Anxiety Help

[krismarie]

Hi mamas
I have suffered from anxiety after both of my births. It's rather crippling in the beginning, especially causing insomnia. This time around I have been feeling it for the past 10 days ALREADY (I'm 40w+4d). I've also been sick for 6 weeks which is probably contributing to the anxiety. I'm a mess right now and I still have to go through the birth.

Looking for others' insights and thoughts. I've actually never thought about meds before but woke up this morning (well, got up this morning, not much sleeping going on) and it just hit me...maybe I don't have to feel this this time.

What meds have other mamas with ppd/anxiety taken? What helps a lot with sleeping? I've been gathering info from other threads, but I'd appreciate some feedback here. thanks.

[DisplacedYooper]

I saw this post on the main page and wanted to respond...

My husband and I have had good luck with passionflower (passaflora) extract for our anxiety (granted, not combined with PPD). It's also a mild soporific, so it helps with sleep. We have used a couple of brands, but like Gaia Herbs the best.

There's not a lot of research on passionflower, but one small study shows effectiveness equal to some prescription anti-anxiety meds without the withdrawal problems. It takes a few days to kick in, so it's better to take it everyday rather than just when symptoms are bad.

http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004518.html

[momtoTnT]

I had ppd-anxiety/rage after my dd was born.

I fought it/refused to admit it for a long time - I tried a few different things (mostly vitamins/exercise etc) before I finally got myself a good therapist and a prescription for paxil. I know a LOT of people IRL who didn't do well on paxil - in addition to a lot of scary things I read about it online -so I was terrified to go that route - my therapist eased me onto it, and I took it for a year before gently weaning off of it.

It helped me tremendously - I felt free and happy - something that I hadn't felt in a long time - and also calm. Calm was a wonderful way to feel.

[TBJT]

If you are still having this problem and the other suggestions didn't help, your best bet would be ambien and clonopin. You can take both, but after a while you wont need the ambien. If youre nursing, you can take ambien, but not clonopin. It will help you sleep! Ive talked to my doctor a lot about ambien and it will not screw up your brain even if you need it for quite a while. Passionflower only worked for me when the insomnia wasn't severe. When youre a real basketcase with anxiety, you need quick, strong, and reliable.

[mom0810]

There are anti anxiety meds that are safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding. I know that I got a script for something after my ds2 was born. I had severe PPD and anxiety. I also went on zoloft which helped tremendously and is very very safe in pregnancy and nursing. It helped with the insomnia, too.

Good luck, I hope you find something that helps. Do not be afraid to go the meds route. They really truly can make life SO much better.

[marymn]

PPD with anxiety is now become a normal occurrence to many mom's in their pregnancy.


Drug Rehab

[rubyhatespets]

I see you have your new baby now so I'm not sure how much help this would be...

I had bad anxiety after both my children which led into quite severe PNI the second time. I wouldn't take Ambien or any benzos unless completely necessary.

I took Paxil too and although it was hard to get off later, it definitely made things manageable. Zoloft helped too when I later switched to that.

Non-medical things that helped were CBT, mindfulness meditation, magnesium and B vitamin supplements and omega fish oil supplements. Exercise was helpful too once I had recovered fully.

[doulawoman]

after my very traumatic c-section I took ativan...helped me sleep, helped a lot with anxiety etc. I've heard gaba can be a natural alternative