Breastfeeding and postnatal depression

[Milkhell]

Not sure where to post this as I really need to hear from those who have finished BFing rather than currently BFing so BFing board didn't seem appropriate.

Have had PND twice now and with me I'm sure hormones are the main component, although there are others.

Once I finish breastfeeding and my periods come back the anxiety and depression seem to miraculously lessen considerably.

Has anyone else had this? Mental health team and GP are dubious and think hormones are negligible.

hello milkhell

I have also had this experience after breastfeeding - I have two DCs 15 months apart, so I was continuously pregnant or bfing for 2.5yrs. I had AND and PND with both pregnancies. Because the depression started when I with the first pregnancy and has pretty much ended now I have stopped bfing, I'm sure the hormones had something to do with it! I found the "lightness" of my mood a couple of weeks after I stopped really noticeable. Although I suppose it's hard to know if there were other factors involved (I'd been to counselling etc).

Were/are you affected by pmt at all? I still feel like a moody teenager once a month...!

I don't know if medical professionals take them seriously enough but I'm sure that hormones have a
lot to answer for...

Hi there! That's really interesting actually as I'm similar - PND then when DS1 was 17 mo fell pregnant with DD. Had AND and now PND and now I've given up BFing I'm already noticing I'm more like myself.

This happened with DS1. Although two weeks before every period I'd be plummeted back to the scary place. It's weird. Long May feeling normal continue for both of us!

Needless to say no more children even though if it wasn't for the bastarding PND I'd want more. How about you?

I'm not a medical expert, so what do I know? But I have always found my hormones to have quite a large impact on my mental health.

When I was younger, I found my PMT left me feeling almost suicidal on occasion, while I would feel normal otherwise. This improved as I got older and my periods got less heavy.

And for me, I found my occasional feelings of depression are significantly improved by breastfeeding. Each time I have cut down breastfeeds at all with either child, I've suffered terrible dips in mood. When I cut down feeding DS1 in the day to return to work, I felt hugely low - not about the return to work but on a deeper, more unfathomable scale. It passed in a few weeks as my hormones stabilised. I had similar issues when I stopped bf DS1 as a toddler - a wave of hormonal misery that passed.

So can hormones impact on depression? I think mine do. But obviously I'm not qualified so may be talking rubbish as it's just an anecdote.

yes - just feeling normal is the aim and it's a lovely feeling to have! just being yourself...

I am really not sure about any more children - we'd always wanted more and now I feel okay again it feels like a possibility! But not for a good while yet - DD2 is 16months and still not a good sleeper so I need to catch up on that. And IF we decided to go for more I would need to have a strong support system in place beforehand as I really think the depression would hit again. Another option at the back of my mind is fostering/adoption, but I know DH is not currently keen.

Are you taking anything to help with the mood swings? I have been recommended various remedies and recently started on high strength omega 3 (from a thread on here!). Not sure if its a load of bollocks but I'm feeling good & steady since starting them :-)

Oh and I realise you're talking about the opposite situation to mine, Milkhell. But I still think the hormone link is there in either case.

roobyroo it's funny how they can affect people in such different ways - but yep i'd agree that the link between hormones and mental health is there.

a deep unfathomable low - i love the way you describe it. it's so hard to verbalise it at times for others to understand.

Rubyroo - massive dips for me at every dropped feed...and now it's all over a step towards feeling more normal.

The link MUST be there as prior to both children I'd never suffered with mental health probs, although I was an anxious person.

Normal is definitely the aim!

It definitely felt to me like there was a link. I had mild PND and anxiety that I sought help for but did not get so bad that I took medication. Having since stopped bfing, my symptoms have completely gone day-to-day, but I do still get PMT, which feels exactly the same - tearful, easily upset/irritated, depression, feeling out of control/dissatisfied/frustrated etc, etc, etc.

I'm positive there's a link. Every time I dropped a feed I plummeted into a frightening black depression. When I finally gave up I felt so much better. By that time I was down to 1 feed per day and dreaded stopping but after 2 years feeding it didn't affect me too badly. Due dc2 in January so have it all again soon.

I was slightly different, as my anxiety and depression turned out to be caused by a post partum thyroid condition, but I had terrible waves of both depression and anxiety whenever I fed ds2.

I don't think I managed a single feed without sobbing, but I simply couldn't stop because the guilt made me feel worse.

I started to mix feed at 4 months, and eventually gave up completely at 7.5 months.

I felt better and better as the feeds decreased, although it took a long time for my thyroid to settle.

In hindsight it was also linked to a vitamin d (and probably b) deficiency.

So, yes, I am convinced that breastfeeding and hormones were very much linked to my depression/thyroid/anxiety.

Weird.

I'm trying that Agnus Castus stuff (sp?), B vits, fish oil and normal vits.

I do try and eat healthy but fail, often...

I'm going to try and start exercising again.

Lack of sleep has a HUGE affect on me too.

Hi sitting - I'm T1 diabetic (which is linked to thyroid probs) but as yet tests are yet to pick up a thyroid problem.

I just want to feel healthy, vibrant, normal. Today has been lovely as I've felt mainly good.

When I had my hormones tested recently (when DD was fully breastfed) my estrogen was rock bottom. The figure was 53. Anything under 80 women start displaying menopausal symptoms and so that is pretty consistent with what I've been going through. Hell as you know. The GP says that my hormone profile was 'normal' for a BFing woman but then again some of us sail through menopause don't we and some don't.

BFing essentially outs our body into a state of menopause.

Estrogen is what gives us feelings of wellbeing. That's my bit of detective work anyway!

Needless to say I don't think menopause will be pretty for me...

I'm 32

Sitting with DS1 I was vit D deficient. Haven't had it tested again but I probably still will be.

A nurse my mum was talking to said they give women with panic disorder who are BFing Vit B tablets. Shame I wasn't recommended them after DS1!

I think taking a vitamin D supplement was the absolutely best thing I did. My energy levels returned to normal, after years of exhaustion.

It's been a while since I looked into it (ds2 is now 6), but I remember reading that pregnancy pretty much wiped out your vitamin D stores, and if you are borderline deficient, it can take ages to restock!

Also, if you have t1 diabetes, you are more likely to have other autoimmune conditions. My grandfather had T1 diabetes, and several of his descendants have a variety of autoimmune conditions - when my thyroid was diagnosed, the consultant says it was typical with my family history.

I would've loved more children, but the consultant basically said another pregnancy etc would trigger it all again, so I just couldn't risk it.

Can you get tested again? and any chance of being given any vitamin b? (is that the one they give in injections? not in the UK so might be slightly different there).

Because hormones affect everyone so differently it could be a case of finding what works for you. So a lot of trial & error unfortunately! I know in theory that regular exercise helps me a lot but putting it into practice is the hard bit...

Good to hear today has gone well milkhell - hope tomorrow is another positive one

Sitting - yep my whole family has a weird and wonderful array of autoimmune things. I drew the short straw and got bloody T1.

I can't risk more children now. Two near nervous breakdowns this time - although hardly surprising with diabetes, a toddler, baby, panic disorder health anxiety and depression: ha!

Thank you kat x

that's a lot for anyone! pregnancy & life after can put a strain on so many aspects of our health it's a wonder we're still going

Breastfeeding is supposed to be protective against PND on average, but like you I think it exacerbated mine. I'm not sure how much this was hormonal and how much more emotional/psychological - I think it's quite hard to separate it all out. But I definitely found that surge of dizzy/spaced feeling at let-down - which is obviously strongly physiological - really unpleasant, I hated it, though lots of women describe loving it and experiencing it as a really pleasant, relaxed, 'at one' woozy feeling. But then maybe if I hadn't been depressed and struggling with bonding/recovering from my pregnancy etc I would have experienced that intense physical sensation differently and more pleasantly.

More straightforwardly, I just didn't really enjoy breastfeeding. It hurt a lot for months and then even after it stopped hurting I just didn't enjoy the sensation and felt trapped and hot and sticky and generally found it not nice. I kept going because DS loved it so much. But I introduced the occasional bottle from quite early on and was fully mix feeding from about five or six months. I enjoyed the last few months of breastfeeding, just two or three times a day, a lot more - I stopped completely at 10 months.

I think someone else being able to help/cover the night feeding helps a lot too. The constant night waking was definitely a very big factor in my PND getting as bad as it did.