Need advice. . .
I'm gonna try and make this short, but I'll apologize now if it's long.
I was diagnosed with PPD/PPA when DS was 7 months old. Put on Zoloft and it helped wonderfully. Switched OB's during treatment and new OB wanted me to go to a psychiatrist for med management due to other medical problems that could be caused by the zoloft. Turns out that I have microscopic colitis which was exacerbated by generic zoloft.
As soon as I saw the psychiatrist (litterally 1st meeting) I told her that DH and I were considering TTC after the first of the year. She immediately said that I needed to start weaning off the meds and switched me to name brand Zoloft and I weaned. This was over the summer. I was a little nervous about stopping the meds, but excited at the same time - I was "cured!"
Here's my dilema - I'm not sure I was on the meds long enough. I'm still moody, emotional and all that stuff. Just not to the degree that sent me to the Dr in the first place. I don't sit in my office every day crying like I did before. But, I do get very emotional. I don't know if it was that I wasn't on the meds long enough for everything to "even out" or if it is just life in general. I HATE and I mean HATE my job. Most of the time I feel like a single mother. My DH works Tue - Fri nights. There is just a lot to deal with. I don't really want to go back to my psychiatrist because she doesn't listen to me - I don't like her at all! She was the only one in the area that specialized in PPD, too!
Sorry for rambling, and so much for keeping it short. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm at a loss as to where to go from here.
Re: Need advice. . .
I wonder if you are having some situational depression? I have PPD but if certain things go wrong or life is hard the depression hits harder.
Hating your job and having your DH gone a lot could certainly trigger the depression. I would definitely look for another psych doctor. I did. He doesn't specialize in PPD but he has helped me tremendously! Hang in there.
Hi there
While I don't have experience with PPD, I do have a lot of experience with depression.
I'm so sorry for what you're going through.
My suggestion is find a new psychiatrist - and keep looking until you find one that you really "connect" with. This can be a trying process - I went through five different ones before finding one I could connect with and that helped me. I would ask them to help you evaluation if your depression is lingering PPD, situational or if it is clinical.
While I'm by no means a medical professional, your depression sounds a lot like mine which is clinical. This is caused by a hormonal imbalance in your brain - sometimes you can feel great, other times extremely depressed and certain situations (like the stress of not liking your job and the fact that your DH is away at night) can aggrivate the imbalance. For me personally, a cominbination of a great psychiatrist as well as finding a med that worked for me has been great.
Good luck...hang in there!!
July 22, 2011: No fetal heartbeat at 11 weeks, emergency D&C
I agree with PP's that you need to find a psychiatrist who you click with. "Specializing" in PPD is not as important as the chemistry you have with them.
GL!