Can depression effect a pregnancy test result?

Answer 1

Pregnancy tests detect the amount of HCG in your urine. HCG is a hormone that is secreted by a developing embryo. Depressed individuals may have neurochemical imbalances, but these imbalances typically involve neurotransmitters in the brain, not HCG levels. So, depression should not affect a pregnancy test.

Answer 2

It ultimately depends on what you are taking. The doctor will weigh the risks and benefits of stopping medication or keeping it with close monitoring of the fetus. Most antidepressants are class C or D. C being the drug may cause problems for the baby or mother or no studies have been done to show effects on pregnancy. Class D is some babies are born with problems related to the medication, but it needs to be weighed whether stopping it is worse for the mother or keeping it is worse for the baby. Lithium belongs to class D. I take lithium and was advised that taking it in the first trimester was bad because it could cause a heart defect in the womb. The hard part is most women don't realize they are pregnant until later on and had continued taking the medications prior to the knowledge.

Please talk to your Psychiatrist and involve them in anything that involves medications. Pregnancies that are planned are best because they allow medication adjustments or discontinuing one say for a trimester or entire pregnancy.

Finally keep in mind that women with bipolar have a much higher risk of having post postpartum depression, and this is detrimental to the health of you and the baby.

I suffer from bipolar and just recently thought I was pregnant. I am not and am very aware of the risks involved with medications.

Answer 3

No it cant it can have a affect on the babys personality when it gets older