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what happens if you have PND but dont take drugs?

70 replies

jetjets · 09/03/2007 13:26

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DimpledThighs · 09/03/2007 13:29

it can do but it can get worse.

why are you asking - are you okay?

raspberryberet · 09/03/2007 13:31

I started with PND when dd was about 6 months old and didn't get treatment until she was three. I wish I'd gone for help sooner but I thought it would get better on its own. It didn't.

Are you OK, jetjets?

scatterbrain · 09/03/2007 13:35

I think it can go on it's own - mine lifted a lot when I went back to work - but when I am stressed like now it comes back again. My dd is 6 now so I'm not sure that I can still call it PND really - but I never had it before !

I also think that as life returns partly to normal it does get better ! I just loathed being stuck at home with a baby - I hated all the baby group stuff and was desperate for adult company.

I did do the ADs for a while and they lessened it - but didn't get rid of it - then I stopped them and went back to work.

You really should talk to your GP !

jetjets · 09/03/2007 13:44

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scatterbrain · 09/03/2007 13:47

Have you tried St John's Wort ? That can help ?

How old is you lo ?

DimpledThighs · 09/03/2007 13:49

not st.john's wort if you are breastfeeding though.

How are you feeling jetjets?

jetjets · 09/03/2007 14:05

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jetjets · 09/03/2007 14:06

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jetjets · 09/03/2007 14:07

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raspberryberet · 09/03/2007 14:07

If you're still there, come back and talk to us. Talking can help sometimes, and there's always someone here to listen.

If you can't talk to us, please go and see the GP. If you don't think you can talk to him, write it all down on a piece of paper and give the paper to the GP. But please go and get some help.

raspberryberet · 09/03/2007 14:09

Oh, there you are. Glad you came back.

It really sounds as if you could do with some help. It doesn't have to be ads, the GP can refer you for talking therapies if you feel they would be better.

jetjets · 09/03/2007 14:17

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boredwithlife · 09/03/2007 14:18

Not really - you still feel depressed 10 years later, but you learn to get on with life with it bubbling under the surface.

scatterbrain · 09/03/2007 14:28

I was just like you - I saw DD as someone to be DEALT WITH - she was my job and I had to do it. But Boy I did not enjoy it !

I loved her to bits and had wanted her for so long (took a few years to conceive) - but the reality of the situation was hard !

I am quite a control-freaky person and used to having people at work do what I asked them to - so I think partly the fact that I could not control dd was at the root of my problem.

The thing is - I didn't want to be dependent on drugs either, I thought I could deal with it myself and I couldn't. I should have persevered with the ADs but I didn't want to. But the thing really is that this is not your fault - you aren't feeling liek this on purpose and you must look at it as an illness - it is after all an imbalance in the chemicals in your brain. If you had diabetes you'd take insulin wouldn't you ??

Go and see the GP - take the AD's for a little while and they'll give you the strength to cope and then you can start dealing with it ! Treat the ADs like a kind of crutch if you like !

raspberryberet · 09/03/2007 14:32

Oh sweetheart, of course you can be helped.

It's part of the depression that makes you feel you can't, that you have to cope with it all yourself. But you don't, really you don't.

Ads aren't a crutch - and even if they are, does it matter? If your leg was broken you'd get medical help, if your stomach wasn't working properly you'd get medical help - why not accept help when you have a problem like depression? It's an illness, just like any other.

Ads aren't forever, in most cases. They let your brain get back to normal - is that so bad? And even if you decided against the ads, there is other help out there. But you have to ask for it.

scatterbrain · 09/03/2007 14:35

OK - so without drugs you need a plan !!!

What about your current life don't you like ?

What did you do before ? Did yopu like that ? Could you go back ?

Is there something else that you'd like to try ?

How can you make these things happen ?

Talk to us, we can help !!

scatterbrain · 09/03/2007 14:58

jetjets - CAT me if you like, I think we think the same !

mykidsareincharge · 09/03/2007 15:25

jet jets I'm sorry you are feeling like this. I am going through similar feelings... I told my mum eventually, and like you regretted it the minute the words were out of my mouth. I get scared people will think I don't love my LOs (2 and 8 wks) and that the problem wont go away. Within a week of telling my mum I had managed to tell my dp and the health visitor - both talked me into going to the GP. I have been taking ADs for a little while and have had some counselling with the Health Visitor (who has been fab). It has made a big difference to me and although I still carry a lot of the anxiety I have stopped crying and stopped putting quite so much pressure on myself to feel rosy and wonderful all the time.

I really hope you can keep talking to people about it - I believe it has helped me stay sane. I don't know if I've made the right choice taking AD's but I do know they are helping.

sending you lots of support vibes x

DimpledThighs · 09/03/2007 16:13

we know you love your child - you can have PND and still love your child. I was so like you - I really understand. If it will help I will give you a blow by blow account of what happened, how I felt and what I did.

jetjets · 09/03/2007 17:53

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stressteddy · 09/03/2007 17:57

jetjets please don't feel alone. your experiences will and have been repeated so many times by others. I think there is always such a massive adjustment to it all and this can cause such strange emotions . Sending you a hug x

scatterbrain · 09/03/2007 18:38

I'll try and CAT you now jetjets - then we can have an email chat if you like !

I am a past master at over-analysing and think think thinking - sometimes its good but sometimes its bad !

Another thing that slightly helps me is treating things as smaller chunks - they seem a bit more manageable that way !

I'll CAT you now !

jhyesmum · 09/03/2007 18:41

St johns wort and Bach's rescue remedy may help you. It did my sister.

Good luck xx

DimpledThighs · 09/03/2007 19:20

I don't mind airing it in public.

tell you what am going out for a drink so will return with my tale around midnight when I am a little more lubricated.

DimpledThighs · 09/03/2007 19:21

(and I never learned to work the CAT thing!)