How long did your postpartum depression last? What symptoms did you have and how did you cope?

[user242526]

Hi,

Would anyone please like to share their postpartum depression experiences? What symptoms they had and how it felt and when and how it got better?

9 months PP. A difficult pregnancy and had a difficult few months with baby having CMPA.

I know it sounds stupid but I feel too scared to get help ... I worry I'd be seen as an unfit mother.

I adore my daughter however it's been hard.

Thanks.

Mine started a few weeks after birth but had been present throughout pregnancy but I had just ignored it and pushed it away. My first symptoms were the intrusive thoughts, feeling worthless and low. I also became quite angry and just didn’t have any patience with anyone. I always loved and felt very bonded to my daughter though.

I’ve learned that PPD can present so differently in different people, so what I experienced may be completely different to how you might be feeling. I contacted my health visitor who put me in touch with the perinatal team who were fantastic. I started Sertraline and therapy with a psychiatrist. It was hard work, but worth it. I noticed a huge shift once my daughter was 15 months old, this is when I was discharged.

Getting the right help was the best thing I could have done, I honestly do not recognise the person who I was this time last year. That first step is always hard but you owe it to yourself, it will be worth it.

@Fairyrose89 thank you for sharing your experience. I'm glad that you've come out the other side.

I worry that they'll take my daughter away? I know it sounds stupid but my PPD isn't just PPD it's also PPA and it's related to thoughts such as:

1. I hope my daughter doesn't have a terminally ill diagnosis
2. Does she think I'm a bad mum?
3. What if she hasn't bonded with me?
4. What if she gets taken away?
5. Would she be better off with a wealthier mum?

That's an example of the thoughts and getting help scares me incase they think I'm not good enough for her.

In terms of PPD I feel like I don't have the same patience, I feel overwhelmed and tired all the time, I also have intrusive thoughts and feel like I can't connect with my partner properly even though I do love him but something feels different. I just feel angry for some reason.

Anyone else?

hello OP!

just wanted to reassure you that your little one won’t be taken away. I had far worse intrusive thoughts and do still have days when I struggle with them and my baby has not been taken away.

I am on medication and do therapy. I’ve been on meds for 4 months now and things and so so much better. I still have anxious days but nothing like I did.