How to Find a Doctor? and Other Questions

[KaliShanti]

How do you find a psychotherapist & a doctor who will understand PPD/PP Anxiety and possibly psychosis? Is there a website to find a doctor? Hotline who can help actually locate a person in the local medical community who won't just write a prescription of Zoloft without lab work or insist it's "just sleep deprivation"?

More specifically, anyone know of any doctor to go to in Colorado Springs or Pueblo, CO?

Also, please tell me where you find studies that show in DETAIL which medications are safe to take while breastfeeding?

I'd like testimonies please. Thank you so much.

[mom0810]

www.postpartum.net is full of info and has a resources center where you can find a therapist.

Zoloft is very safe while breastfeeding, as are many other drugs. I took zoloft while nursing ds1 and while pregnant and nursing ds2 and everything is/was wonderful. You can check Dr. Hale's website for information about safety of zoloft while nursing.

The most important thing is a healthy mother. There are many safe treatments while nursing and the best thing one can do is to take advantage of them.

[mom0810]

[e-mail]

Here is the email of the Colorado Coordinator for Postpartum Support International. PLEASE email her and she can give you someone in the Co. Springs or Pueblo area. I remember your past emails. You need to get her help NOW. This should not have gone on for another week, please contact the person above and find her the help she needs today.

Best wishes to you and I am always available for questions.

Dr. Hale's website has a TON of info about how very safe zoloft is while breastfeeding. Not even TRACE amounts of it can be found in babies' blood even at the highest doses. There were two new studies that came out last summer about the safety of zoloft in pregnancy. It is extremely safe.

The priority is to get to a place where therapy can work. It does not sound like this is happening without meds in this case, so they really are necessary. Part of the disease of PPD is the fear of the meds. Hypervigilance over the baby and over-concern for the health of the baby, etc. If doctors and therapists are saying the meds are necessary, they ARE. Especially with hallucinations, etc. Zoloft is like baby aspirin compared to some of the other stuff she could be taking... it's really really safe.

[KaliShanti]

What is Dr Hale's website? Thanks.

Postpartumsupport.net does not have resources for drs or therapists. I have looked all over the internet and tried to find help for this for days; now I am coming here.

[e-mail]

Here is the email of the Colorado Coordinator for Postpartum Support International. PLEASE email her and she can give you someone in the Co. Springs or Pueblo area. I remember your past emails. You need to get her help NOW. This should not have gone on for another week, please contact the person above and find her the help she needs today.

Thank you for this email. We will email her today.

You can't make a person do anything. I have been trying my hardest to do what I can, including talking with her hubby. I am leaving her house tomorrow and yesterday told her husband that I will not leave without us taking some sort of decisive "next step".

Dr. Hale's website has a TON of info about how very safe zoloft is while breastfeeding. Not even TRACE amounts of it can be found in babies' blood even at the highest doses. There were two new studies that came out last summer about the safety of zoloft in pregnancy. It is extremely safe.

Se says she is open to do whatever it takes, but she has zoloft sitting in her cabinet right now and is opposed to taking it. I will continue to try showing her, but the thing is that she insists to try the natural rout first with serotonin supplements. ?? She would be more open if she could hear it from the mouth of a doctor who is typically a more "natural" type doctor and who advocates breastfeeding and who get to know her you know? She went to a dr. last week and it wasn't a good experience. This sets back in ways. She won't get the lab results from blood tests until tomorrow.

[mom0810]

I got the email above from www.postpartum.net. There is a section along the side when you click on "resources". That is how I found my current therapist.

I don't know if it helps her to come to this website or not, but here under PPD, there are a TON of posts from moms like me who have taken zoloft. We are ALL natural minded and we all have done it and it has helped. Those of us who took meds are very happy with our decision.

If it helps, my family doctor at the time I started meds is a very holistic doctor, does homebirths, is selective with vaccines and/or does not do them.. and he was all for the meds. If you need them, take them. Same with our homeopath, and our chiro.

Also, the serotonin supplements are VERY unsafe while nursing. Those DO get into breastmilk and CAN harm the baby's brain. Zoloft, again, does not.

She needs to get into a therapist who specializes in PPD. That is first priority. Is she still hallucinating? She may have to be forced to take meds against her will. It is for her sake and the kids' sake.

I really hope you can get her to accept help. Meds really do have their place and are very safe. Even the Mood Cure book, which talks about natural supplements like 5-HTP for depression, says NOT TO TAKE IT WHILE NURSING. Please tell her not to try anything like that. Only the prescription meds and only under a dr's care. It's highly important.

[KaliShanti]

*sigh* She IS taking 5HPT. Where is a link that says it's unsafe?

This is so hard.

[mom0810]

There is information all over the web. I know in Julia Ross' book, the Mood Cure, she specifically states NOT to TAKE 5HTP while nursing. It is dangerous for her and for the baby. And, if she has had hallucinations, it is especially dangerous to take. I know that Kellymom has info on 5HTP and other herbs while nursing. That one is really not safe at all, because it DOES get into the breast milk and DOES affect that baby's brain, unlike zoloft.

IF SHE HAD BEEN TAKING 5HTP, she needs at LEAST a week to detox from it, preferably two, before she can take the zoloft. Pretty risky stuff to be messing around with. She should be under a doctor's care right now.

She really needs to be under a psychiatrist's care.

[mom0810]

5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan)
This is found in some diet pills and is a natural amino acid which is the immediate precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin. There are no data on its transfer into human milk. Per Hale, 5-HTP is not recommended for nursing moms because an infant's neurological development is incredibly sensitive to serotonin levels and we do not know if 5-HTP could produce high milk levels (and thus lead to an overdose to the infant). The manufacturer reports that 5-HTP can suppress lactation.

From Kellymom.

The difference is, we KNOW that UNDETECTABLE amounts of zoloft get into milk. We do NOT know how much 5HTP gets in. So it is really unsafe and irresponsible to take 5HTP vs. Zoloft.

Also, she risks serotonin syndrome if she takes 5HTP and the zoloft. Look that up... it's really scary.

My suggestion is to get her to a hospital asap. If it's against her will, then so be it. But she is doing more harm than good right now and needs to get to a place where she can accept treatment. Things can be SO much better. She just has to accept the help.

I've been really worried... I hope she is okay.

[KaliShanti]

Well, I left her house yesterday to go back to my home (in TX). I did email the Colorado contact for PP Support International and I hope she'll get back to me for references for therapists.

On the last day I was there, she finally took a dosage of Zoloft, after I had showed her all the evidence for it and against 5HPT. So she won't be taking 5HPT anymore. She supposedly got back her lab results to see if there are any thyroid issues. etc. I guess we'll see if there are any factors contributing to this. I am going to continue to check up on her & her hubby regularly to ensure things are going in the right direction for them.