Paroxetine

The Basics

What is Paroxetine?

An SSRI often used to treat depression and also sometimes for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic attacks, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Brand names for Paroxetine

Brisdelle

How Paroxetine is classified

Antidepressive Agents, Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors

Paroxetine During Pregnancy

Paroxetine pregnancy category

Category XNote that the FDA has deprecated the use of pregnancy categories, so for some medications, this information isn’t available. We still think it’s useful to list historical info, however, given what a common proxy this has been in the past.

What we know about taking Paroxetine while pregnant

Can you take paroxetine while pregnant? BRISDELLE is contraindicated in pregnant women because menopausal VMS does not occur during pregnancy and paroxetine can cause fetal harm. Epidemiological studies have shown that infants exposed to paroxetine in the first trimester of pregnancy may have an increased risk of cardiovascular malformations. Cardiac malformations are a common congenital abnormality. These data would suggest that the risk of a cardiac abnormality following paroxetine exposure in the first trimester may increase the risk from 1% to 2%. Exposure to SSRIs in late pregnancy may lead to an increased risk for neonatal complications requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support, and tube feeding, and/or persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). No teratogenicity was seen in reproductive development studies conducted in rats and rabbits. However, an increase in rat pup deaths was seen during the first 4 days of lactation when dosing occurred during the last trimester of gestation and continued throughout lactation, at a dose approximately equal to the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) for VMS (7.5 mg) on an mg/m basis. If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to a fetus.

Taking Paroxetine While Breastfeeding

What are recommendations for lactation if you're taking Paroxetine?

Because of the low levels of paroxetine in breastmilk, amounts ingested by the infant are small and paroxetine has not been detected in the serum of most infants tested. Occasional mild side effects have been reported, especially in the infants of mothers who took paroxetine during the third trimester of pregnancy, but the contribution of the drug in breastmilk is not clear. Most authoritative reviewers consider paroxetine one of the preferred antidepressants during breastfeeding.[1][2][3][4][5] Occasional mild side effects such as insomnia, restlessness and increased crying have ben reported in breastfed infants. Mothers taking an SSRI during pregnancy and postpartum may have more difficulty breastfeeding, although this might be a reflection of their disease state.[6] These mothers may need additional breastfeeding support. Breastfed infants exposed to an SSRI during the third trimester of pregnancy have a lower risk of poor neonatal adaptation than formula-fed infants.

Maternal / infant drug levels

Because of the low levels of paroxetine in breastmilk, amounts ingested by the infant are small and paroxetine has not been detected in the serum of most infants tested. Occasional mild side effects have been reported, especially in the infants of mothers who took paroxetine during the third trimester of pregnancy, but the contribution of the drug in breastmilk is not clear. Most authoritative reviewers consider paroxetine one of the preferred antidepressants during breastfeeding.[1][2][3][4][5] Occasional mild side effects such as insomnia, restlessness and increased crying have ben reported in breastfed infants. Mothers taking an SSRI during pregnancy and postpartum may have more difficulty breastfeeding, although this might be a reflection of their disease state.[6] These mothers may need additional breastfeeding support. Breastfed infants exposed to an SSRI during the third trimester of pregnancy have a lower risk of poor neonatal adaptation than formula-fed infants.

Possible effects of Paroxetine on milk supply

Paroxetine can cause galactorrhea, usually with increased prolactin levels, in nonpregnant, nonnursing patients.[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] In a study of cases of hyperprolactinemia and its symptoms (e.g., gynecomastia) reported to a French pharmacovigilance center, paroxetine was found to have a 3.1-fold increased risk of causing hyperprolactinemia compared to other drugs.[37] The prolactin level in a mother with established lactation may not affect her ability to breastfeed.In a small prospective study, 8 primiparous women who were taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI; 3 taking fluoxetine and 1 each taking citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, paroxetine or sertraline) were compared to 423 mothers who were not taking an SRI. Mothers taking an SRI had an onset of milk secretory activation (lactogenesis II) that was delayed by an average of 16.7 hours compared to controls (85.8 hours postpartum in the SRI-treated mothers and 69.1 h in the untreated mothers), which doubled the risk of delayed feeding behavior in the untreated group. However, the delay in lactogenesis II may not be clinically important, since there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the percentage of mothers experiencing feeding difficulties after day 4 postpartum.[38]A case control study compared the rate of predominant breastfeeding at 2 weeks postpartum in mothers who took an SSRI antidepressant throughout pregnancy and at delivery (n = 167) or an SSRI during pregnancy only (n = 117) to a control group of mothers who took no antidepressants (n = 182). Among the two groups who had taken an SSRI, 33 took citalopram, 18 took escitalopram, 63 took fluoxetine, 2 took fluvoxamine, 78 took paroxetine, and 87 took sertraline. Among the women who took an SSRI, the breastfeeding rate at 2 weeks postpartum was 27% to 33% lower than mother who did not take antidepressants, with no statistical difference in breastfeeding rates between the SSRI-exposed groups.[39]An observational study looked at outcomes of 2859 women who took an antidepressant during the 2 years prior to pregnancy. Compared to women who did not take an antidepressant during pregnancy, mothers who took an antidepressant during all 3 trimesters of pregnancy were 37% less likely to be breastfeeding upon hospital discharge. Mothers who took an antidepressant only during the third trimester were 75% less likely to be breastfeeding at discharge. Those who took an antidepressant only during the first and second trimesters did not have a reduced likelihood of breastfeeding at discharge.[40] The antidepressants used by the mothers were not specified.A retrospective cohort study of hospital electronic medical records from 2001 to 2008 compared women who had been dispensed an antidepressant during late gestation (n = 575; paroxetine n = 53) to those who had a psychiatric illness but did not receive an antidepressant (n = 1552) and mothers who did not have a psychiatric diagnosis (n = 30,535). Women who received an antidepressant were 37% less likely to be breastfeeding at discharge than women without a psychiatric diagnosis, but no less likely to be breastfeeding than untreated mothers with a psychiatric diagnosis.[41]

Possible alternatives to Paroxetine

Nortriptyline, Sertraline.