Stress or Something Else?

I'm not sure of your daily routine, but my first instinct is to ask you if you have some sort of outlet for these feelings. For example: working out alone or with friends, meeting friends for dinner once a week, or even spend a night away once a month. After my girls were born, I began meeting friends for dinner once a week to get out of the house. This seemed to stop any frustrations I felt at home and really made me more focused on my family. Best of luck to you!

It does sound like the PPD is not helping this situation. I went on Zoloft after mine, too, but I can also say tha 25mg is generally considered a "starter" dose rather than a "maintenance" dose. So if you felt like you were getting better and then it plateaued or you're going downhill some, it's probably your body getting acclimated to the dose you're on.

Another thought--it appears (just between you, me, and the other comment (sorry, I didn't note your name :( ), Zoloft is the drug of choice for nursing moms with PPD. I would talk to your doctor and see if there's something else you can try. Considering the amount of medications out there right now, there has to be something else relatively safe for nursing mothers; although I know several drugs are too new to even discuss safety for pregnancy or nursing. Just like the same Percocet that made me too loopy to take it was mild enough for another person to take like candy, our bodies are all different and some medications flat out do not work.

With two small children, also just go easy on yourself. Even the best kids are still kids. :)

Carrie,
As I starting reading your post, I thought, "OH God... I have been there. I wonder if she is on the pill?!" And then when I read that you were on it... I was EXACTLY in the place that you were in the last time I went on the pill. I was a crazy woman... horribly depressed and crying, then ripping someone's head off, then laughing... people thought I was bipolar, I swear, and I was beginning to believe them that I needed psychiatric treatment. WELL, I changed insurance and went off the pill (too expensive) and MAGICALLY, I got better. I am telling you, the day that pill cleared my system, it was like a fog lifted, LITERALLY!! It was absolutely wonderful!! GET OFF THAT PILL!!!! You may find that you don't need the zoloft then either.

Be careful though... we now have a beautiful baby boy as a result! :-)

Currently, I have an IUD and I am having some of the same symptoms, but not to the extreme that I had them before. I am hoping that as my sleep patterns become more regular (as the baby gets older... he's 3 months) then it will all level out.

Good luck.

Hang in there! After I had kids I started having problems taking the pill, I told my DOC it made me feel like a raging lunatic! I'm now on a lower dose also but I just started taking them so I'm not sure yet if it will help. I'm thinking about getting the new no-hormone IUD, a friend has it and loves it. That might be something to consider for you also.
I know that wasn't the advice you were hooping for, but it might help to know that you are not alone. I'm glad you are seeing your doctor tomorrow and hopefullly you'll get it worked out.

Talk to your Doctor. I went through something like that with my first son at about 5-7 months after he was born. I was having problems stress at work when I started back after he was born when he was six weeks old. During the initial screening with my doctor, the doctor suggestions and after revising my schedules things got a little better. Getting enough rest and getting out in the sunlight (exercize) eased the symptoms for a while.

However things got really bad when my son was about 5-6 months old. I also was incredably hungy and started go gain weight really quickly and my throught hurt. I was diagnossed with post-partium thyroidosis. A dose of steroids corrected the problem.

During my second pregancy in 2006, I found an article on thyriodosis and it can cause/contribute to ppd. If your doctor has not done a complete blood workup, have them do one. Good luck.

Hi Carrie,
This happened to me about 8 years ago upon getting on a "low-dose" pill, as well. It made me crazy. I was literally a roller coaster of emotion, screaming and crying hysterically and being fine the next. Sometimes I would throw myself on the floor and just cry for no reason. It was odd and bizarre, but it stopped after I got off the pill and hasn't happened since. Even though I tried several different types and brands of the pill, they all gave me terrible mood swing problems. I've come to realize that I can not be on those types of hormones for birth control. I now use the Mirena IUD and LOVE IT!!!! Everything will turn out great, but I recommend that you get off the pill ASAP. It's not doing you any good if it's making you miserable. I know it's doing it's job by preventing pregnancy, but other things do that too, without the awful side effects.
Good Luck!
K.

You are so not alone, but at least you are tring to get help for yourself. I also feel the same way, it probly is stress, like you I also have a lot of it. I am a single mom of 2 boys, I am a full time student, so it is very hard tring to juggle both the boys their homework, and mine also. Their father doesn't help much cause he doesn't call often and when he gets them its only for a few hours on one day of his weekend. I keep telling myself that I should go talk to a dr. but, when do I have the time, so I think it's great that you are going for help. Trust me its better that you are. I hope it all works out for you!!!

I get the same way, i feel just like you . I am on 20 mg of prozac. But i still get that way even on it. My son has some issues. But other than that i have everything ive every wanted. I get frusterated also with it.but i think stress really is a contributer. Everyone tells me to excercise more. Which helps but i hat excercising. I am on the prozac also for post pardum. But my child is a year and half and i have a four year old. I cannot seem to get off of it and when i try i take everything to heart. I know this won't help ya. I feel the same but don't know what to do about it. I have just tried to learn to deal and i have notices that i need to schedule time away because if i don't that is when i break down. So once a week or every other week go get a massage or go out with a friend it helps.

I would encourage you to pursue the possibility that the birth control pills are causing many of your symptoms... "low dose" or not. Every time I've tried to be on them, I get very emotionally unstable. Way too many highs and lows for my family... as much as we want the "birth control" aspect of it, the hormones make me nuts and it just isn't worth it for us.

Also, many women don't see improvement from Zoloft for PPD. I thought it made me more of a zombie, and didn't do as much for my depression as I had expected. And it made my sex drive practically zilch, which caused more stress and anxiety due to my dh's disappointment. It's usually the first choice for nursing moms, but it's not the only choice.

You don't say what city you gave birth in, but if it's Columbus you might consider looking into the resources at the Elizabeth Blackwell Center at Riverside ###-###-####). They have wonderful parenting consultants that you can talk with (to help you strategize ways to make your family life run smoother) and you might also ask the lactation consultants for more information on the best medications to talk with your doctor about for PPD (they can discuss what the research says about the safety of each medicine while breastfeeding... something many doctors might not be aware of).

Aside from that, I would also say that many women notice PPD gets worse, not better, when breastfeeding is discontinued (no more of those "happy hormones") so I would encourage you to try to sort through your other options before the "discontinue breastfeeding" option that many women consider without realizing the potential hormonal consequences.

Best wishes... know that many of us have been there, and we're wishing you well as you sort through this!

Hi my name is G. and i am a mother of two children 6 & 4. i couldn't help but to respond to your issue because i went through something very similar but i got a lot worse and it is brought on by stress and i am a person that worries about everything. What set my body over the top was when we moved, but my first episode wasn't until i relax for the first time in months. We finally sold our house and i felt relieved and good but my body shut down and i started getting rashes, feeling dizzy all the time, paranode, thinking bad thoughts and knowing the whole time that it wasn't true, but the thoughts wouldn't get out of my head. I think that was the most fustrating part that i had no control over what was happening to me, so that made my situation worse. I work out a lot and i couldn't work out anymore with out getting heart palpatations and hyperventalating and one time it sent me into a full blow panic attack where i couldn't move my arms and legs and i got rushed to the emergency room.

After almost 6 months of doctors, tests and bills everything keep coming back normal, but i was far from feeling it. i finally was diagnosised with anxiety, paranoide disorder. i got on celexa for 4 months and every month i tried to stop but all my symtomes would come back until the 4th month. it killed me get on a drug, but my mind was so shot that I had no choice. The one thing I learned was the mind is a lot stronger than your body. i have been good since April without any drugs. Also i have never had any issues in my life until then. one of the best things to do is talk about it because it helps you feel better. i hope i helped a little i just know how scared i was and couldn't find anyone with my issues.

I'm with you on this one. I had the PPD thing and the same dose of Zoloft. It really helped me though--actually getting a stretch of at least 5 hours of sleep helped. So I only took it until baby was 3 months old. But now I have the wild mood swings and I know it is my hormones. My poor husband! I was put on a low dose birth control too, and dread taking it because I feel like my moods are even worse. As a matter of fact, I plan on calling the OBGYN about it today. I don't think my household can handle the turmoil! I bet you are right that the birth control is a factor as well as the stress. You have so much happening right now and probably very little time for you to just veg out without worrying about how you are going to have to work twice as hard to catch up. Maybe that is not the case, but I do know that it is for me. I would talk to the Doc about this as soon as possible. Why waste another day feeling unhappy?

Hi Carrie-
Not sure if this will help or not, but I took Zoloft for PPD also. The things I found that were happening to me were, yes....I was not having emotional meltdowns every day, but I was feeling nothing. Couldn't laugh, cry, smile, nothing. I hated that. Then I started noticing that I was having very weird thoughts and dreams, and I mean weird and scary. It could be the Zoloft. I'm not suggesting that you stop taking it, but when I did, the weird thoughts stopped.

Yes. This has happened to me, after BOTH children. First time I was placed on a very small dosage of birth control after my first child. After second child, I went on the patch...for a week...I turned into a raging lunatic! I ripped it off immediately and my hormones settled down within 24 hours. That was 5 years ago and haven't been on them since. Meanwhile, I've had a tubal and have been on some high-quality supplements and feel GREAT!!! Not to mention the lack of concern for another pregnancy...:)

Why do you feel so terrible? Let me address your stress concern and please know that I understand!!! Even though oxygen is necessary for life itself, it is inherently dangerous for our existence. In the process of utilizing oxygen within your cells to create energy, you also create a by-product referred to as free radicals. Free radicals are charged oxygen molecules that are missing at least one electron and desire to get an electron from the surrounding area. If it is not readily neutralized by an antioxidant, which has the ability to give this free radical the electron it desires, it can go on to create more volatile free radicals causing damage to the cell wall, vessel wall, proteins, fats, and even the DNA nucleus of the cell. So the same process that turns a cut apple brown or rusts metal is causing you to rust inside. In fact, the medical literature now shows us that over 70 chronic degenerative diseases are the result of this process. Diseases like Coronary Artery Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Parkinson’s, Arthritis, Macular Degeneration, MS, Lupus, and others are the result of small oxidative changes that occur over a long period of time. It is all about Balance
The number of free radicals you produce is not steady. In other words, some days you produce more than others. Because of our stressful lifestyles, polluted environment and over-medicated society, this generation must deal with more free radicals than any previous generation that has ever walked the face of the earth. If you want to prevent oxidative stress, you need to have more antioxidants available along with their supporting nutrients than the number of free radicals you produce. You see, we are not defenseless against this process. Antioxidants are the answer.

Long email, but I hope it was helpful.

You are loved,
D.