PND: drugs or counselling?

[CatIsSleepy]

I think I have PND
I have some good days then a run of bad days. Feeling bad right now.
dh really wants me to do something about it and god knows I do too- our home life is crap right now and some days all i want to do is cry. My Hv contacted my local MIND and I think I am on some kind of waiting list but I don't know how long.

The only alternative seems to be ADs-but I've never taken them before and I'm scared of them-side-effects, maybe feeling worse, being unable to come off them.
And I don't have much faith in my GP!

anyone got any advice, or can just offer their own experience to help me make up my mind what to do?

Hi Cat, i totally understand how you're feeling. I'm going through the same thing myself at the mo. have a 2 year old and a 4 month old and have been struggling with PND since birth of second child. Spoken to GP once at 8 week check - she said they rarely prescribe anything for PND and told me to rely on network of friends and family. Until yesterday I haven't felt able to tell my mum what's going on although I suspect she knows I;m struggling. My sis lives 100 miles away and my closest friends are both going through pretty awful times themselves so the last thing I want to do is burden them with my woes. Hubbie is trying and has suffered with reactive depression himself so i assume he understand a little of what I'm going through but he's not the kind of person to talk about things and also not very proactive so if I feel like I need a break I have to ask for it rather than him seeing that I need one - hope that sentence makes sense.

Mumsnet is proving to be a lifeline for me. Am trying to pluck up the courage to go back to GP but I just don't want every man and his dog knowing how uselss I am (I know that sounds ridiculous and it's not my fault but I can't get past not wanting to speak about it).

I really hope you find a solution that works soon and hope that meeting others makes you feel better even in the short term.

I'll keep an eye on your thread and am sending lots of love and strength your way - chin up xx

Oh Cat, I've only just found this.

Look, very belated congratulations on dd's birth and well...I don't really have any advice except I suffer from depression and have taken Lexapro for years now, but your depression is different and you'd probably benefit hugely from counselling for PND and I'd definitely change GP if you can.

You've had soeme lovely supportive advice on here and like Pooter posted, things will get better.

< big squeeze >

Drugs is my vote.

Oh Cat.

I had horrid PND after DS2. Prozac helped me lots. You cannot become addicted to them. You would possibly feel a wee tad spaced out if you stopped them but nothing major.

They really did lift my mood.

Honest.

If you ever need to talk or moan or cry just CAT. You know there are lot's of people here for you, right ?

Hey Tnog, and FF (am assuming that's you MM...?)-didn't see this when you posted as I was away-nice to hear from you

Felt better while I was away actually apart from a couple of bad days and even wasn't too bad last week (I think all that sunshine helped) but am on a bit of a downward spiral again this week.

I actually went to a counselling session last friday- a slot came up at the last minute pretty much, I only found out the night before. The silly thing is I was feeling pretty ok when I went so it was odd to be talking about feeling depressed when I was actually feeling fine.
I found it a fairly uncomfortable experience overall though (am never happy talking about my feelings). There seemed to be lots of awkward pauses when the counsellor seemed to be expecting me to say more and i didn't know what to say. I was glad when it was over!

I came out thinking I wouldn't go back. But Dh and the HV have been trying hard to get me to try at least one more session.Tbh if I was still feeling ok i wouldn't, but am feeling so shite atm i might just give it another go. But am really not sure how it's going to help me.

oh and a hug for you Littlemamma-you sound like you're in a bad way too and with a useless GP
it's no use them telling you to rely on your support network when you haven't got on
hope things get better for you