Post Natal Depression - 2

[susanmt]

Here we go, this should make things easier!!

Hi folks!!

I got my homeopathic (recommended by gp)remedy on Friday and all is going very well!! It's called Sepia.

I find that my worst time now is when my period is due (TODAY!!) and the few days before that. I dare say it's probably the same for most of you. I've been taking it for 3 days now and .....
..... nothing!
No weeping
No snapping
No lethargy.
Much to my boyf's delight!
WOW! It doesn't stop the cramps though.... ouch.

I'm very lucky in the respect that my GP is huge campaigner for alternative remedies, especially for depression, stress and anxiety.

I know I'm not 'cured' but if this can help me get through that one week in every month where I feel really down and hopeless then it's worth it.
You can buy it in any health food shop. In fact, my local Lloyds chemist sells it!

Breeze: Maybe you could consider trying something like that just as an extra little bit of support while you come off your pills?? DOn't know if it'll work, but it's worth a try. It seems to have taken the edge off for me.

brilliant to hear you are doing so well mum2toby. I used to be dreadful round my period but as I have finished my family I got a mirena coil put in and it has totally ironed out my hormones and everything - brilliant!

That is really good mum2toby, I wish i had regular periods, can you talk it for a long time, i mean i have not had a period since mind nov (not pregnant, this is the norm), but i have had those symptoms for weeks now.

Cheers susanmt! Glad to hear you feel great now.

Breeze: You can take it in 6c dosage permanently for chronic problems and a 30c dosage for 5 days for acute problems....if you know when you are due. I got the 6c dosage so i can take it everyday. And to top it all off.....they taste nice!! You just can't go wrong!!

Help....I have ben off my anti-depressants for about 6/7 weeks now, i am due on (as previously said have been for a while), but i worry that the symptoms i am having are not pmt but my depression returning, i have felt a bit low for a few days, and i have just picked ds up from play-school, he had 5 items (painting, drawings etc etc), and when we got home he told me who he wanted to give them too, and not one was for me, well i have just cried my eyes out.

I do not want to rush into taking pills again if this is just pmt, but i do not want to wait to act if it is pnd again.....help

Children can be so fickle, can't they!! They just don't realise how much they can hurt their parents. That would upset me too, breeze .... I get upset when ds gives daddy a cuddle, but won't give me one (happening more and more often these days....little monster!).

I'm sure there was nothing in it and I hope you feel better having typed into mumsnet. I bet it's pmt and you'll feel more in control in a few days. I definitely think you should try Sepia and let me know if it helps you.

..but for now why don't you ask him to do a picture for mummy now??

HTH and we're all rooting for you!

Thanks mum2toby, i will get some tomorrow. I was ashamed to say my ds saw me crying, bought all 5 pictures in and said 'oh okay then mummy, you can have them', i feel guilty, some days he does 5 and i get the lot and usually think (oh where am i gonna put these), so wouldn't normally affect me. hormones ahhhhhhhhgggghhhhh.
I will definately get some tomorrow. Thanks

Hi everyone, seems like everyone is going through the mill again.

I agree on the pmt front, the week before my period is due and the actual day are a bit of a nightmare, but the rest of the time i am usually ok. I have reduced my pills in the last week, down to 1 a day and am not feeling to bad on it. I am taking careful note of when my bad days are and hopefully if this pattern continue then my gp will change my medication as i do not want to remain on prozac indefinatley. The Sepia sounds good Mum2Toby, will suggest this and se if he agrees.

Some of you may have read the 'Had a HUGE row with my mother thread' that i posted a couple of weeks ago and since this i have noticed a big difference in my self esteem, tackiling the problems with my mother have helped me no end and i now realise i was constantly trying to live up to her expectations instead of what was right for me and my family. Standing up for myself has given me myself respect back, i just hope this carries on, what i am trying to say is we all have problems, and recognising them and dealing with them makes you feel more in control. It is working for me, i am not suggesting that you all have rows with your mums, mils etc but facing your demons is part of the getting better process.
IMO, HTH

I just can't believe how quickly i can go from being normal to worrying myself silly, i sitting here thinking 'what if my depression is coming back' etc etc, i couldn't bear it again, but then of course i could i have dealt with it several times now i should be a pro. wish i was. I've worried so much now that i have a really bad dizzy head.

Breeze - I know it is hard, but try not to worry, as the extra stress will only make you feel worse! I knew that I was depressed when I had 'PMT' for three weeks at a time, and cried at absolutely anything. The bad feelings started a few months ago and then seemed to get worse and worse slowly over the months. If you are at all worried that it could be depression, get help now, before it takes hold really badly. If it is 'only' PMT, you will feel better as soon as you come on. That was when I REALLY knew, when I did not feel better from day one of my period.

Hope you feel better soon.

Hi Breeze, I think that the diary idea is a very good one although it does not help you at the moment. It will give you a reference point and may alleviate the stress. Since DS my PMT seems to have gone through the roof so much so that I am back on the pill again. It has taken the edge off but I do still suffer for a week prior to due date.
Chin up girl, you know your body. If you are worried then do see your GP who might be able to help. Even 'normal' people have mood swings!

Thanks for your kind words and support, had about 4 hrs sleep last night, suprisingly not cause i was worrying but ds had a bad cough, woke positively today, decided i will keep a diary, on the whole i am feeling a bit better. I know i used to get mood-swings and pmt before i had my ds, but thats the problem with my depression, everything goes under the microscope.

Ah Breeze, you've just summed it up for me perfectly!!! Everything really does go under the microscope doesn't it??!
Before I had ds I still worried, but things got put into perspective and I could force myslef not to dwell on things eg. arguments, financial worries, something I may have said to upset someone etc etc....
... but now I can worry for hours about whether we have enough bread to last us until tomorrow!!! After a very minor confrontation at work i even considered resigning because i was so worried about the atmosphere afterwards (which was non-existant, everyone else had moved on and forgotten about it!)!!!

If my Mum says she'll phone, and then forgets I'm distraught!! My boyf can't understand how I can let really 'trivial' (trivial to him! They seem pretty damn important to me at the time!)things upset me and distract me for days on end!

I had about 4 hours sleep too. Ds thought 1am was a nice time to start crying and having a tantrum!!!

GLad to hear you feel better-ish. All in all, I still feel ok. Although I bit boyfs head off a few times last night..... but he's used to that now and he just kept quiet!! I've NEARLY got him trained!! I'll keep working on him though.

Glad we can relate to each other, the most bizare thing i worried about, was the things were going well and i had nothing to worry about!!!!.

When i am ok and go into a room and forget what i went in for its a case of 'silly cow', but when i am depressed its a case of 'oh now my memory is going whats the cause of this blah blah blah'.

I get paranoid about things now, if a friend cancels i think 'what have a done to upset her', and i question in my mind whatever people say i think they are getting at me when they make perfectly normal comments.

Mum2toby, I have asked that my email address is passed on to you, so that you can email me, as we seem to relate to each other quite a bit, i hope you do not mind and contact me.

you know what...sorry to butt in on all the chat, but aren't you all just wonderful?

I am new to here and "breeze" recommended this site after I posted a desperate message last night about my extreme and acute anxiety, panic attacks etc etc

I have read all these postings and feel flippin better already
thanks so much, I wish I had found this site sooner.

I too am trying the AD road but am not too comfortable with it after a bad experience several years ago. My son is 6 mths old and wonderful. In fact my problem is just how I feel, not him!

anyone else feel like they are on a boat sometimes on AD's? kind of sea sick almost? dizzy, off balance, it throws me into a great deal of panic.

I am learning to cope with it after reading a book by Dr. Claire Weekes regarding Panic, anxiety etc (excellent book...teaches you how to deal with situations and how you feel, however I need a bit of medical help too at the moment to help me see things a bit clearer!)

Anyway as usual I am waffling, so off I go to bed now.....thanks everyone.....

I saw my GP yesterday and came down to the bottom dose on my tablets! Hoooray!! Hoping things will stay good, as everything has been fine recently. Am a little nervous!

Well done Susanmt!!! So glad to hear things are going well.

Things are ok with me too. The sunshine is helping my mood.

Now been on the lower dose for a fortnight and no bad effects! I could finally be better!!! HHooooray!!

My baby is 19 weeks old and very very challenging. She doesn't like much, not feeding, not visitors, not nursery, not bathing, not the pushchair, not the car, not getting changed.....not me!
Why isn't she happy, I do all the right things with her, sing, smile, go out, where ami going wrong?
Is it any wonder I feel down and what can I do about it, surely my mood will improve when and if she becomes a more pleasant baby?

See PND/panic attack thread sarita.

UUUUUrrrrrrghhhh!
I've had to go back up the dose. In fact I think I'm going to have to go back up to the dose above the one I was on to sort it out. Have got all weird, not thinking straight, funny thoughts about being a bad mother, not coping with looking after the kids, panicking and having hyperventilation attacks etc ... B***r! Just when I thought things were fine too!
Ah well, back to the shrink probably!

Susanmt, I know ehere you are coming from, I had to go back on them several times because I was getting all "weird again", do not see it as a failure, just not ready yet. How old are your child/ren. I have been off my pills about 4 months now and hopefully that is it, even though I still find myself thinking weird things.

My eldest (dd) is 3+1 months and ds is 13 months. I've been on the tablets since he was born, as I had such a bad depression after dd was born (was in hospital, had serious drugs and ECT in the end) - I was doing so much better this time, I thought, feel disappointed more than upset really I think.

I mean dd is 3 years 1 month!