R.P. asks from Rancho Cucamonga, CA on August 13, 2009
Postpartum Anxiety
I am looking for advice from women who have suffered from postpartum anxiety. I suffered a mild case of anxiety with my first daughter but I was able to shake it off after I stopped breastfeeding. But after my second daughter I am having a hard time getting rid of the anxious feeling. I find that I am having a hard time relaxing and I am worried when there is nothing to actually worry about. I notice that it appears to get worse when I am really tired. I spoke to an herbal person and she said it was an imbalance of my hormones and recommend estrobalance and progesterone cream. The first week that I was taking it I started to feel better but that only last for about two weeks and then the anxiety returned. I went to the dr yesterday and the recommended prozac and stated that there may be problems with my serotonin levels and that the prozac would help balance it. I am not comfortable with taking prozac and would like to try a more natural remedy before I go this route. Has anyone experience this type of anxiety and if so why type of treatments have worked for you.
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S.G. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
Hi there
There are lot of options for getting out there and getting some support. Maybe being with other moms will help.
www.momsclub.org
www.babybootcamp.com
Good luck
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K.H. answers from San Diego on August 14, 2009
I have postpartum depression and the only way I was/am able to relieve it is to take anti depressants(I am taking zoloft due to breastfeeding). That might be the only way yo go.
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N.R. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
I had terrible postpartum anxiety, depression, OCD. Who knew they all existed? I also had post-traumatic stress from my delivery. I did lots of acupuncture, tried walking and herbs. Unfortunately the only thing that really helped was a therapist who specializes in women's issues and Zoloft (due to breastfeeding). I was probably in danger of harming myself, if not my baby, so it was the only way. Only now, a year after starting to take it, am I able to work on myself a little bit in more natural ways. It's not something you would have to take forever. Good luck!
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V.M. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
Please don't settle for drugs that will be only partially successful in masking your issue and give you the side-effects galore. there are so many safe and effective homeopathic remedies – alas, it is too serious to toy with them on your own in your situation. they have to be selected by professional homeopath. to find one close to you use this link:
http://www.homeopathy.org/directory.html
Good Luck
V.
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J.B. answers from Las Vegas on August 14, 2009
I've not experienced this so I cannot help you with any personal advice. I can, however understand your concern for taking an Rx MAOI for this. I go to a great doctor who uses a holistic approach to body responses and is able to determine what vitamins you may be deficient in; particularly after pregnancy. I was skeptical the first few times I tried him but he was able to determine that I was deficient in B vitamins and gave me some effective ones to try to rebalance my hormones. I've done it and do feel much better. The more research I've done, the more I've discovered that responses are generally chemical in nature and are represented by symptoms, such as anxiety. The prescriptions only mask the symptoms and they usually result in side-effects. Getting to the root of the problem is a better course of action because it fixes the problem and your body obtains overall better health.
Here's his info if you'd like to consult with him: Dr. A. Bellinghausen, ###-###-#### www.betterhealthchiropracticLV.com. He's in the Las Vegas area but also has an office in Henderson.
Good luck and congrats on your beautiful children!
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R.L. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
have you considered seeing a homeopath? i just saw one recently and i just started taking my remedy. i've had other friends see her and it has helped them. i tried prozac for a few days after being advised by my gynecologist about some pms symptoms i was having. it ended up making me feel weird, i stopped taking it after 3 days....
also, what about exercise? have you considered getting out and taking some walks, do you have some alone time to go out and do yoga or something else by yourself?
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M.M. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
Hi RP,
I think your herbalist was on the right track, except you didn't mention any symptoms of low estrogen so I'm not sure why she suggested estrobalance. It's estimated that as high as 80% of women over age 35 in industrialized societies are estrogen dominannt, meaning they don't have enough progesterone to balance out the amount of estrogen they have. This can happen even if you have low estrogen & still lower progesterone. These two hormones work together & need to be balanced.
I went through this after both of my boys were born. My OB even suggested Prozac like yours did. I did not want to go on rx & started digging for info. You're going to have to educate yourself on this topic. Great resource is www.drjohnlee.com Dr. Lee has written some great books too such as "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause" and even an article about hormone imbalance in males. He started treating women with bio-identical hormones in the 1970's & is considered a pioneer in this field.
I did finally get my primary to test my hormones but only blood tests which are not as accurate as saliva tests. Some of the hormones in your blood are attached to proteins and cannot be used, saliva only measures free hormones. So the blood tests can show you are within the "normal" range even is you truly have a lower amt. My blood tests did show that I was low in Progesterone so I may be even lower than that! I have been using an over the counter cream (by Arbonne) & it's working. By the way, "normal" range is determined by taking an AVERAGE of American women - so even if you fall within the range, if you are on the outer edge, it may not be enough for you.
Fortunately, there's been a lot of mainstream attention to this issue lately such as Oprah. If women are persistant & push their doctors to address these issues, not as many of us will have to suffer. My OB is now reading Dr. Lee's book & is opening up to alternatives, thankfully! Good luck & you can email me directly if you'd like any more info. ____@____.com
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K.M. answers from San Diego on August 14, 2009
I was a first time mom at 43 and had tremendous anxiety(at least compared to before I had my baby!). I also went to a shrink, but for other reasons...my hubby and I had to work a few kinks out with the new arrival. I remember telling the Dr. I was very anxious and he said, maybe you have postpartum. I then shared with him what had gone on the first 3 months as a new inexperienced mom, i.e. my baby wasn't nursing right, lost almost too much weight (fortunately rallied before we needed to force feed her), my mom was acting odd, my husband was freaked about being a father and I wasn't making enough milk so had to pump every two hours after I fed my baby - that works wonders for making you even more sleep deprived. Oh yeah, and I have a very successful consulting company that I was keeping together after 3 months maternity leave. I said "I may have postpartum, but I can't imagine anyone NOT being overwhelmed by my situation, postpartum or not" - He completely agreed.
Not sure about your situation, every mom is different and the body chemistry is tricky.
So do keep with the therapy if it is helping you (we did it by phone as it was impossible for me to get to another appt in my week) and as a few others suggest I highly recommend acupuncture (was a complete non-believer before my pregnancy) and this is a tough one - find time to get out for a walk at the very least for maybe 30 minutes with the 3 of you as often as you can muster.
As they say "this too shall pass" and you will be back to a new normal before you know it. Good luck!
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B.L. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
Have your thyroid and adrenal glands checked. I had very severe post-partum anxiety with my first son. I was about to go on Prozac when somebody told me to go to the endocrinologist instead. Turned out my thyroid was super low, and my adrenal glands were not functioning properly. My doctor put me on medication and a week later the anxiety was gone like it had never been there. 2-1/2 years later I had my second son, and since I was in with the same endocrinologist my thryoid and adrenals were balanced. I didn't have a stitch of post-partum depression or anxiety with my second son.
Make sure when you go to the endocrinologist to tell them to check your free T3 and reverse T3. The reverse T3 they often don't do, and the presence of that can be the cause of the problem.
HTH,
B.
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J.C. answers from Los Angeles on August 14, 2009
I read this and thought you could benefit from it:
(Here is a story from compleat Mother" Magazine)
HOMEOPATHY: AN INTRODUCTION
I had just turned 30, met a wonderful man, and was working of my first television series. Life was blooming and I was going to get married. Then out of nowhere I started experiencing these horrible anxiety attacks. I’d think to myself…Am I having an allergic reaction? Maybe it was those apples I ate. Am I having a heart attack? Something is seriously wrong here! So I took myself to the doctor. I had lots of testing…an EKG and EEG, my thyroid and other blood work, x-rays, and various other pokings and proddings. The results? “You are a perfectly healthy woman…it must be in your mind!” How could this be, how could I be having such chest pain and be healthy? I was told I should see a psychiatrist and a psychologist and sent home. The journey was beginning and I didn’t even know it. My life would be forever different. I began a regimen of anti depressant and anti anxiety medication. I felt so angry and pissed off, a mental illness are you kidding me, god I’d rather have something that I can get rid of not something I’m going to have to manage my whole life. I never in a million years thought I’d be wishing for a “Different” disease. I remember hearing people break down the word Dis-ease. I wasn’t unhappy, was I? The universe was showing me my Dharma; it was showing me the way. The medication helped, sort of, but somehow I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the end of the road and certainly not a solution. I am not against taking medicine if you’re postpartum and going to hurt your baby or if you’re suicidal but this was not me. So I took my medicine like a good girl, went to yoga, and changed my diet, tried super hard not to take the Xanax that felt oh so good towards the end of a long hard day, and wondered will I have to deal with this forever?
As time moved on and the medicine was managing my symptoms. I slowly was forgetting that I even had this issue. It’s like the medicine worked but didn’t cure me, I didn’t have to work on it myself, I didn’t have to think about anymore. I didn’t have to change or confront the reason that this illness was presenting itself in the first place. So time had passed and my husband and I had decided to have a baby and I didn’t want to take any medication during the pregnancy because depending on which doctor I talked with each had a different opinion as to whether the medication would hurt the baby. I felt like I could handle myself and a little discomfort so I stopped the medication until the pregnancy was over. Well about 2 months into my pregnancy my symptoms resurfaced with a vengeance. What was I going to do now? I was being pushed to look within, to go deeper, and to become a seeker of my own personal truth. I couldn’t avoid ME any longer. I was back to where I started! I sought out acupuncture, a naturopathic doctor, and even tried neurofeedback. Imagine me with a skull cap on with hundreds of electrodes attached. I looked like something out of the horror film hellraiser or some science fiction film. I then came across the word “homeopathy” in my search for answers. I sought out a practitioner and, knowing nothing, went to an appointment feeling like I’d become a full time doctor junkie. This pivotal moment changed the course of things to come. My visit with the homeopath took 2 hours. I talked and talked; I cried, became hysterical, despairing that I’d never get better! That I just new there was something wrong with me. Through my tears I explained that normally, “I’m a very happy person.” It makes me laugh now because this seems so long ago and I have learned so much. So what is homeopathy anyway? How does it work? What happens when you take it? Here is the official definition…
WHAT IS HOMEOAPTHY?
Homeopathy is a natural system of medicine that works by using a small dose of a substance to help stimulate the body's healing forces. Homeopathy is an effective safe treatment that is gentle yet extremely effective when used properly. The principle of homeopathy is based on the "law of similars." In other words, a substance that could cause symptoms in large amounts can heal you in minute homeopathic doses.
Let's look at an example: The homeopathic remedy Allium Cepa (Red Onion) is used to treat the runny nose and watery eyes from a cold or hay fever, the very symptoms it would cause if one were cutting a red onion in the kitchen. There are thousands of remedies made out of plants, animals, minerals and many other interesting and imponderable things like color and sound, the planet venus, and even xray.
Homeopathy was founded by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, over 200 years ago. Homeopathy is a natural therapy that is safe and effective treatment for accidents and illnesses. It is an energetic medicine that helps the body by elevating the vital force (or the immune system) to defend itself against illness and infection. Homeopaths treat the whole person rather than a single symptom. The homeopath does not diagnose an illness but treats the whole person. It is not necessary to know the name of the disease. Each person may receive a different remedy at a different potency designed to match each one’s need. Homeopathic remedies are small pellets and are generally taken under the tongue or are dissolved in water. They are non-toxic and are safe for pregnant women, infants, adults, and pets and are FDA approved. I find this interesting since the medical world won’t even recognize homeopathy yet they want to regulate the medications. Homeopathy is not herbal or vitamin supplements. It can take time; a typical homeopathic appointment can last from 1 to 2 hours they will ask you everything about yourself, your dreams, what is perhaps peculiar about yourself and unique. It can be an awesome experience, and for some make you think about yourself in a whole new way. Homeopathy works with your body to enable it to fight disease more effectively. Disease is part of life. It cannot be removed, but it can be dealt with effectively. In allopathic medicine (the more traditional medicine practiced in the United States) treatment is by opposition. “Allos” from the Greek means “opposite” and “pathos” meaning “suffering”. When you think of allopathic medicine you hear words like antibiotic, antidepressant, antiviral, antacid, anti-inflammatory. The one thing they all have in common is the prefix “anti”, meaning “against”. Homeopathy works with the body…not against it. Now this is where I get turned on, where I get so passionate, this is where I could babble on and on about this beautiful system of medicine. Homeopathy works on the bigger picture not just a local site. In an acute situation like an accident, a homeopathic remedy like aconite works quickly to help with shock. In the long term, if you have a chronic condition that allopathic medicine can only placate on manage, homeopathy looks to the horizon and perhaps may offer hope and a cure. Interestingly children treated with homeopathy from the beginning of their lives most of the time; do not end up with chronic illnesses. This I believe is because they have fortified their vital force and worked with their bodies and have not suppressed their symptoms. Suppression means that when you treat a disease allopathically you push it deeper into the body. A good example: When young children have psoriasis or eczema and use cortisone creams it’s not uncommon that you will see asthma in their futures In life today it seems almost inevitable that we get these chronic conditions, it’s normal to see the elderly on numerous pill just to stay alive. I find it so awesome to think that it is not inevitable that we end up on tons of pills, that we get chronically sick, that there is a different way to grow and age. That for me is the wave I choose to ride in my life, It gives me hope.
Who can homeopathy help?
Children
Your child’s health is very important to you and as a parent you will face many decisions about your child’s care...from vaccinations to childhood illnesses and behavior problems. Homeopathic treatment works very well for children and used long term prevents chronic illness as they grow to adulthood. Many parents use teething tablets when their infant starts teething. Teething tablets are one of the most common forms of homeopathic treatment and many parents use them without realizing it is a homeopathic remedy. Many childhood ailments can be treated effectively with homeopathy – ear infections, coughs, skin rashes, allergies, and behavior problems are just some of the things I see in my homeopathic practice. In more serious cases homeopathy works very well as a complementary treatment with allopathic medicine to help your child retain his vital force and maintain it after treatment.
Women & men
Women and men seek homeopathic care for a variety of physical and mental conditions. The most common theme however would be that they want more out their health care experience. They are experiencing side effects from their allopathic medicines, or their doctors simply cannot help them. Pregnant women seek treatment for safe treatment during pregnancy since they are unable to take most allopathic medicines.
ANIMALS
Animals respond very well to homeopathic treatment. Family pets can suffer from many ailments - arthritis, allergies, dry skin or eczema, ear infections, coughs, auto immune problems, and cataracts. Dogs and cats can take a remedy the same way an infant would.
When my first child was small, I noticed that he wouldn’t sleep with my husband and me. He would head butt out of some impulse and bite at the breast. It was as if he was adverse to hugs and cuddles. I didn’t know if this was just his personality or something that was like a heavy cloud that he was burdened. Homeopathy says that we inherit the suppression's of our ancestors (genetic predisposition) to some extent and that this inheritance can affect what we become sick with. In homeopathy this is called a “Miasm” a very long and interesting subject in and of itself. Given the little knowledge I had, I was convinced that homeopathy could help. He was given an individual prescription and his remedy worked right away. He has since become and open hearted, polite, inquisitive, loving little boy and that dark cloud is a thing of the past. It is like homeopathy came in and blew a gentle wind on the cloud and it just dispersed. I have used homeopathy for nightmares, temper tantrums, growing pains, pregnancy, teething, fevers, and everything else that we have needed in our health care lives. It seems that homeopathy uses in our lives are never ending and I am forever grateful for it, in face can’t imagine my life without it. I am a different person because of it."
If you'd like a referral I can give you one...
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