Hi there! I was thinking the same thing...my psychiatrist said that if you are literally testing yourself for pregnancy the 1st day of missed period and call him to deal with treatment than it is ok...I thought this was a bit unrealistic, so I went to my gyno, who said absolutely NO DEPAKOTE..it is a class D drug..so it causes birth defects, most of the other drugs are class C drugs which doesn't mean that they don't cause defects, so don't let anyone tell you that, it means that there is NOT enough info gathered at this point to make a dtermination of how it will affect you or your baby. Hope this helps you!! I am concerned for myself & my options as well.

I have done my own research on pubmed.com. That's the only way to get meaningful information. Lithium is class D, but when you actually look at the frequency of problems, it's not that big of a deal. Depakote is really bad. But then I've had a high-risk OB, and also my pdoc tell me that lamotrigine (Lamictal), just like all anti-seizure medications, causes neural tube defects. Well, I found that with lamotrigine, the frequency is actually close to unmedicated. So it seems lamotrigine would be OK.

I plan on doing my own literature search, tabulating studies, with references, results, and WHO FUNDED the study. (The one that makes lamotrigine look so good was of course funded by the manufacturer.) Then I'll take that to my pdoc and discuss the options.

Thanks for the additional info...it all helps. I am in the process of deciding whether I should conceive and carry my child med free...any thoughts??? I feel like my OB says now way - no drugs...but my psychiatrist says Depakote and lamictal are fine as long as you find out immediately when you are pregnant.

Any thoughts on going at it w/o meds, under careful psychiatrist and psychologist supervision?

I was on Zoloft during my pregnancy and everything turned out fine. I have a perfectly healthy 9yr old now.

i know both depakote and paxil are known to cause birth defects.