Postnatal anxiety/medication?

[Mummabear10032021]

Hey, I'm currently two weeks after having my baby girl. I'm suffering with anxiety/panic attacks. Scared I'm going to get really bad postnatal depression. I don't feel down or anything, it's more heightened anxiety. I had been suffering with my anxiety during my pregnancy and it got really bad after I had her. The past week I've actually been starting to feel somewhat better (although still could crack at any moment) until this evening when I had a bad panic attack which has since subsided but now I'm scared it will come back again. My question is, has anyone been through something similar and also has anyone ever taken medication for said problems and been able to wean off them successfully when they felt better? I have a fear of taking medication as I'm afraid I will depend on them for the rest of my life as my dad suffers with depression and he can never come off his lexapro without having a relapse . Also does this type of medication make you gain weight? Sorry for the extremely long post but hopefully someone can offer some advice. Thanks

[Watto2013]

Hi, I’m so sorry you are feeling this way. I had my second DC 3 months ago. My first is 4 y/o. I had terrible PNA ( probably PND also) with her. Are you breastfeeding? I struggled for 10 months before I reached out for help. It was getting worse and worse. Eventually I took a therapeutic dose of citalopram and it was a lifesaver. I look back now with such sadness that I let it reach that point before I acted. I went on an amazing family trip for my brother’s wedding at 5 mnths PP and I cried recently thinking about the state I was in the whole time I was there.

I have been having panic attacks again over the past month and it’s now reached a point again where the anxiety is intolerable. My husband is off with me over the summer and i want to remember this time more fondly so I have my sertraline and have decided to take it again from tomorrow. I bf exclusively so was deliberating because it’s hard to make decisions with anxiety.

my mum was on paxil for over 20 years and due to the length of time she had success tapering over 2.5 years v slowly.

I tapered from citalopram between babies but supplements with adaptogens such as ashwagandha, rhodiola and others and that worked great. I’ll do that again when I want to taper next time as these herbs are really good for boosting your mood. I also want to use the time I’m on medication to read self help books, exercise and get into good habits go give
myself the best chance of tapering off medication with success. But right now I need the help of medication as postpartum is not the time for me to be taking an anti medication stand because it is so severe. Hope this helps.

[SiouxsieSiouxStiletto]

How are you getting in now @Mummabear10032021? Did you decide to take the medication? I'm

[Mummabear10032021]

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto hey I'm slowly getting a bit better. Some days are better than others. I haven't taken any medication yet, I said I would give myself a month before to see and if I'm still bad I will definitely consider

[fourlambbhunas]

I know this is an old thread but just wanted to put a message on for anyone searching and finding this thread while going through a hard time. I have had anxiety and ocd my whole life and exactly 1 week after I gave birth I had a full on breakdown. I couldn't sit still, couldn't watch telly, couldn't relax or eat. I was so anxious and restless that I wasn't functioning at all, and my husband had to take time off work as I couldn't take care of myself or our 3yo and newborn. I struggled like this for 9 weeks until I finally gave in and tried sertraline from the doctor. On day three I started to see the improvements and within 2 weeks all of it had gone and I had no anxiety or ocd for the first time in my life! I stayed on sertraline for 1 year before I started slowly reducing the dose. I'm now 3 months fully off them and I still have no anxiety at all which is strange because I've always been an anxious person. Just a story of hope as I was so scared to be reliant on medication for the rest of my life. Having said that if I ever needed the medication again I would accept it in a heartbeat because I truly feel like it gave me my life back xxx

[Watto2013]

Agreed. I kept my dose at 50mg and have stayed there whilst breastfeeding and the medication has been a lifesaver. I’m not tapering anytime soon. And will cross that bridge when o get to it, but I’m immensely grateful that this postpartum period has keen tolerable thanks to my medication.

[Watto2013]

When I wrote the first post I was really anxious about everything and worried about medication and coming off it - I don’t feel like that now. I’m just enjoying this time.

[NatiBarden97]

Sorry to jump on this post after a month but just wondering how you got on with this?

I had my baby 11 days ago and what I'm feeling sounds exactly like you and I'm so scared I'm going to get postnatal depression and not love my baby 😭

I know I love him to bits but there's always this niggling thought at the back of my mind.

[Mummabear10032021]

@NatiBarden97 Awh huge congratulations on your little boy. I will let you know we're doing amazing now. It will get better, I promise you. I had the exact same thoughts as you but trust me, they're only stupid intrusive thoughts and they scare you because you do love your baby so much. It's ok not to have a "bond" straight away. Don't beat yourself up over it. You have been through trauma to get this baby here. My little one is 7 months old now and is so much fun. She has settled into our family so much and her big brother adores her just as much as we do.
Mind yourself and be easy on yourself. This too shall pass 🩷

[twitchybum]

@NatiBarden97

Sorry to jump on this post after a month but just wondering how you got on with this?

I had my baby 11 days ago and what I'm feeling sounds exactly like you and I'm so scared I'm going to get postnatal depression and not love my baby 😭

I know I love him to bits but there's always this niggling thought at the back of my mind.

Congratulations to you ❤️ I'm so sorry you're struggling. It's still really early days and it could be something as simple as baby blues which is very common from day 7-14 post partum. Having said that if you feel like you're struggling call your doctor or midwife, there's so many options that can help you, you don't have to struggle through it. It's such a hard time, you're exhausted and hormonal, it all feels so difficult in those first few weeks xx

[twitchybum]

Also for anyone searching and finding this thread, severe postpartum anxiety can be a symptom of postpartum thyroiditis so ask your doctor to check your thyroid levels