Ante Natal Depression - Moral Support Help/Advice Please

[iris66]

Has anyone any experience of this? at what point in your pg did it kick in. Are you more prone to PND?

Iris66 - can i ask have you had PND at any point or is this your first pregnancy? I suffered PND with my first and am now 13 weeks pregnant and have been feeling extremely low. Not so much depressed i guess - more lethargic, no motivation and no energy. Could be the same thing?

Iris - It kicked in with me at 32 wks. Scored 18 on the Edinburgh test. Actually felt suicidal briefly. But it went away before the baby was born and I didn't even develop PND again!

My friend developed it much earlier on and took AD's throughout her pregnancy.

How pregnant are you?

Hi Iris,

I've been feeling really shit for the past few days, I so wanted a baby and have gone through IVF to achieve it and for the past 10 weeks or so I've been having a lot of ligament pains, now have high BP which is being treated with tablets and I just feel very down.

I'm 26.4 weeks and this weekend it has really hit me, I am wondering how I'm going to cope with labour, get the baby out and cope with sleepless nights. Will I love the baby once he is born??? There is so many "what if's" going through my head and what with all my crappy symptoms I just want to curl up in bed and cry!

Should add.. it was both mine and my friends 2nd pregnancy after suffering from PND after our first.

I think mine was brought on by the anxiety and fear of plummeting into that black hole again and feeling like a total failure.

But I recovered fully!

Hi Iris

I suffered dreadfully from AND in my first pregnancy (a long time ago now!). I felt like I was in a black hole throughout the pregnancy and was convinced that it meant I would also suffer from PND. However, as soon as dd was born the depression vanished - no sign whatsoever of PND. I went on to have ds and did not suffer either AND or PND with that pregnancy. I should add that I am prone to depression anyway, so it wasn't something entirely new to me. I think I suffered AND in my first pregnancy because I felt terrified. With the second pregnancy I was confident that I would be able to cope.

What's your experience?

I loved being pg 1st time (no problems, normal delivery, no PND) but have been feeling low (in various degrees) throughout this one. Am now 28 weeks & have just come out of a particularly bad period - as you said, lethargic, no energy, but v tearful too. No idea what is causing it so am looking seriously for some advice

I developed depression during my pregancy with DD snd started taking ADs when I was 12 weeks pregnant. She is 6 weeks tomorrow and I am still taking them, but feel so much better than I thought I would now.

Iris66 - Hormones hormones hormones!!

Have you spoken to the mw or hv?

I also feel that midwives etc dont really support this and just tell you "it's because you are pregnant" every time you have a problem.

Fangache's right - I'm convinced that hormonal changes can trigger depression because my first bout of depression was when I hit puberty. Do talk to your mw or gp - help is available

3K - I can understand the fear driver. Mine at the mo is that I'm filling the baby up with all my misery & he's going to be completely unsettleable when he's born (irrational I know but..) What I don't get is that I am more confident with this pg - have again had very few problems (apart from old age!) but feel utterly useless. DH told me I'd lost it the other day whilst I was in mid rant - not a good sign.

Iris66 - thank you so much for this thread - i was starting to think i was going mad for feeling this way!

I am tearful too and cannot force myself to laugh at anything atm. Also, cant see the positive in anything. I didnt take any ads for my pnd first time round and managed to get through it by talking and a good network of friends. However, atm i am working alot and dont see my friends, so am feeling very very lonely.

Was tested for anaemia last week as Dr thought my symptoms sounded like that but tbh i think i may have AND. How r u coping with it?

Hi Iris, some old threads here . Rhubarb's excellent site has gone it seems but there were some wise words on those threads. You're not alone.

Mandy - thought I was going mad too until I stumbled across someone else commenting on another thread about feeling pants. Easier to start a thread if you think you're helping someone else
I'm sort of coping but I don't think my family is enjoying it. Feel guilty for traumatising teenage DD with my outbursts (now vowing never to have children) and DH tolerance is wearing very thin.
HRH - thanks for the link I'll read in slow time in a mo.

Fangache/Spacedonkey - I do suffer with hormone imbalances so I'm sure you're right. Have GTT on Fri so will see mw then and have a chat.
Mandy/3K - I've noticed that I'm worse when I don't eat regularly (have lost my apetite and have to remind myself to eat at the mo) might it be worth you keeping a mental note of what/when you're eating?

Iris I'm having a sugar test on Friday too, I have had high blood pressure for the past few weeks and doc put me on tablets on Friday. I get very shakey and feel unwell most mornings so having the test on Friday with the nurse at the surgery and also have to have my water checked for protein incase of pre-eclampsia

Hi Iris I'm due in Jan as well (from the Jan board) and I'm feeling really down right now as well. I didn't have PND in my last pregnancy but have suffered from depression in the past. I think I'm feeling low about all the other things that have gone/are going on in my life and the pregnancy seems to be just something else to cope with. I'm also worried about how I am going to cope with 2 under 2 (I know should have thought about it before now) but the realisation is dawning on me. Am also suffering really bad ligament pain and I think when you are struggling to get up the stairs every day it doesn't do your mood much good.

Just wanted to say you are not the only one.

PicadillyCircus - what are you taking (if you don't mind me asking) I am not very good with medicine as I have an irrational need to feel exactly what's going on with my body (and my rational brain asks why?!)

Hiya SK .. the things we keep quiet when we chat eh

3K - we can compare notes about the GTT on Fri afternoon! - not looking forward to that as DH away all week and I'm scared of hospitals too -oh joy!(sorry - struggling to stay jolly today)

yep, but it was more a case of having a bad bout of OCD, which then then triggered depression. I started taking ADs at 30 weeks PG.

I think you are more likely to be prone to PND if the antenatal depression is untreated - I think I have read that one in three women with AND will develop PND if the AND isn't treated.

I found that I felt a lot better once I started taking the Pill at 8 weeks post natal - I think that hormones were partly to blame.

Hope you find your MW helpful.

Hello Iris
No helpful advice but wanted to say that I had antenatal depression with 2 out of 3 of my pgs. Interestingly it was with both the girls. Not sure if its an excess hormone thing. I had had depression in past but not for long time before my first pg. With both of them it kicked in about 16 weeks and finished about 32. First time around I felt terrible, really guilty, nobody talks about it really, and I felt bad because I wasnt blooming. I had a good HV though. This time around it wasnt as severe and came and went a bit and I guess I didnt give myself such a hard time about it. I didnt have postnatal depression first time around, but am struggling to come to terms with fact that my baby blues are dragging on rather a long time this time, dd2 is 13 weeks.

My best advice is to realise its not just you, its much more common than you think, and talk to whoever you can for support. It will pass. Good luckx

Thanks everso much for all your advice. I think actually talking (ok, writing) about it has helped me to conciously accept that firstly, there is a slight problem here, that it has a name and is very common and, secondly, that I am not some abnormal psycho woman who is teetering on the verge of losing her marbles permanently! It's also a great comfort to hear other people's experiences and the positive outcomes you've had. I'll speak to mw on Fri so will let you know how I get on. ((hugs)) to you all.

My doctor thought I had 'and' at 25 weeks and wanted to perscribe AD's - I refused. I felt sure it was not depression but worry about the birth (I'd had a bad time having ds)

I gave birth 6 weeks ago and all the panic, lack of sleep- worry and 'not myself fog'has gone - my dd is great and I'm very happy no sign of pnd at all.

All the stats I've seen show you are no more likely to have pnd if you suffer depression in pregancy than a woman that didn't.

Hi there,

I had pre-natal depression with my first pregnancy. I used to have weekly appointments at the doctors for a "friendly chat" which of course was really a sort of counselling. I had the same feelings as mentioned before.... will i love the baby, how will i look after it, how will i know what it wants when it cries etc etc etc. i managed to get through on just those weekly sessions and somehow managed to cope fairly well for the first 2 weeks. My mum died suddenly and unexpectedly when Jessica was 2 weeks old, so the grief mixed with everything else (DH army, was in Iraq when mum died), led to PND. I was on AD's from August - December and then decided to come off them.

I fell pregnnat again in the January, and was fine throughout Rebecca's pregnancy - a few health issues, but mood wise, generally fine. Rebecca is 1 week old now and so far, touch wood, all is well..... ask me again next week once DH is back at work.

I really hope you have a good support network around you, i know how you are feeling and it is serious hard work xxxx