ambien every night with my daughter and she is now 22mo old..I also was on the Zofran up through my 37th week but that was not every day I only took it only as needed which was about 4 times a week...I tried taking benedryl and Tylenol PM as well as other OTC sleep aids but the diphenhydramine actually had the opposite effect on me it would make me more awake which is common in fact there was that study that was just done on parents who give their kids benedryl to make them sleepy the study showed that it actually amped the kids up. My doctor put me on the Ambein CR because the reg Ambien maybe kept me asleep for 2 hours at the most.. I really wish I could take the Xyrem which like I said was a miracle cure for me but I am getting through. Good luck with the twins I am a twin myself so look forward to lots of fun!

deejoanna · Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 2

What is the world is the relationship between Klonipin and Opiates? I have done both and let me tell ya there is a HUUUUGE difference in the effect, dependancy level and withdrawal.
Im just at a loss here, how can a baby be born addicted to Opiates if Klonazepam is a Benzo?

vic4wcom · Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 1

So I have been 'on' Ambien for about two years. I have easily quit everything else I was taking the day I found out I was pregnant (3 weeks ago) - this included Vicodin, Fioricet, Zelnorm, and Imitrex. However, I am sorely addicted to Ambien. I start having high anxiety early evening when I think about trying to go to sleep without it that night. I try and try and usually break down around 3am (of course I work full-time in a very technical position, and cannot afford to mess up).

Help! I am reading with great interest and concern the posts here; however, I haven't seen much anywhere about women taking it consistently in their first trimester. Any advice/stories? I don't want to have my baby born suffering from something I could have potentially prevented, although an exhausted and anxious environment to develop in can't be good either....

TIA

sleepymom2b · Joined: 26 Aug 2006 Posts: 5

Hello vic4wcom,

First of all, congrats on getting off the other medications. I'm sure that wasn't easy and you should be proud of yourself for doing it! I understand a bit of what you are going through with your sleep issue (see my previous posts). I did not take Ambien in my first trimester, but did start in my second trimester. I didn't want to take anything while being pregnant, but without it I'm very anxious and do not sleep. My anxiety would start around 6pm when I knew night was coming and I would have to go to bed. I've seen a few different OB's in the office I go to for my pregnancy (it's a large practice) and all have assured me that I can take Ambien safely. It is listed as a Class B drug for pregnancy (which is good). Have you talked with your OB about it? All of this is still a work in progress for me since I am still pregnant. Hopefully you'll get a few more answers on this board about taking it in the first trimester specifically. One of my doctors said, "The insomnia may not be something we are able to 'cure' during your pregnancy, but we can work on managing it." I hope you get more answers that may ease your mind a bit.

chb74 · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 27

Congrats on the baby!...I did not take Ambien in my first trimester either but started in my 2nd trimester and took it until my 37th week when I was pregnant with my daughter. I am now 25 weeks along and am taking AmbienCR not every night but 3-4 times a week. My OB says it is fine to take while pregnant. But he has said that with any medication there are risks. The problem with any medication is that during testing it is my understanding that pregnant women are not part of the "pool" of patients since this would not be an ethical practice. I to was taking Vicodin and Fentenayl suckers and I stopped these medications cold turkey the problem that I had with sleeping was that I had been on these medications for over 2 years and to stop cold turkey really through my body into a shock. Before I found out I was pregnant the doctors had me on Xyrem which worked wonders with my insomnia but I had to stop taking this when I found out that I was pregnant. Moving from Xyrem back to Ambien was hard because the whole reason I was put on Xyrem was because the Ambien was not working. Good luck and don't get discouraged I know what it's like being pregnant and not being able to sleep but it does get better slowly but it does!

minskii · Joined: 27 Oct 2006 Posts: 2

mosspa · Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 477

When I wrote that quote, the woman was still apparently taking opiates. If you read the quote you will find that I neber said Klonopin was an opiate and identified it as a benzodiazepine. I also agree that opiates are safe for use during pregnancy, however, habitual use will result in an addicted fetus/baby. Generally, these addictions are mild, and they generally resolve themselves pretty quickly.

As for safe drugs for sleep, I would recomend lunesta over ambien because it is less benzodiazepine-like than ambien. Sonata is probably also safe but its effectiveness profile is such that it desn't work in treating insomnia in most instances.

Moss

h0mebodty · Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Posts: 29

Chb74

I went searching about klonopin and pregnancy and almost everything I read says there is a concern about birth defects and mostly cleft palate, (which you dont want) major surgery to repair, and baby cannot breast feed if you want it to. I also read that the baby can go through withdrawl when born, and that if you breast feed that it does go through your breast milk too.

Ambien unfortunatlly not much data on. Everyone seems to think it is ok.

Good Luck sleeping.

minskii · Joined: 27 Oct 2006 Posts: 2

Thank you for all the input and clarifying the quote, I was a bit confused. I cant imagine taking anything could be safe, but some of us have little or no options. Ambien is considered safe because it is NOT a narcotic, nor a benzo, as far as the studies go, I am unsure. That is why Ambien is considered safe right now. That is also why Ambien is non habit forming, although we all no, especially for myself it can be, in the fact that our bodies get so used to taking it for sleep, but there are NO withdraws from ambien, other than maybe not being able to sleep without it. Once again thanks fro all the help and hopefully this message board and our searching will help all of us. Thanks!

LtSassy1 · Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 1

Hello All. I know this is a late post but I would love to share my story in hopes it might help others in situation. I am a 32 yr old women who has been diagnosed with idiopathic insomnia for four years. In the beginning I took antidepressants and atypical low dose anti psychotics for my insomnia because nothing else worked. Then two years later, upset with unpleasant side effects such as a large weight gain, my doctor found a great combination of medication that allowed me to achieve 8 hours of sleep without waking and without all the side effects. And that was 1 mg of Klonipin at bed time and 60 mg of Straterra during the day to improve my concentration. I believed this was a wonderful combination. I am a nurse and know that these medications are not typically prescribed for my condition but they worked and we had tried everything else to no avail.
Up until 6 weeks ago I was taking 1 mg of Klonipin at bedtime and 60 mg of Strattera during the day. My husband and I, with the blessings of my doctors, were trying to get pregnant for the first time and worried about insomnia I was told to take the medication until I had a positive pregnancy test. Well I did get pregnant during our second month of trying and when I tested positive for pregnancy (approximately 23 days post conception) I stopped the medication that day and had the worst week of insomnia I have ever had. Not sure if it was rebound insomnia from lack of medication but I sware I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown from lack of sleep. I literally went six days straight without more than 20 minutes of night of sleep. I am sure it was not healthy for my baby.
Then sadly two weeks ago I spotted lightly and went to the ER for a possible miscarriage and they were unable to detect a fetal pole on Ultrasound in the gestational sac. I was sent home to miscarry. I was devastated. That Monday after I did not miscarry that weekend they did a f/u ultasound and found the beginnings of a yolk sac and throught there might be a chance for my baby. Unfortunately the follow up lab work indicated my HCG levels were not doubling which was not good. The following Friday they did another US and they saw a small fetal pole (the beginnings of the baby) and sent me home to follow up today with hopes they would soon find a heart beat that should have already been there. They told me once again however not to get my hopes up in that my labs idicated this pregnancy was probably not going to viable. Today I had another US and there was no changes from last time so they suspect the pregnancy will end in the next month. I am so heartbroken. Today I am 8 weeks pregnant and I am waiting to miscarry which could take up to a month to do on my own (which I will do for religious reasons). The waiting is horrible.
So do I think that the Klonipin contributed to my impending miscarriage? Do I think the withdrawal from my medication contributed? No one will ever know. But I can tell you one thing because of the lack of evidence that any medication is safe while pregnant I would not risk being in my shoes on the off chance the meds are contributing factors in miscarriage or fetal defects.
It is my recommendation to come off the meds long enough to have it washed from your system and to experience any withdrawal long before you try to get pregnant. I can tell you losing sleep at night is hard.....I still am not sleeping peacefully off my medication....but I will lose even more sleep wondering if taking the medications helped increase the risk for miscarriage that is impending in my case.
Please don't ever put yourself in my shoes. As a nurse I can tell you with certainty that even if they say medications are safe during pregnancy there just isn't enough evidence or clinical trials to prove that any of these meds can definitively be used during pregnancy. I repeat if you are on medications, especailly class C and D do not take them with pregnancy if it can be avoided. If you must and you lose the baby you will always wonder and question if the risk was worth the benefit. I know I will be. Crying or Very sad

h0mebodty · Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Posts: 29

I am so sorry to hear about your baby . I understand what you mean about meds. and not knowing. My son is autistic(high functioning) and there is so much controversy about how autism is caused. I always wander if it was something I took right before I got pregnant not allowing my self enough time to make sure it was out of my system in time or something I took during my pregnancy. If it was even a factor. It is something you will always wander for the rest of your life. My son will be 20 in Dec. Great Kid and I love him deeply, but I will forever wander if it was something I did...

Good luck to all.

wenchien · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 3

LTSassy1:

I'm so sorry about your miscarriage. I had a similar experience this summer while attempting to withdrawal from Klonopin. I did it rapidly, and miscarried the same week,
Now I am two months pregnant again, still on Klonopin. My OB and psychiatrist said I should not try to withdrawal now, but I am terrified of the potential harm. They have both reassured me that there is a very low risk of danger, but as you say, studies are slim and inconclusive.

Unfortunately, Klonopin is the only thing that has helped alleviate my chronic insomnia over the past two years. I can not go weeks w/o sleep, which is what happens and the withdrawal is very bad. I pray that my baby will be healthy and I someday get off this drug and sleep peacefully.

Please let me know you are currently managing your insomnia. Like you, I tried so many things before giving in to Klonopin. Sadly, I can not even be happy in my pregnancy now b/c I am stricken with worry.

Anyone else take Klonopin while pregnant or have any sucess withdrawaling and still sleeping?

Daisy902 · Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

I would like to comment on Wenchien's post. I was also taking klonopin when I was surprised to find out I was pregnant. My OB told me to stop taking it. I tried to stop but i got extremely sick. I felt like I was dying. I was having terrible withdrawals. I took klonopin for my severe anxiety. When I stopped taking it I felt panicked times 100. It was awful. I tried other medications. (most were anti-depressants which did not work) I finally couldnt figure out anything else to do except to take the klonopin when I really needed it. I finally stopped taking it completely when I was 3 months pregnant. I am now 5 months pregnant. I am in the same boat you are...wondering & worrying if the klonopin caused any problems for my baby. I think about it every day. Will my baby have birth defects? I pray that she (yes, its a girl) will be healthy. I have to wait for my next ultrasound to know more. I wish you the best & hope you feel some kind of comfort to know that someone else is going through a similiar situation.

wenchien · Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 3

Dear Daisy902,

Thank you for your message. I am three months pregnant, and still taking it at the advice of my ob and psychiatrist. However, I am hoping to continually cut back throughout the pregnancy. Unfortunately, the first three months are the key time when birth defects can surface though--so I suppose if any damage had been done, it would have been already.
My ultrasounds and nuchal test so far has been normal. Since you are five months along, you should be seeing a full anatomical ultrasound very soon, which will hopefully reveal no problems. Please let me know how that goes!

May I ask you, how did you finally stop the Klonopin since you were struggling so much with it? And how much/how often were you taking it?
I am seeing a Cognitive Behavior Therapist who is supposed to help me taper down, but I'm just meeting with her for the first time. Any advice you have on how you made it through the withdrawl would be greatly appreciated.

I wish you a healthy pregnancy. I know it is scary, but all the research I've done does show a very minor risk of problems with Klonopin during pregnancy (mostly isolated to cleft lip or palate which is treatable). My ob/gyn has had other women who've been on it during pregnancy and says she has never seen a problem in her experience. And she works at a high-risk practice. So try not to worry too, too much.

Best,
Wenchien