ptsd? bad dreams?

MommynTeacher · March 2012

edit:I decided that I didn't want to post details. If you had ptsd, did theraphy help?

bhilyer · March 2012

I didn't do therapy, but I talked to my OB and he prescribed meds for me. Also, I found another preemie mom that "got it" and talk with her regularly.

I know there are a couple of preemie moms here that have done counseling and benefited from it.

GL!

jacque_z · March 2012

I didn't see your original post but I had horrible dreams when my daughter was in the NICU. One recurring dream where she died in my arms. It was horrible. Even thinking about it now brings tears. Anyway, first I did anti-depressants from my OB. They helped but still the anxiety and worry consumed me. I started therapy probably 6 weeks after she was born. It really helped. Then I stopped for a while. Changed therapists. Went back for recurring anxiety/worry. I'm much much better now. HTH.

kaylaaimee · March 2012

I didn't do anything for mine - I didn't see your OP but for about three months after we brought S home, I had nightmares that someone was taking her away from me.Horrible, horrible nightmares. And I'd also have dreams that were like flashbacks of my c-section or that I was 24 weeks and in pre-term labor again. They eventually stopped but I'm sure they were PTSD triggered. If they hadn't stopped, I definitely would have seen someone b/c they were really difficult to cope with.

lwmooney87 · March 2012

I didn't see your original post either but I have PTSD and my OB just gave me meds for it. I probably should see a counselor for it but I just haven't yet. I had a major freak out moment the other week when at work (I work in an OB/GYN office but only on the GYN side) and they wanted me to work on the OB side and I freaked. I just couldn't do it. I found out that the patients were 35+ weeks and I couldn't handle seeing them all pregnant and happy and healthy (not that I'm not happy for them). I started crying hysterically. It wasn't pretty.

Anyway, I have had horrible nightmares as well. One that I had took place in a funeral home and my parents (in their younger days) were there and waiting for their baby to die. (they had a stillborn before me) Literally, it was in a casket and they were waiting on it to die (morbid, I know) I wasn't there but I could see it, if that makes sense. Then the baby sat up to look around and it was my daughter and then I woke up! Needless to say, I couldn't go back to sleep and I went in her room to check on her multiple times that night. That dream still haunts me. I'm sure it's PTSD related.

If you feel like you need to talk to someone, please do. I know I probably should. You're not alone.

ajordan83 · March 2012

I have posted on here several times about my experiences with PTSD after Grayson was born. Therapy and medication have definetly helped with the emotions. But when I smell that hospital smell or see a sad preemie story or something, I feel like I take several steps back. Its a process to get over these traumatic experiences. Good luck and do whatever you can to help yourself heal.

KatFCo · March 2012

I can't say I've had ptsd, but every time I visit a friend in the hospital who's had a baby, I flash back to my experiences.

Now that I'm pregnant again (4.5 years later), I've had some nightmares and anxiety. It hasn't progressed to the point where I've felt the need for a therapist, though. (I had a friend who'd been through something similar and she was able to help and prepare me for it)

I added this mostly to say, those of you who have had ptsd, when you choose to have other children, be aware that it can make things worse and it's best to be proactive about it.

katie4253 · March 2012

I don't know if I have/had PTSD, but I had/have some PTSD like symptoms. The worst were the dreams. Now that we're inching toward a year I am starting to have flashbacks to what this time was like last year and starting to freak out about his birthday because that will mean remembering.

The dreams started after he came home from the hospital. They all centered around his monitor. (People breaking into our house to turn off his monitor, lightning striking our house and killing the monitor or him because the electricity pulsed through him, the monitor dying and us not knowing he had a brady and died). I also had some dreams where people broke into our house and cut me.

It was such an f-ed up time. I may need to see someone because, like I said, I'm starting to have flashback.

shanlubey · March 2012

I am a poster child for post-partum mental issues. I suffer from PPA, PTSD and PPD which turned into just full blown depression, panic anxiety disorder and an anxiety driven ED. The nightmares became so bad, I stopped sleeping at night and when I did sleep, I was lucky if I slept for 3-4 hours at all. Many of my problems stem from my preemie and the loss of his brother. I swear, if therapy alone could help it, I'd be there every day. Instead, I am in therapy 3 times a week and starting the THIRD trial of medication to see if this new one works.

Parenting isn't easy but this stuff just makes it harder. Wishing you healing.

gysberger04 · March 2012

For those of you who did go to counseling, what type of counselor did you see? I think it's time for me to seek our some help....

shanlubey · March 2012

First, I sought counseling with a Licensed Social Worker. I am up to a psychiatrist now. If you go to a counselor and they feel you need something beyond that, they will refer you to the right person.

I was lucky. My psych works with lots of moms with similar issues.

SushiNoMore · March 2012

gysberger04:
For those of you who did go to counseling, what type of counselor did you see? I think it's time for me to seek our some help....

PTSD mommy here. I didn't have nightmares (although my husband did), but I had a lot of flashbacks. I'm wrapping up my therapy sessions with my counselor now, and my son just turned one. I've been seeing a social worker, and it's been really helpful to have someone to just spill things to. I never took medication, but plenty of women do.

I hope you find the help you need. Good luck.

thh · March 2012

I had nightmares at least once a night (sometimes as many as 5 times a night) for the first 4 months after I brought my son home from the hospital. They weren't about him - they were about dead babies in general. I went to see a therapist a few times, but oddly, as soon as I moved my son into his own room (he was in a bassinet right next to me), they went away and never came back. I am pro-therapy in general, but in this case, I didn't real feel like it helped b/c I knew exactly why I was having the dreams.

jacque_z · March 2012

gysberger04:
For those of you who did go to counseling, what type of counselor did you see? I think it's time for me to seek our some help....

First I was seeing an LCSW. She was nice and meant well but she just didn't have the background and knowledge to effectively treat me. Plus, she wasn't a mother which to me was important to fully sympathize with my situation. After that I took a break and then started seeing a Family Therapist that deals with lots of women's issues. She really helped. I tried to seek out a specialist in PTSD but the only one I could find was a man.

snoangel79 · March 2012

I'm replying to this a few days late but I actually had PTSD after I went through tx for cancer at 23. I went to therapy and yes it does help. With what I went through (I was badly msdx, to a point where it was highly negligent and then had to go through a bone marrow transplant -whereas I wouldn't have if they had figured it out earlier and weren't calling my a hyperchrondriac in my records). Anyways, I associate "big life events" with having something "go wrong". I was dx right after I graduated college and was starting my new job. So although I am 10 years out of my dx and yes of course I function very normally now. When big things happen, my marriage, getting pregnant etc I usually go talk to someone because the anxieties of sh*T hitting the fan come back...I've been on meds in the past and never really stayed on them. With me talking about it helps a lot!!

I know because of this history I am at risk for PPD though... My pregnancy although super difficult with a ton of issues (horrid m/s, IUGR/SGA dx and followed since 25w, cholestasis, lung collapse at 14w, being watched for heart failure that luckily "reversed" from going down hill, GD, and the start of pre-clampsia dx the night I delivered, plus almost having a cord issue- luckily I was in the hospital when my son started showing distress and they delivered me). I was very happy to be listened to by my med team!! They took me seriously. The night I delivered even though it was crazy, I was actually at ease because my babies were finally out of my "motel 6" and gestationally I got them to a decent place. So there was relief there unlike with the whole cancer dx, totally different medical experience!!

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