To think it should be more well known that when you stop breastfeeding you can suffer from depression

[goodiegoodieyumyum]

Would like to share and make aware.

I have slowly been stopping breastfeeding with DS 15 months it now seems that my milk had dried up all well and good. Started feeling not myself last week, absent minded, bad tempered, wanting to cry, it got worse as the weekend wore on. Yesterday spent much of the day crying and thinking things that scared me.

Went to the doctor today I had an emergency appointment, he did some blood tests and gave me valium. I have a proper appointment on Wednesday to discuss where what do from here. Reading another thread on here I learn that stopping breastfeeding can give you very bad PMS.

From this I did a bit of research on the internet to find that you can get depressed when you stop breast feeding because of the change in hormones. Now I told the pediatrician I was stopping breastfeeding a couple of months ago we talked about it but they never mentioned this to me. I should explain I live in the Netherlands and you do not just see the health visitor and you see the pediatrician as well but they also seem to keep an eye on mum and ask how you are and how you are coping so I would think it would be good to warn that you may feel a bit depressed when stopping breastfeeding.

So am I being unreasonable to think that if I had known that stopping breast feeding could make me feel this way, i may have reacted differently and maybe been able to to tell the doctor that it could be a factor.

Kelda my periods returned 6 weeks after I had ds

Tabby. I bfed my ds until he was two and definitely had terrible hormonal issues after. Felt very down. Also had worse pmt when my periods returned.

Next time I hope to fare better knowing it s relatively normal and not just me having a breakdown I wasn't expecting!

Good luck op and take it easy.

Tabby?! Bloody phone :) yanbu that was!

Thank you OP.

I didn't know either, but it now explains the awful time I had when I stopped breastfeeding DD just after I returned to work. I wasn't myself for months, and the PMS was indeed horrific.

I suspect it's played down to the point of silence so as not to put women off breastfeeding.

You may be right Eldritch, it would not stop me breastfeeding it just would have been nice to know that it can be a side affect of weaning, as then I would have had some idea why I was feeling the way I was.

Yes, exactly.

Yy, Eldritch. It really annoys me when the NHS try to sideline facts. I'm an intelligent adult and I can make my own mind up, thanks! I would have bfed no matter what, but I was stunned when the HV said 'oh, you should start giving your DD vitamin D supplements when she's 6 months, but we don't advertise that because the vitamins are in formula, so it might put people off bfeeding'.

Yanbu i had this with ds4 i actually got post natal.psychosis and stopped bfeeding, had i had proper support from hcp's i vould have continued. I got much worse once i stopped feeding, then they told me that was probably because of the hormonal changrs due to stopping!!