Treatments for PND?

[MixedBerries]

Hi all. Please can I ask those of you who have had post natal depression, what treatment were you provided with and was it effective? Also, how long do you feel it took to recover? Did anything else help?
My DS is 10 weeks old and it's obvious to me and everyone else that I'm having problems. I've been on fluoxetine before but was advised that it's not compatible with bf. I've had bad reactions to other SSRIs.
Thanks for any shared experiences and hope you're all feeling much improved now.

sorry to hear that. I had pnd after my third child two years ago, and it was hellish, but I am completely recovered now. I had escitalopram (started when I gave up BF at 4 months to go on it) which worked great for me, though it took ages for me to wean myself off it. breast feeding is great if you can do it, but if you need to stop to be on anti-depressants that works for you, I personally would since you need to feel good so you can care for your baby. I would really suggest you speak again to your gp, and try posting under mental health. things take time to improve. I also did something called 'moodscope' for a while - if you google it you will see, though with a tiny baby you might not get time to do it! also (and it sounds daft but works for me) I listen to the CD from paul mckenna called 'i can make you happy', though only since the acute phase settled down. i really sympathise, but please believe that this is temporary, help is out there, and you will soon start to feel better I am sure. I hope 2012 is a really good year for you x

Hi lu9months, thanks for replying. Very glad to hear you're recovered now- that's encouraging. I was on escitalopram a few years ago for anxiety and had the most horrendous reaction to it! I tried a few others and ended staying on fluoxetine for a few years. There weren't awful side effects but nor do I think it helped much. I'll look into your other suggestions and I'm going to the docs this week (for my postnatal check) so I'll see what they say. I'd be devastated to give up BF as we've had a hard time with DS having tongue tie but, like you say, if I have to, I have to. Again, thanks for replying and happy new year to you. I really hope this gets better.

Sorry to hear you've been suffering too. If you've had bad reactions to SSRI's in the past you could consider the older style tricyclics - amitriptyline is compatible with bf-ing. I'm on it and bf with no probs.

Tricyclics are also particularly good if you're anxious alongside depressed. One of the side effects is that they 'can' make you drowsy but I've found that as anxiety was my main issue theyve just taken the edge off that, rather than made me more drowsy day-to-day. I also take them inthe evening when winding down for the day anyway. They took a good 2-3 weeks to kick in, but I had a couple of counselling assessments during that time which helped bridge tr gap.

Have you also been offered talking therapy/counselling? Really the two (drugs and talk) should go hand in hand. Even just joining the baby group at my local Sure Start children's centre helped a great deal, talking to other new parents etc...

I hope you are on the mend soon, PND really is completely treatable. Some of us just need our thermostats re-booting after pregnancy (and in my case, traumatic births). Best of luck to you.