Anyone Have Dizziness, Nervousness, Sweating After Pregnancy?

hormones take a long time to settle down. it would be nice if the "rule" of weight and other changes followed the mantra of "it took you 9 month to carry the baby, it'll take you 9 month to get back to normal". it works for some, the rest keep silent or look for "abnormality". keep in mind that conventional pharmaceuticals will keep the see-saw going indefinitely, so delay or hopefully avoid them with any alternative therapy that speaks to you - TCM, herbals and botanicals, dietary changes (eliminating conventional red meat that has tons of stress hormones), i'd also use homeopathy, but i'm biased : )
Good Luck
V.

Oh man! Boy did I have that! And for MONTHS. I was told and read that it is hormones, plus it cold be stress from caring for a newborn , not the best diet or excersise. It still comes up for me somteimes, and my daughter is now 11months. Every woman is different. A good amount of hormones adjust after giving birth, but a lot of the others take longer and more slowly. I was also told a bit of it could be from breastfeeding. Good luck!

I would get the blood work you mentioned done ASAP. You could be hypoglycemic (opposite of diabetic) and have very low blood sugar. Did you have gestational diabetes while you were pregnant or were you borderline?

Go to the doctor, explain your symptoms and they'll likely do bloodwork. I developed hyperthyroidism from pregnancy, which is apparently very common. I felt dizzy, sweating (not nervous though), always hungry, I started losing a lot of weight (not as early as ten weeks). I waited too long to see a doctor, just chalked it up to breastfeeding, being tired, etc. but I felt bad for a long time. Thyroid conditions are bad for your heart. You get palpitations and your heartrate is extremely elevated. Best just to know what it is so you can be the best Mom you can be. Good luck.

I also became dizzy after my first which I had at 32 yrs of age. I passed out once in an elevator and felt the same way again in another elevator. I feel dizzy when I stand up to quickly. Turns out my blood pressure was way low. It had always been somewhat low but after kids it went really low. I had my second at 34 and still feel like I'm going to fall over at least once a day. Not pass out now but just losing my balance. Have your blood pressure cked. You can always change your diet to increase your blood pressure. I try to eat more salt. What can I say kids are h*** o* our bodies and every body handles it differently. good luck. Oh I felt nevervous a lot but I had postpardum depression with my first one and the second I did not so the nervous thing might be anxiety about the baby. Talk to your doctor or a nurse.

DEFINATELY have your hormones checked... I had similar issues and it was my thyroid..

I had this too. I was 39 when my son was born. My OB said it was all related to nursing and hormones adjusting post partum. I know it's rough but it does subside eventually. Good luch and hang in there.

I think you need to go and see your doctor right away. I had thyroid problems after both of my children, but my symptoms were shaky hands, heart racing, heat intolerant, hungry all of the time, eating a lot and still losing a pound a day... I also know that feeling dizzy could be related to low iron levels. You're idea for blood work is great. Don't put it off!

Yes I've had these symptoms since 3 months postpartum now being 5 months total.I've gone to 2 neurologist have had to MRI's with no findings. My dr put me on antidepressant to help with the anxiety by it's really not helping. I feel at a total loss everyday I'm dizzy it's like I'm in a dream state. I'm a boss of a dept store just to simply 'be normal' takes all my strength I can't do this much longer. I've been nursing now for 8 months the nightsweats have ended but the dizziness inability to focus, eye pressure is a constant. In the mornings it's not as bad as the day progresses it gets worse. I'm so full of joy to have my precious baby feeling this way is horrible I want to give her my all. I go back to my dr this week to go see yet another specialist. I can't take this anymore is there anyone out there who has felt like this and found diagnosis? Thinking this will never end makes me so anxiety ridden I feel like I'm loading it.
Thank you

Hi N.. I would go to the doctor and have them check your thyroid levels. After my first pregnancy, I found out I had Graves Disease. This is commonly misdiagnosed, and may go undetected unless a test is requested. It is very common for the onset to occur after a pregnancy.

Good luck!

Sorry to hear that you are feeling this way. I would suggest calling your doctor and getting in for an appointment ASAP. The sooner you get this diagnosed and taken care of, the better it will be for your baby and yourself. Best of luck to you!

Dizziness could be anemia. That is definitely something that happens post pregnancy. Definitely get some bloodwork done. Anxiety is normal, but if it seems excessive I would discuss that with your doctor also. It's good to get a professional opinion during this time just to feel comfortable with some of the after effects. Good luck and enjoy that sweet baby.

Hi N.,

I haven't read through all the replies so please forgive me if I'm being redundant. I think it's a good idea to get your thyroid checked as you mentioned. I've read it is pretty common for women to become hyperthyroid after pregnancy. While you're at it, maybe ask your doctor to check your iron levels too. I have thyroid problems and I was still having lots of weird symptoms even on medication and my endocrinologist checked my iron levels and discovered I was anemic. It was mostly causing weird heart symptoms, but also a dizzy weak feeling. Over the counter slow-fe fixed that right up. If you stopped taking your prenatal pills, it probably wouldn't hurt to continue them, especially if you're breastfeeding.

Having said all that, it's also amazing what stress can do to your body, and having a baby is STRESSFUL! It could just be your body reacting to all the new stress it's being put under. You know how on an airplane when they tell you to put your oxygen mask on before putting it on your child? Well, remember that it's much harder to care for your child when you don't take care of yourself first!

I hope this all gets resolved and you start feeling better soon!

Dear N.,
You are not alone. With both pregnancies, I had night sweats for several months- where I would literally wake up drenched in sweat and the nerves are something that I had for almost a year with the first. I attributed that to the stress of having a colicky baby, but maybe it has a lot to do with hormones as well. I did have my thyroid checked and was told I had something called discordant thyroid function (indicators for both hyper AND hypothyroid) which can't be treated. I am hoping that time will just take care of it all, but pregnancy truly does a number on us, doesn't it?! Hang in there- by the time your little guy is one year old you will be feeling much more "yourself".
S.

I felt the same way...but I would throw up too. My issuewas that i wasn't eating enough. It went away when I started eating more.

Your hormones are doing some re-arranging.

I am concerned about your inability to eat. This can easily cause dizziness, anxiety and nursing problems. You should be eating every 2-3 hours. Small nutritious meals. Keep nuts and fruit by your bed. Plain yogurt on your bedstand so that you can open one eye and eat at night. Eating more often can possibly take care of all of your symptoms.

Did you lose a lot of blood w/ the birth? It could also be anemia. You need to keep your iron up.

Call your doctor.

I had some pretty dangerously crazy thoughts and couldn't stop crying after the birth of my second one and went straight to my midewife. She reccommended a fantastic accupuncturist who treated me a couple of times and I was as good as new. She also had some herbal medicine.

YES!!!! OMG! Get your OB to check your thyroid.

Soooooooooooo go see your doctor. Now. If you start hallucinating, or develop a fever have someone take you to the ER...otherwise, make an appointment with your regular doc for "today".

There are five or six physical things that I can think of that could be behind this, and two of them are dangerous.

There's also 2 psychological -aka neurochemistry, so also physical- (PPD, & sleep dep), but it's safer to rule out physical and then go mental, then the other way around. Not sleeping combined with not eating, are two sure fire ways to feeling and start acting nuts. So do both. But also see your doc.

I had my pregnancies "late in life", like you. I have had that dizziness you are speaking of, it was not associated with a pregnancy, though. I wanted to go to a Dr. that would not just prescribe a drug and not really find out a cause. I went to a Dr. who happened to be located in a Chiropractor's office, and he made me go see the Chiropractor. I was not a believer before, but I sure am now. I said, "how do you know it is not a tumor or something?" and he said, I dont', but tumors are rather rare, and pinched nerves are very, very common, so I would start there first, anyway. One chiropractic adjustment and the dizziness went away and never came back. Of course I got hooked, and continued to go back for a year, but I really think it helped my overall health. The Chiropractor made us see the Dr. every 12th visit, and I came to feel that the Dr. visits were a waste of time, and that the real help was coming from the Chiropractor. Childbirth can be very h*** o* your skeleton, and it would not hurt to have it looked at. They take x-rays first (Palmar method), and then adjust your neck the way it needs to go. Don't fall asleep on the couch (it throws your neck out of alignment), lay down on a bed with a good pillow under your neck. I bet you'll feel better. The chiro will show you how to make a neck roll to give your neck good support.

Sometimes it can take a year or more for your hormone levels to stabilize. Even if they do, sometimes the anxiety doesn't go away and just gets worse. My anxiety got so bad I would hyperventilate and almost passed out a few times. I would really suggest talking to your doctor about antidepressants. You need to be as healthy as you can to take care of a baby and yourself. I have been on Lexapro for many years now, and I can honestly say I think I'm a much better mother because of it. I've only had two minor panic attacks in the last few years, and they were nowhere near as bad.

Hello N.. I have been having an issue with the dizziness as well. My baby is 11 weeks old, and it has been happening off and on - thankfully mostly off. I don't experience any anxiety, and I'm a sweaty person by nature, so I'm not sure if there is any extra "sweatiness", but I can definitely sympathize with the dizziness. It gets bad, to the point where all I can do is lay down on my bed and close my eyes to make it go away. I an also breastfeeding, so am reluctant to take meds, but I'm not sure what can be done. I went to the doctor about this issue a little over a year ago, and he couldn't find anything wrong with me. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with eating, or lack of. My eating habits have went out the door, as soon as the baby came in. I spend most of my time in my room with him, and rarely get downstairs to eat, which I KNOW is bad. Eating doesn't help it or make it go away, so I'm not sure it is an eating issue, but in my case, I wouldn't rule it out. I usually go down and grab some cheese, or some toast and a yogurt, while he is cat napping. He (my baby) doesn't sleep very long during the day and I find it VERY hard to get anything done, especially eating. Anyway, I've rambled, sorry, but best of luck to you, and if you go to the doctor, which I think might be a good idea, let me know what he or she says, if you remember :) Good luck to you!!!

I remember this phase, I felt like there was something totally wrong, lack of appetite, nervous stomach, lightheaded, almost like motion sickness, etc. Please don't worry you are only 10 weeks post, every thing will adjust, it will go away. It's just part of having a baby, and if you are nursing this will take longer. Try to enjoy your baby and concentrate on something else or it can consume you.

I had similar symptoms and I feel they were due to both hormonal partial dehydration- make sure you are drinking lots of fluids. But like everyone else has said you must see a doctor to be sure it's nothing else.

I had a period of time where I had hormone surges after having my son. It is what I imagine anxiety would be like. I am gr8phul to say that it did go away and eating did help. Good luck to you and hang in there. And 10 week olds are taxing, the lack of sleep, the constant needs... don't forget about taking care of yourself. Drink water and make sure you eat, you need to be at your best health to be your best.

Hi N.. I too had the same symptoms after having my second child. I almost thought I was losing my mind sometimes. I also had a lot of diarrhea too. It took a lot of doctors visits to find out a whole lot of well.....not much. The best they could figure out was it was possibly my thyroid. It was only slightly overactive but that can be enough in some women to give you symptoms. It took about a year but I finally started feeling better (I did not take the thyroid medication as the doc didn't feel it was necessary since my thyroid condition was as they call "subclinical" - basically not off enough to call for meds. Hopefully it's just your thyroid but definitely go see your OB.

I had all of these!! It's your hormones getting back to normal. I use to wake up drenched, in the middle of the night, after #1 and would just start sweating at anytime of the day after #2. I also had some post partum anxiety and I too have struggled with anxiety in the past as well. When I stopped trying to breastfeed it all calmed down but as long as I was trying (never got any milk so stopped trying) to breastfeed I felt this way. Once I stopped it all calmed down. Also, I went to an acupuncturist that worked on me to help my hormones get back to normal and this really helped too! If you think you might have Post Partum Depression you might want to talk to your OB. Hang in there it does usually subside.

I had dizziness, nervousness, numbness, flashbacks and other maladies that really did not subside until my baby was 5 months old. Some of the symptoms even up until the 9 month mark. I went to the doctor more than once and was told I was within the realm of normal. Normal is pretty weird after you have a baby. I'm very sure after doing some online research that I had Post Traumatic Stress disorder from the terrible delivery. If you are nursing, you will continue to feel slightly off throughout your nursing experience. Your blood sugar jumps up and down. You have to eat lots. More than you did when you were pregnant... and drink tons of water. High fiber is a good idea now too -- to stave off constipation, which can make you feel pretty toxic if you are not eliminating enough... So by all means, go get blood work done, but don't feel too surprised if you are also told that you are okay in medical terms. Hang in there, Mama. Congratulations on you new little man.

Hi N.,

You might want to get tested for hyperthroidism. Not long after I gave birth to my daughter, I started to get the same type of syptoms. I had the dizziness, sweaty hands and feet, heart pulpitations, shortness of breath, anxienty attacks, and shaky hands. These were all the symptoms of me having hyperthyroid. With medication, it can be controlled but depending on your case, will require surgery or a radiation pill to get rid of your throid gland which is the only way to get off the medication. Good luck and get to the Dr. ASAP so if in fact you do have a throid problem, you can start on your meds and that should help control the uncomfortable feelings you are having.

I too had similar problems after the birth of my baby about 6 mo ago at age 32. Have had problems with anxiety in the past as well, but not like this time. Had my thyroid checked and that wasn't the problem. Dr felt that it may have been some PPD and wanted to put me on an antidepressent b/c I wasn't sleeping well, still got nervous from time to time and felt generally overwhelmed (like so many new moms) Plus, if you are nursing, your body's hormones mimic that of menopause so your estrogen levels are LOW - contributing to the sweating issue. I chose not to get on the drugs (seems like every doctors answer to everything) and instead got accupuncture (also herbal therapy) - it has been FABULOUS!! I am no longer nursing, so I no longer sweat like mad at night as my hormones have gotten back to normal and the accupunture has tremendously helped with my sleeping and nervousness.