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How much longer do I have to feel like this?

365 replies

Depressedmum32 · 14/10/2004 10:29

Can some one give some advice please, I just recently gave birth to my 4th baby and for the rist month I felt fantastic and was flying round doing everything. Iwas so wired that one night I was cleaning my windows at 5am after feeding ds!!!Then I started to feel ill, like I had the flu, kept feelomg dizzy and this went on for couple of weeks before I collapsed with chest pain and was rushed to hospital. Was told I had a blood clot on my ling and spent the whole weekend feeling hysterical, had to stop breastfeeding as I was on blood thinners. Cried cos I missed my children so much and thought I was going to die. Then they told me I had no blood clot just pleurisy and sent me home. I first felt relieved to be home and with children but after a couple of days I started to have Panic attacks for no reason, I was just suddenly get this rush of fear and feel terrified. Then I started waking up in the night with my heart racing hystarical with fear, so eventually I was on;y getting 1 hours sleep a night. During the day I was sitting around thinking of all the things I could drop dead from and then 2 weeks ago I suddenly felt wierd, A sense of unreality which terrified me even more. Kept going to the docs where they diagnosed pnd and prescribed ad's. Referred to cpn but no appt till oct 26th. Refused to take the ad's as I was so scared of all the possible awful side effects and convinced myself I just needed to sleep.Dh took a few days off work and I did feel a bit better after getting some rest in the day, but sleep at night. non existant. When I did go to sleep, I kept having awful dreams and waking up. Hv came on monday and said I had to take the cipralex just to lift me enough to the things that would make me feel better.Started on 5mg as Isuffer from panic and immediately the panic became worse, so the second night could only get to sleep with the aid of sleeping tabs. I am now day 4 and I feel wrethched, nauseas and panicky, still feel dazed as though I am not really here and that frightens me. Didnt feel depressed until I started to feel wierd, its the wierdness the t depresses me, is this normal pnd? I just want to feel human again.

OP posts:
Spacecadet · 27/10/2004 23:15

Yes but i am so tired

suedonim · 27/10/2004 23:16

Could you sleep now, do you think?

Spacecadet · 27/10/2004 23:17

my gps are not on call after hours round here, you have to phone camdoc and they take houre to phone back and then they usually tell you to go to hospital, they wont visit you cos they are based at a centre, I would be better off seeing my own gp in the morning

Spacecadet · 27/10/2004 23:19

I dont know i am exhausted but my mind wont switch off this is how all this started a few weeks ago but with worries about my own heaklth, I hadnt got better after all just switched worries.

PuffTheMagicDragon · 27/10/2004 23:20

Spacecadet, it usually goes quiet on here around 11.30pm, but I am happy to stay up for a couple of hours and be on here if you need someone.

I can understand some of what you are going through from personal experience, but not all.

Has there been any mention of you being referred to an actual psychiatrist, with CPN meetings in between?

Given how much distress you are in I don't understand why you haven't been referred to one.

Psychiatrists (generally) are so much more knowledgeable about appropriate medication for mental health problems and seeing one may get to the heart of the matter more quickly.

suedonim · 27/10/2004 23:21

Okay, I understand, I think it's a similar system here nowadays.

What do you do to unwind, usually? Warm bath? A mug of hot milk? Listening to soothing music? Any of those help?

MummyToSteven · 27/10/2004 23:22

i think PMD is right - that there seems to have been a lot of diagnosing going on, by HVS/GPS/CPNs whilst you would benefit from more expert input from a psychiatrist. a psychiatrist may also be able to get you some form of priority referral for CBT or start you off on some appropriate self-help techniques yourself

essbee · 27/10/2004 23:22

Message withdrawn

MummyToSteven · 27/10/2004 23:25

if you do try and get to sleep, what worked best for me when trying to stop the racing thoughts was to shut things out of my mind by counting down from 1,000 to try and get to sleep and just focussing on the numbers (sort of like counting sheep without the sheep!).

suedonim · 27/10/2004 23:25

The brain-in-overdrive syndrome is just awful, I really sympathise. It feels like a Grand Prix circuit in your head, doesn't it? And no matter how hard you try, it will not switch off, it just leaps from one thing to another.

MummyToSteven · 27/10/2004 23:26

my msn is [email protected]

PuffTheMagicDragon · 27/10/2004 23:30

Spacecadet, am disappearing for 10 mins but will be back shortly.

I've read through the whole thread and think you are an AMAZING person who DESERVES to be well again.

When you see your GP tomorrow, please ask for a referral to a psychiatrist. Don't be scared - they will be interested only in helping you to get well again.

Back soon.

suedonim · 27/10/2004 23:52

How are you feeling now, Spacecadet?

PuffTheMagicDragon · 27/10/2004 23:56

Just checking back in, am around for at least another hour, have also sent you a message via CAT.

suedonim · 28/10/2004 00:02

Hope you're MSNing someone Spacecadet (sorry, I'm not up to speed on MSN!) and will be okay until morning. Take care.

mumwithnoname · 28/10/2004 00:04

Just retrieved the computer off my teens! If you can't sleep tonight maybe you could keep posting for a bit longer I'm sure someone will be around for a while longer, some of the psychiatric websites are worth a look too. Found laying in bed with a whiling brain torchor, so I'd just pass the time.You could be suffering withdrawal from the ADs. I'm on cipralex and when I tried to reduce my dose in summer I became really ill (suicidal). A friend of mine got Buspirone from her gp and found it really good and faster acting than most so its maybe worth a mention to you gp tomorrowTake carexx

essbee · 28/10/2004 00:08

Message withdrawn

PuffTheMagicDragon · 28/10/2004 00:14

Thanks essbee, let us know how she's doing.

PuffTheMagicDragon · 28/10/2004 01:06

Am going to bed now.

Thinking of you Spacecadet.

night night xxxx

If you feel up to it, let us know how you are doing tomorrow.

essbee · 28/10/2004 01:14

Message withdrawn

MummyToSteven · 28/10/2004 01:30

am off to bed now. hope you get some decent sleep tonight, and feel better tomorrow morning.

PuffTheMagicDragon · 28/10/2004 01:36

Thanks for letting us know essbee.

really am going to bed now.

Spacecadet · 28/10/2004 01:48

Just to let you know that i have had a long chat with essbee and calmed down a bit, i am going to the gp tomorrow and i think i will prob end up back on ads feel absolutely exhausted but dont know if ill sleep properly. mts i have added you to my contact list.I thought i was getting better but iwas wrong wasnt exactly truthful with the cpn when i saw her, now i have to tell the whole truth.I am crying again because i cant beleive how low i have sunk, feel ashamed actually, feel anxious bout going to bed cos i will have to check on dd over and over again. sigh...

marthamoo · 28/10/2004 07:51

Spacecadet - I hope you managed to get some sleep. Are you going to go and see your GP today? You're right - you have to be completely honest about how you are feeling and how bad things are. It is so hard to do that - our instinct is not to let down our barriers so much that we show others how bad we are feeling. But you know you need some help - you have to do it. for your children, if not for yourself.

I found it so hard to tell my doctor how I was feeling - what a wreck I was. She did ask me if I felt I would hurt my ds - and luckily I was able to say, truthfully, that I wouldn't - and she didn't question that or doubt I was telling the truth. Being frightened that something is going to happen to your dd is not the same as being frightened you are going to hurt her.

I can sympathise so much with your dh's lack of understanding. It hurts, doesn't it? My dh just could not grasp why I was in such a terrible state. It must have been quite frightening for him: a heavily pregnant, fairly cheerful, only slightly crazy woman went into hospital - and what came home didn't bear much resemblance to that person. Instead of the happy Mum of a new baby he was expecting he got a person who would wail and rock back and forth, refuse to go near the baby, and not speak, sleep, eat or wash for days on end. He pretty much left me to it - he told me much later that it was his sink or swim theory: if he left me to cope I would. I didn't though - I sank like a stone. Perhaps your dh is the same - he thinks by not acknowledging how bad things are, you will somehow come back from all this by yourself. You can't - I don't believe it's possible to do it without help. Like mine, your dh needs a wake-up call - he can't stay in denial, you need him.

You have NO REASON to feel ashamed. That's like saying you're ashamed you have flu, or a broken leg. You are ill - it isn't your fault, and you need help to get better, it's as simple (I wish!) as that.

MTS knows far more about OCD than I do - can you afford to see someone for private CBT, as she suggests? If not I think you definitely need to see a psychiatrist - someone who specialises in OCD and/or PND. It's just another name for a doctor - and it's what they are there for. PLEASE be honest with your GP about everything - don't be brave. If you think you won't be able to get the words out, write it all down beforehand and give him/her the piece of paper.

I wish I could make it better for you. I wish the support here on MN would make it better - wave that magic wand. It just isn't that easy and the person who has to get through it is you. You can do it though - I came back - and so have many, many other people. Life doesn't have to be like this - you are entitled to enjoy your baby daughter. I wish you strength to get through this. Please let us know how you get on at the GPs. Take care.

nasa · 28/10/2004 08:31

don't feel ashmed spacecadet, you're just not well at the moment but with help you will get better. How are you feelign this morning? Let us know how you get on at the doctors. Thinking of you.
x