Postpartum Anxiety? - Page 2

[mediumcrunch]

with such a young baby xanax may be contraindicated. i took it when my son was 4 months old. if you do give it a try, start at the lowest dose and watch your baby for excessive sleepiness.
i believe xanax has the shortest half-life of all the benzos.
find a good psych who deals with PPD/PPA if you can but take what you can get from your GP/OB while you wait to get in.

[thefragile7393]

Some great books--The Anxiety And Phobia Workbook, Edmund Bourne (any of his books are great)
The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook: Practical Skills to Help You Overcome Anxiety, Worry, Panic Attacks, Obsessions, and Compulsions
by Pamela Wiegartz

Pregnant on Prozac: The Essential Guide to Making the Best Decision for You and Your Baby
~ Shoshana S. Bennett
Shoshana Bennett is a wonderful resource for all this, she has a few great books out.
Motherrisk.org is a great resource about medications and breastmilk.....I used them while pregnant with my son and stuck on a med I could not come off of (Effexor XR) and was able to safely take that and Klonopin prn during and after pregnancy.

I've dealt with this crapola most of my post-pubescent life (anxiety and depression that is)

[Aufilia]

First I wanted to suggested that you call your doctor back and ask for an appointment sooner than 2 weeks. You should NOT have to wait 2 weeks for PPD/anxiety to be treated. Does our dr know that's what you're coming for? Because if s/he does and thinks waiting 2 weeks is ok, then I would have concerns about how seriously he/she is going to take you at all.

Anyhow, I have had postpartum anxiety with both my kids. You do not need to stop breastfeeding to take medication. I took 25mg of Zoloft for the first 7 months of DD's life, and I'm taking 50mg of Zoloft now with DS. I also have taken low-dose clonazepam (0.5mg dose) for immediate anxiety relief and help falling asleep with both, for a few days to break the anxiety cycle before the Zoloft could kick in. Hale approves of both Zoloft and clonazepam (kloponin) while breastfeeding.

[catters]

Hi, I don't want to thread hijack, but I feel like this is happening to me, too. But my baby is 7.5 months old now. I am within the last couple weeks becoming consumed with anxiety for my children. I didn't have this problem after my son was born two and half years ago. My anxiety is beginning to simply make me start obsessing about their safety and having fearful thoughts that are very very obtrusive. I keep hearing about babies getting killed accidentally or getting a horrible illness and I keep thinking, "Why wouldn't this happen to me?" to the point where I am afraid to just be happy because I don't want to get "caught" unprepared and have tragedy strike. I attribute a lot of this to my current situation: we moved from FLorida to Wisconsin two weeks after my daughter was born. I had a cesarean. (both were by cesarean). My husband works A LOT. A lot, a lot. I have no family here. It is now cold and horrible (weather wise, Wisconsin is a very nice place) here in Wisconsin. We are moving AGAIN (thankfully back to Florida) in the summer, so that is something to look forward to. But we will be renting again, for who knows how long until we can afford a house. So, lack of stability, lack of any real strong network (I have some friends but, you know, no besties). I do have a history of anxiety and I was doing so well for so long, but now, it's rearing its ugly head and I feel like I am floundering. I feel like I am constantly working at keeping this house clean and have no time for myself. But I know I just need to ask my husband to take the kids for a time and I could go do some Yoga or other things that I enjoy. I am just making excuses and I feel out of shape, unhealthy and unhappy. I LOVE my family and having children is the biggest blessing in the world. I am just so worried about something happening to them. It seems every day something sets me off to worrying. Just today I was browsing around the internet and ran into this site where people write the name of their baby who has passed away into the sand. Well, I have this beautiful picture of my daughter's name written in the sand that I took (and wrote) before she was born and before we even knew she was a she and now I feel like I doomed her or something!! WTF??! I hate this.
So, sorry to hijack. I was actually just coming on here to post a topic with the exact same title. Thanks for the all the positive responses.

By the way:
-yes, I am breastfeeding
-I take Omega 3's (about 3000 mg daily)
-2000 mg of Vitamin D
-A flintstones vitamin
-fenugreek 3x day
-I have ativan for extreme circumstances scripted to me by my last OB.
-I have NO doctor here and since we're moving again, I almost feel like, "what's the point". Besides, I have no way to get to the doctor (as my husband is at work - I do have a car) and I am not leaving my kids with someone I don't know... is that a bad excuse?!


So... Thanks if you've read this. I just needed to write it out.

Originally Posted by thefragile7393

Some great books--The Anxiety And Phobia Workbook, Edmund Bourne (any of his books are great)
The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook: Practical Skills to Help You Overcome Anxiety, Worry, Panic Attacks, Obsessions, and Compulsions
by Pamela Wiegartz

Pregnant on Prozac: The Essential Guide to Making the Best Decision for You and Your Baby
~ Shoshana S. Bennett
Shoshana Bennett is a wonderful resource for all this, she has a few great books out.
Motherrisk.org is a great resource about medications and breastmilk.....I used them while pregnant with my son and stuck on a med I could not come off of (Effexor XR) and was able to safely take that and Klonopin prn during and after pregnancy.

I've dealt with this crapola most of my post-pubescent life (anxiety and depression that is)

Thanks for the recs! I actually have done the Anxiety and Phobia workbook a long time ago when I was in therapy (long before I had children). IT might be time to try that again. As well, thank you for the other recs.

OP, I hope you feel well soon.

[thefragile7393]

Catters, I hope YOU feel better soon....you have a lot of situational stressors right now. And lets be honest...therapy can help if you can afford it....sometimes even sliding scale is too expensive, so I've found that books can be the next best thing, provided that you are determined to follow through with the exercises and practice them. I'd also recommend This Isn't What I Expected, from Karen Kleiman, and Valerie Raskin. Again I have no vested interest in any of these books, except I've been in the system for so many years, part of groups, worked in the behavioral health sector...and these are ones that many have recommended to me or that I've found have helped me.

[mediumcrunch]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

First I wanted to suggested that you call your doctor back and ask for an appointment sooner than 2 weeks. You should NOT have to wait 2 weeks for PPD/anxiety to be treated. Does our dr know that's what you're coming for? Because if s/he does and thinks waiting 2 weeks is ok, then I would have concerns about how seriously he/she is going to take you at all.
.

I believe the OP is in the UK and access to HCP's (especially specialists) there often isn't as easy as calling and saying "I need to get in earlier."
In that regard, we in the US are somewhat spoiled.

[ithappened]

In that regard, we in the US are somewhat spoiled.

yeap. Im in the EU and the specialist won't just let you in unless you have private insurance or you can pay upfront.. you have to wait along with everyone else. . .

[estercita]

Just wanted to chime in with my experience. I developed severe insomnia when my baby was 3.5 months old (now 14 mos.). I had no idea what was happening to me, having never had any mental health problems whatsoever and no history of insomnia other than 3 weeks at beginning of 3rd trimester. As a person who rarely took medication for anything, it was extremely difficult for me to go to the pharmaceutical route, but I credit my well-being today to that decision. And I continued to BF the whole time. That period was truly the lowest in my life.

I ended up taking Zoloft, but didn't find real relief from insomnia until increasing the dosage to 150mg about 10 weeks into my treatment. I initially tried many sleep meds & none of them worked consistently. Remeron is what finally worked & allowed me to sleep. After taking that for a month in May, I just took it as needed. Since early October I've only taken Remeron twice--both times for clearly identifiable sleep disruptions. I'm sleeping great once again.

I share this just to assure you that it is possible to get better and to find meds compatible with BF. You'll make it through!

[JackieW]

hey there, so im dealing w/ similar feelings. sadness has pretty much replaced total anxiety... i suggest that you find someone in your area that does cranial sacral massage. i just had it done and it was great. it's a total head and jaw massage that releases tension and lets the cerebral fluid flow to your brain. you should check it out, it may give you some relief. good luck!

[JackieW]

hey there, so im dealing w/ similar feelings. sadness has pretty much replaced total anxiety... i suggest that you find someone in your area that does cranial sacral massage. i just had it done and it was great. it's a total head and jaw massage that releases tension and lets the cerebral fluid flow to your brain. you should check it out, it may give you some relief. good luck!

[LemonPie]

Wow, I'm so glad for this thread. I've definitely been dealing with some PPA this time around (babe is 15 mos). I had a placental abruption followed by an emergency c-section and I can't believe I didn't make the connection between the two until I read your post, Catters.

Mine manifests mainly as irrational fears about my family's safety, and I've also had some intermittent problems with racing thoughts and grinding my teeth in my sleep. And lately I've had some pretty serious nightmares, which is something I've never had a problem with, so think it's related. Overall though, my symptoms are pretty mild and I find that if I'm getting regular sleep and exercise it pretty much eliminates the problems. I had a flare-up recently though when my baby went through a bad teething spell and was getting up a lot in the night.

Hugs to all you mamas.

[ithappened]

I've also had some intermittent problems with racing thoughts and grinding my teeth in my sleep.

yeah that started for me this week. I also get such bad knots in my stomach I got to the point I can just eat plain white bread and brown rice with yogurt.. it comes and goes.. at the moment its not too bad but the weekend was really rough for me.

[annekh23]

Originally Posted by mediumcrunch

I believe the OP is in the UK and access to HCP's (especially specialists) there often isn't as easy as calling and saying "I need to get in earlier."
In that regard, we in the US are somewhat spoiled.

Actually in the UK they are legally obliged to get you in with a GP within 48hrs and if you want to see your named doctor within 5 days. How this is implemented varies from practice to practice and it doesn't apply to specialists, which you need referral to, but even then, because it's all one system, the GP has ways of making things happen, which does include the ability to see a psychiatrist the same day without admitting you to hospital.

When I had PPD in the UK, when we finally realised there was a problem, I was able to see my GP the next day.

This episode started in pregnancy and had a much slower slide into it, so I got a recommendation for a psychiatrist and made an appointment, which was about 6 weeks out, in the mean time I slipped further and decided I needed to start meds ASAP, it was pretty hard for me to convince the receptionist at my primary care doctor that I needed an emergency appointment.

I've had a rough time this time, not responding to meds, I'm happy at this stage that I'm getting treatment that I wouldn't be getting in the UK, but I wonder if it would have even got to this point, had I been in the UK, I'd have gone into a mother and baby unit and possibly stayed for a month or more. Here, with no such thing and mental health wards being very different places from the UK, I was constantly fighting to stay out of hospital because hospital here would be a fast turn around attempt to stabilise you whilst also separating you from your baby.

[UrbanMamma]

I had late onset PPA/D (around 8-9 months) that was further complicated by thyroid issues. I was having some pretty severe insomnia issues, waking in the middle of the night to worry about pretty much anything, even things I could logically talk myself through would still keep reappearing. I was able to ID the thyroid though some good guesses about both my hair falling out (for a second time!) and having serious memory and brain fog issues. These issues mostly resolved with thyroid meds (that too takes time), but I wasn't able to kick the anxiety with just my thyroid meds. This was further complicated with an insurance move that allowed me to "hide" the extent of the anxiety as I changed primary care and OBGYN physicians.

Eventually (about 10 weeks later) I went on Celexa - an antidepressant known for helping anxiety as well. It gave me my life back within a couple of weeks and continued to help as I recovered from the physical and emotional wreck I had become by my child's first birthday. My only regret was strenuously resisting PPD meds when I first found the thyroid stuff. I needed it then, but I was so worried about breastfeeding that I wouldn't consider it. Turns out that a lot of these older PPD meds are ok - not great but not awful - for breastfeeding. I was able to breastfeed well past 18 months. Now, a year later, I'm weaning off of Celexa and doing pretty well.

I think it is really important to be honest about your current condition, your anxiety triggers, and your coping mechanisms for anxiety. I tried to deny PPD on the basis that I was more anxious than depressed. I've come to realize is that I've always trended towards an anxious type of depression but was able to do a lot more self care and coping when I was childless. To deal with anxiety, I would make lists and buckle down to get things taken care of while augmenting with things like an hour yoga class daily, etc. While I was ok with the unpredictability of my new child, I wasn't doing well with the unpredictability of everything else in my world. Even with the best husband and support, I couldn't cope enough. Meds were essential to get me back up to a stabalized point where I could learn some new self coping mechanisms and become the parent I really wanted to be to my son.

[Joliem]

I had anxiety and irritability after my baby was born and my naturalpath doc wanted me to try taking essential amino acids...you could look into that...good luck!

[ithappened]

I've started using the bach rescue remedy, I also am making more of an effort to get sleep (even if that means going to bed at 7pm) and exercising everyday- even if its just a 30 min walk or exercise video..

So far its helping mostly but I still have strong attacks now and then. . . but at least its something.