Ambien first 12 weeks. Didn't know I could conceive!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The difference between a class C and a class a a drug if often in the amount of money spent on studies. Ambien used to be a class B drug until recently. When it switched I wondered if they FDA demanded more studies to stay class B and the drug maker declined to fund them. I would feel safe taking it. Other commonly prescribed class a a drugs include zofran, which tons of women take in their first tri.

As for the PP who says you should be more worried about genetic anomalies at your age--do the testing you choose and disregard the noise.

Autocorrect. I am comparing class C and class B drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't take Ambein but I had to take a much stronger medicine my entire pregnancy for health reasons. Mine.

My child turned out perfect - I did double the dose of folic acid recommend for "normal" women (as recommend by my doc).

Good luck.

Thanks for the response! Can I ask what the medication was? How old is your daughter now?

Topomax, which I take for uncontrolled seizures.

My daughter is 6. I'm still on the meds. My pregnancy was nerve wracking, I won't lie. The 13 week tests were the worst. I cried the entire time from the test until I got the normal results. The 20 week scan was also terrible, waiting to see if something was wrong (it wasn't). She was and if perfect, but it was stressful.

It wasn't widely available at the time I was pregnant but I would do a 3d u/s if it had been available.

[Anonymous]

This is a bit off topic but FYI folks you are not supposed to take ambien every single night. I have been told this by several sleep doctors. They have all said you should try not to take more than a couple a week. Your doctor should not be prescribing thirty a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To preface: this is completely unscientific and hopefully others will have better information out there. But, just to throw out a different way of thinking -- perhaps it helped you conceive under less stressful conditions, have fewer symptoms, or sleep better than you otherwise would have. Maybe there is an extra benefit from that. Perhaps it isn't anyone's ideal, but maybe it somehow helped you behave more healthfully in other unknown ways.

Best wishes.

This is such a nice way of looking at this. Not the OP, but thanks for opening up the way we think. I'm going to try to apply this to something else in my life soon.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much everyone for your thoughtful replies! I have considered each one and they help me to ease my mind a bit.

I noticed that some websites were listing Ambien as a class b drug (FDA moved all sleep aides to class c recently however). But why would something like Ambien ever be class b in the first place? I can't seem to find an answer to that...

I suppose what worries me is that Ambien is so similar to the benzos, and these are all class d drugs. I am having a hard time finding any studies that follow children long term that were exposed to benzos though in utero and I am worried about developmental disabilities. That's why I'm posting here, trying to resort to any personal, anecdotal evidence anyone reading this may have.

To the pp on Topamax, thanks for sharing your story! Topamax acts in part on the GABA receptors, as does Ambien; not that your positive outcome guarantees anything for anyone else though! It is encouraging to read none-the-less.

[Anonymous]

Its listed in "What to Expect" right along side Unisom and Tylenol PM as safe for occasional use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much everyone for your thoughtful replies! I have considered each one and they help me to ease my mind a bit.

I noticed that some websites were listing Ambien as a class b drug (FDA moved all sleep aides to class c recently however). But why would something like Ambien ever be class b in the first place? I can't seem to find an answer to that...

I suppose what worries me is that Ambien is so similar to the benzos, and these are all class d drugs. I am having a hard time finding any studies that follow children long term that were exposed to benzos though in utero and I am worried about developmental disabilities. That's why I'm posting here, trying to resort to any personal, anecdotal evidence anyone reading this may have.

To the pp on Topamax, thanks for sharing your story! Topamax acts in part on the GABA receptors, as does Ambien; not that your positive outcome guarantees anything for anyone else though! It is encouraging to read none-the-less.

Ambien isn't a benzo. It may achieve something similar, but it does it through a different mechanism that has been found safer in pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much everyone for your thoughtful replies! I have considered each one and they help me to ease my mind a bit.

I noticed that some websites were listing Ambien as a class b drug (FDA moved all sleep aides to class c recently however). But why would something like Ambien ever be class b in the first place? I can't seem to find an answer to that...

I suppose what worries me is that Ambien is so similar to the benzos, and these are all class d drugs. I am having a hard time finding any studies that follow children long term that were exposed to benzos though in utero and I am worried about developmental disabilities. That's why I'm posting here, trying to resort to any personal, anecdotal evidence anyone reading this may have.

To the pp on Topamax, thanks for sharing your story! Topamax acts in part on the GABA receptors, as does Ambien; not that your positive outcome guarantees anything for anyone else though! It is encouraging to read none-the-less.

Ambien isn't a benzo. It may achieve something similar, but it does it through a different mechanism that has been found safer in pregnancy.

Not being snarky at all, just genuinely curious how you know that and if you have any experiences with that drug in pregnancy?

[Anonymous]

At this point, I feel like everyone else who continues to post on this thread is doing OP a disservice if they don't mention that, now that everyone has said the obvious... (you can't do anything about it now; it's class C; anecdotal "my kid is ok" stuff), THE BIGGER THREAT TO YOUR BABY IS YOUR ANXIETY LEVEL.

Seriously. I'm not being snarky when I say this, but you need to calm down or otherwise get control over your anxiety. Before you actually do real harm to yourself and your baby. And your DH and DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much everyone for your thoughtful replies! I have considered each one and they help me to ease my mind a bit.

I noticed that some websites were listing Ambien as a class b drug (FDA moved all sleep aides to class c recently however). But why would something like Ambien ever be class b in the first place? I can't seem to find an answer to that...

I suppose what worries me is that Ambien is so similar to the benzos, and these are all class d drugs. I am having a hard time finding any studies that follow children long term that were exposed to benzos though in utero and I am worried about developmental disabilities. That's why I'm posting here, trying to resort to any personal, anecdotal evidence anyone reading this may have.

To the pp on Topamax, thanks for sharing your story! Topamax acts in part on the GABA receptors, as does Ambien; not that your positive outcome guarantees anything for anyone else though! It is encouraging to read none-the-less.

Ambien isn't a benzo. It may achieve something similar, but it does it through a different mechanism that has been found safer in pregnancy.

Not being snarky at all, just genuinely curious how you know that and if you have any experiences with that drug in pregnancy?

I'm a midwife. I can't speak to their exact actions but I do know that many of the risks that would make me risk out (because midwives only do low risk) a mom regularly using benzos (name respiratory depression at birth) wouldn't concern me with ambien.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much everyone for your thoughtful replies! I have considered each one and they help me to ease my mind a bit.

I noticed that some websites were listing Ambien as a class b drug (FDA moved all sleep aides to class c recently however). But why would something like Ambien ever be class b in the first place? I can't seem to find an answer to that...

I suppose what worries me is that Ambien is so similar to the benzos, and these are all class d drugs. I am having a hard time finding any studies that follow children long term that were exposed to benzos though in utero and I am worried about developmental disabilities. That's why I'm posting here, trying to resort to any personal, anecdotal evidence anyone reading this may have.

To the pp on Topamax, thanks for sharing your story! Topamax acts in part on the GABA receptors, as does Ambien; not that your positive outcome guarantees anything for anyone else though! It is encouraging to read none-the-less.

Ambien isn't a benzo. It may achieve something similar, but it does it through a different mechanism that has been found safer in pregnancy.

Not being snarky at all, just genuinely curious how you know that and if you have any experiences with that drug in pregnancy?

I'm a midwife. I can't speak to their exact actions but I do know that many of the risks that would make me risk out (because midwives only do low risk) a mom regularly using benzos (name respiratory depression at birth) wouldn't concern me with ambien.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To preface: this is completely unscientific and hopefully others will have better information out there. But, just to throw out a different way of thinking -- perhaps it helped you conceive under less stressful conditions, have fewer symptoms, or sleep better than you otherwise would have. Maybe there is an extra benefit from that. Perhaps it isn't anyone's ideal, but maybe it somehow helped you behave more healthfully in other unknown ways.

Best wishes.

This is such a nice way of looking at this. Not the OP, but thanks for opening up the way we think. I'm going to try to apply this to something else in my life soon.

Love this. It made my day. It's a wonderful way of thinking, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats!! I am a little bit jealous you made it thru the first trimester without morning sickness. There's no way I could go that long without knowing because I'd be throwing up constantly.

My doctor prescribed it for me as well and I took it a few times a week my entire pregnancy. Agree with your doctor that what's done is done and no sense in worrying about it now. It's probably not ideal, but you didn't know you were pregnant and at least you weren't taking something more dangerous.

Did they estimate your due date with an ultrasound or based on last period? If the latter, you may not be as far along as you think, so less risk of harm done.

I know, right?! With my son, I was sick 24/7! Another reason I was so shocked, no real symptoms! They estimated based off ultrasound..

Did you take it in the first trimester as well? 5 or 10mg? What did doc have to say about it? How is DC now?

I'm totally interrogating you, hehe, but I'm super anxious right now

I did take it in the first trimester, along with adderall, because I didn't realize I was supposed to stop for a few days. My doctor said it was fine to take occassionally, so I took it maybe 3 times a week. I can't remember if it was 5 or 10mg. The alternative for me was not sleeping at all. I took unisom the other nights, and all thru breastfeeding, and now thru my second pregnancy. My son is 3 now and totally healthy and normal and awesome. He is a terrible sleeper, but I think he gets that from me, sleep problems seem to run in my family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats!! I am a little bit jealous you made it thru the first trimester without morning sickness. There's no way I could go that long without knowing because I'd be throwing up constantly.

My doctor prescribed it for me as well and I took it a few times a week my entire pregnancy. Agree with your doctor that what's done is done and no sense in worrying about it now. It's probably not ideal, but you didn't know you were pregnant and at least you weren't taking something more dangerous.

Did they estimate your due date with an ultrasound or based on last period? If the latter, you may not be as far along as you think, so less risk of harm done.

I know, right?! With my son, I was sick 24/7! Another reason I was so shocked, no real symptoms! They estimated based off ultrasound..

Did you take it in the first trimester as well? 5 or 10mg? What did doc have to say about it? How is DC now?

I'm totally interrogating you, hehe, but I'm super anxious right now

I did take it in the first trimester, along with adderall, because I didn't realize I was supposed to stop for a few days. My doctor said it was fine to take occassionally, so I took it maybe 3 times a week. I can't remember if it was 5 or 10mg. The alternative for me was not sleeping at all. I took unisom the other nights, and all thru breastfeeding, and now thru my second pregnancy. My son is 3 now and totally healthy and normal and awesome. He is a terrible sleeper, but I think he gets that from me, sleep problems seem to run in my family.

No here. Sorry to hijack but reading this makes me feel better. I am pregnant with terrible sleep problems. Thank you for posting.

[Anonymous]

Am actually at the same place, been taking ambien to sleep everynight, am now six weeks pregnant and worried at whats the worst case scenario. I hope everyone got healthy babies. Im in need of encouragement.