ppd and no insurance...natural "remedy"?

[sosurreal09]

I have PPD not all that severe i guess just more i can't deal with crying so I just try and keep her happy all day and night...but I have 0 energy and have not been myself for a long time now. I have trouble getting off the damn couch lately and just stay online a lot as an "outlet" I guess.

anyway I was on zoloft for like 2 months and it made me more depressed...less angry...but more depressed. I don't get angry anymore really which is good and have not been on any meds for at least 6 months now.

I have heard ht5p (or w/e it is) works great with insitolin (or something lol I suck at remembering names of things) but you can't take that while BFing.

DD is 15 m/o and still avidly nursing...I know I need some help though and don't want another script and I don't have insurance anyways...

so what about St. John's wart? is that ok while BFing? what dose do you think? Is there something else I could try?

my diet has been lacking lately too and I am in the process of eliminating dairy again b/c I have been feeling so much worse lately since I re-introduced it.

[Annie Mac]

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/herbal-remedies/motherwort-herbal-remedies.htm

Here is an article on motherwort. A friend of mine said it helped her.

[sosurreal09]

it doesn't say anything about depression, but she used it for that?

[KoalaMommy]

you could try St. John's wart, it is probably safe for breastfeeding.  My hunch is that if zoloft didn't work for you, 5htp might not work either.  It could well be that you need an SNRI, not an SSRI, that your depression is caused by both low seratonin and norepinehprine.  If you're looking for a natural remedy, I'd check out the book The Mood Cure by Julia Ross.  She cautions against using these remedies while nursing or pregnant, but they are primarily amino acids, and Dr. Hale says (while he doesn't think these work) that the breast regulates the amino acid content of milk and so they are not likely to affect the baby, though he has no research to back that up. 

[Annie Mac]

sosurreal: yes, she used it specifically for PPD.

[Annie Mac]

"Because of its ability to improve mental outlook and reduce the effects of stress, some herbalists feel motherwort tea can help minimize the risk of postpartum depression. In such cases, motherwort combines well with linden flower and ginger tinctures."

This is taken from the article.

[Intoit]

You could also be deficient in Vitamin D, as are many americans who don't sufficiently supplement with it. I'd suffered with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) for 10+ years with a number of bad episodes , tried most of the meds out there only to get temporary relief with a lot of unwanted side effects. When I learned how low D levels can adversely affect neurotransmitters and hormones, I decided to begin supplementing, along with a change in diet. Since I didn't have insurance, I didn't get a baseline reading of my D levels when I started. Where I live, a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test runs about $150. I supplemented with 12,000 IU's of D3 daily for 8 months before I got my first blood reading, and my D level had only come up to 45, which is at the lower end of normal! It was shortly after that I was able to taper off the Zoloft/Remeron/Xanax cocktail I was taking at the time, and have since had no rebound effects from discontinuing the meds.

I'm not discrediting any of the other "natural" remedies mentioned or not, but in my efforts to avoid taking pharms I went thru all of those as well but experienced no relief. I have used MW tincture recently when I felt I needed it and it seemed to have a little bit of a calming effect, not sure how well it would have worked if I was still chemically unbalanced though. You may want to consider looking into local mental health agencies to see what kind of services are available, often you can get treatments (meds and/or therapy) free or on a sliding scale if you don't have insurance. I hope you are able to get what you need to feel better, PPD is serious and can be a lot worse for someone who has a prior history of depression. Take care and good luck