Am I starting to get over pnd or not?

[jeunemaman]

Dear All,

This is my first post on mumsnet. I have been suffering from pnd for 2 months - pretty much since birth of ds. Have been taking sertraline which was upped from 50mg to 100mg. I am having about equal numbers of good and bad days but still feel very anxious and having problems with insomnia which is what triggers the bad days. Trying to stay positive but really struggling with the bad days and feel like am not getting better as quickly as i should. I have no previous history of depression or insomnia and doc says it is purely postnatal and will definitely get better however the feelings of panic are scaring me into thinking i have given myself some sort of anxiety disorder that will never go away. Can anyone who has been there give me some advice - do you think i need to change ad or just be patient and wait for more improvements? Please help, i just want to feel myself again every day and to be able to make plans without worrying if it will be a good or bad day. Thanks.

Have you been on the ADs for 2 months or suffering from PND for 2 months and went on ADs later ?
the ADs should take a few weeks to kick in, if you upped your dose the higher dose will need to kick in as well, if you have been on the higher dose for more than 3-4 weeks and its still not working then you should go back to your GP as they might not be the right ones for you but they do need time to kick in.

i've been suffering since a few days after the birth, been on ads for 2 months and the higher dose for one month. My question is bow much can i expect from the ads? as i went to docs virtually straight away i do not really have anything to compare how i feel to - am ok about half the time, have compared good and bad days since feb and the good days seem to be increasing but very slowly. Do you think this is acceptable or there is a 'wonder' ad out there somewhere for me? Also, if you do change ad do you have to be weaned off the first one before you start new one?

Im afraid there is no wonder AD jeunemaman, its just trial and error, but if the one you are on doesnt work for you there are others to try which will work,
you say the good days seem to be increasing, i would give it another week or so to make sure you have given ADs plenty time to kick in and if you still feel that they are not doing their job then go back to your GP as they may not be the right ones for you, ive never taken sertraline, but i did have to try 3 different ADs before i found one to suit me, im currently on mirtazapine which works good for me.
Also you never mentioned if you are BF or not because that would make a big difference on what you can take.
If you do change ADs you would have to be weaned off one before taking another if you are on a high dose but if your symptoms are really bad then the GP can prescribe you a couple of weeks of anti anxiety medication or some thing similar to get you through it, like diazepam, but not if you are BF as you will be more restricted to what you can take.
As to what you can expect from the ADs, well really you should expect them to make you feel better (if they are the right ones for you ) but it will also depend on what else is going on in your life and your levels of stress, anxiety, lack of sleep etc, but at least you recognise what is wrong and are seeking help so thats half the battle,