My twin sister and I

14 Apr 2017

You are not alone, I promise you that. My parents have been in the same boat with my twin sister and me for quite some time now. My twin sister and I were born in the summer of 1988 (now 28 years old). During our mother's third trimester, she began going into early labor (I believe she said this was March-April). Her physician gave her a dose of IV Yutopar and ordered her to be on strict bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy. Good news: it worked. Bad news: my twin sister and I are still suffering from its long-term effects. Your description of your daughter perfectly describes my sister and me. My mental health issues started when I was about 9 years old, suffering from debilitating panic attacks and severe social anxiety, although my sister did not exhibit these symptoms.

I would guess that our symptoms began in college and progressed over most of our 20's, peaking at 27-28 years of age. Depression, inability to cope/dysfunctional coping, inability to transition into adulthood, COMPLETE inability to adapt to any change, struggling to force ourselves do even the simplest "grown-up" tasks and responsibilities, alcohol abuse, isolation from friends/people (despite our charm and outgoing personalities out in public) and avoidance of social activities, dependence on psychiatric medication for a sense of somewhat normalcy, severe depression, lack of motivation, zero self-esteem, eating disorders... The list (unfortunately) goes on. And I still struggle to this day. My mother has been diligently researching Yutopar for the last several years and still to this day blame some it for our issues we struggle with today. As a nurse, I took great interest in this theory, and after reading countless threads of parents in the exact same situations, I couldn't refute it. The conclusion I came to was realistic but not very hopeful: what's done is done. We are simply in "symptom management" mode, and that's all we can do. We cannot rewind time and refuse the medication. Although it's unfortunate that it took this long to experience such horrible side effects, it also did what it was expected to do. It prevented my mother from delivering 2-3 months early and is a major reason why my sister and I (and your daughter) are alive and breathing in the world today. I'm angered at this pharmaceutical company for failure to follow up... to at least perform research or even read these threads all over the Internet to consider it a potential problem. But as I've stated before, it is what it is. As much as I wish they could create a miracle pill to cure all of our emotional and psychological issues contributed to this drug, I acknowledge that I have to be stronger than the drug... to prove it wrong and come out above on this. My sister and I deal with our problems every day, but we don't let this drug stop our lives or control the rest of our lives. We have to keep moving forward and improving as best as we can and not use this drug as a crutch to hold us back from doing so. My life sucks. I say it almost every day. But we have to deal with it and improve beyond it. I do wish this pharmaceutical company would eventually either claim responsibility or maybe even be investigated and found responsible. But for now, all we can do is advocate for ourselves and for each other. I'm sorry for what your family has been through from us Yutopar kids, I see your despair in my parents eyes too often. I hope your daughter has been improving and that you collectively find peace and balance as a family.