At what point does ‘the odd bad day’ become PND

[Cagliostro]

Been meaning to post this for a while so forcing myself to before I go to sleep.

Just as the title says really. Have got by pretty well so far (baby is nearly 16w), had the odd wobble but can pull myself out of it and still manage to get stuff done, let myself have a bad day and move on. Until this last week or so. Not sure if I’m slipping.

But also not sure if I’m worrying more than I need to and getting myself more stressed. Or maybe I’m just lying to myself that I ever had a chance of escaping it this time.

I don’t know what to do. ADs make me feel so flat and I’m not sure I can handle that plus side effects etc again. Baby has been an absolute dream this time (big gap since middle child, and she’s fitted in to our family so easily). Really thought it could be different. Am I wrong?

Thoughts appreciated sorry for the ramble.

[DorynownotFloundering]

If you had it before, then you probably are seeing the signs earlier which is no bad thing.

I totally get what you mean about ads making you feel flat, did the same to me but they did help me get back on top of it & second time get off them more quickly in the long run. Can you have a chat with your GP or nurse practitioner ?

for you, it's shit but you are doing the right thing by addressing it early. Oh & congrats on the gorgeous bundle too !

[milkjetmum]

After dd1 I felt was only having about 1 'bad' day a month so it couldn't be 'real' PND. But ultimately the bad days were so bad that in the end on my 2nd discussion with GP I decided to take AD. I guess it depends on what you mean by a bad day. For me, a bad day meant persistent thoughts about running away or that everyone would be better without me, wouldn't it be good if I could just disappear etc, and from my past pre-children episodes of depression I knew that for me these was the early warning signs which could ultimately progress to self-harm.

Same as you I felt like as the early days were OK it couldn't be real PND, but I think the adrenaline just got me through the newborn weeks! I think I started on AD when dd1 was around 5 months old. Needless to say, really glad I did. Whatever you decide to do, my advice is to talk with your GP, and be honest with yourself about what you would advise a friend to do if they described the same symptoms.