Reversing a Lexapro Birth Defect Not As Easy As Coming Off a Drug

Washington, DCLexapro, an antidepressant within the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) class, has two distinct personalities. For the patient in need of medication to quell anxiety or combat depression, Lexapro has been found to instill debilitating fatigue. And for an expectant mother on Lexapro for depression, the consequences to the developing fetus can result in devastating newborn birth defects.

Lexapro (escitalopram) shares a common DNA, for lack of a better word, with other antidepressants in the SSRI class. While SSRI drugs have been found to be effective in treating depression - and especially serious cases - the class has been linked with various birth defects in children. To that end, Lexapro birth defects are not unlike those of other drugs in the SSRI class.

According to a PRWeb Newswire release (12/3/13), Lexapro birth defects can include clubfoot or deformed feet, in which an infant’s feet twist inward or face downward. Atrial septal or ventricular septal defects have also been seen, in which infants are born with holes in the heart. Craniosynostosis is a cranial deformity that can cause seizures folowing birth. Omphalocele is characterized by an infant’s internal organs forming outside of the body. YouTube is awash with videos of infants born with their hearts resting above the sternum, rather than below. Spina bifida is yet another defect.

And then there is Lexapro pph, or PPHN - persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Of all the newborn birth defects involving Lexapro and other SSRI antidepressants, PPHN is considered the most serious with a 10 percent rate of fatality.

Many a plaintiff filing a Lexapro lawsuit suggests they were not aware their SSRI medication could compromise their unborn child in this way, and might have chosen a different medication had they known.

And then there are Lexapro side effects that adversely impact the patient.

“Jane” shared within an online chatroom that she was prescribed Lexapro for what her doctors thought was depression. Jane, in contrast, typifies her emotional state at the time of her diagnosis as “deeply unhappy,” and probably stemming from a tumultuous childhood in a dysfunctional family.

Jane shares that while there were few Lexapro side effects when she first started on the medication, she does admit to feeling increasingly fatigued. This, Jane writes, was translated by her doctors as deepening depression, so they increased her dose. That only increased her fatigue further, to the point where she was sleeping 12 hours a night and preventing her from completing her studies in graduate school. “It got so bad that I had to go into the bathroom at work and nap,” she writes. “I could not stay awake an entire day…”

Jane also reports, even with debilitating fatigue, becoming more promiscuous. At age 27, she had previously been sexually intimate with two individuals, both long-term relationships. On Lexapro, she began sleeping around. When Jane finally weaned herself off Lexapro, “I had boundless energy, [and] I could stay awake at work all day,” she writes. “It was amazing.

“I have been off Lexapro for over 3 years now. Getting off that drug was the best thing that ever happened to me. Prior to that, I was on Lexapro for 3 hellish years…”

Jane’s story provides insight into the fallout from Lexapro side effects. It took three months to become free from the symptoms of Lexapro withdrawal before ultimately returning to her steady state before commencing Lexapro. Jane also dug into the source of her deep unhappiness and found non-medicinal ways to cope. She also completed her degree.

In contrast, an infant born with a Lexapro birth defect faces surgery and potentially a lifetime of compromised health. Parents dealing with newborn birth defects face steep medical bills and the anguish that comes with bringing a new life into the world saddled with preventable deformities.