postpartum depression/meds/celexa

[megumic]

Wanted to see if any others have experienced or are experiencing PPD and whether your recovery involved taking meds. I'm currently 3 months post-partum and experiencing symptoms of PPD. My PCP feels that at 3 months post-partum, PPD needs to be treated with meds and has recommended 10mg of celexa once per day. Does anyone have experience with celexa or similar meds? Any information, experience, advice others can offer up would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

 

[Skippy123]

I had mild PPD, one son stayed in the NICU for 3 months so it was stressful. I do think the hormone flucuations are so tough after birth. Also sleep deprevation makes things so hard. What helped me was getting sunshine and having someone give me a break even if it was short and doing a few things I enjoyed. I think a lot of moms suffer from PPD, also PPD can show up many months later. I didn't take meds but I hear they are helpful. It is good you are are going to take something. hope you feel back to your self soon and hugs

 

[applequeen]

Hi! That is exactly what I take (10mg of celexa) for my PPD. When my son (now 2 years 7 months) was 5 months old I finally accepted that 1) I had PPD and 2) I needed medication to help deal with it. It changed my life! It is a very low dose but it did the trick for me. It really worked great for me. I still felt all my normal emotions but I was able to deal with them. My issues were more along the lines of anxiety and it helped me to stay calm when I needed to. I didn't have many side effects. You may have noticed some teeth clenching (I did) and sleepiness but those went away after I adjusted to the medication.

The good news is that when my son was 1 year old I was able to stop taking it with no problems. I took it every other day for a couple weeks then stopped completely. I had no issues at all. By that time I had adjusted to motherhood and balancing everything that comes with it. I don't think it was that the PPD was even totally gone but it was much much better and I was better at knowing how to handle it. Over the next year or so things continued to get better.

I now have a little girl who is 10 weeks old. I noticed the depression came back during my pregnancy and didn't want to take any chances with PPD again. I started on the Celexa (same dose) the day I came home from the hospital. I have enjoyed every second with my little girl in a way I was not able to with my son. I realize now how much time I wasted by not accepting the PPD sooner. I know that some of this can be attributed to having confidence in myself as a mother...it's not new this time... I know what I'm doing. I worried about the stress of having 2 children to care for but it really has not been an issue. I don't love the fact that the Celexa is needed but I love that I am able to enjoy my family (my husband loves that I am happy). I don't know how long I will need to be on it this time. My goal is to be off of it by her first birthday.

I hope this has helped some. PPD is a horrible thing...it zaps the joy out of something that (while stressful) should be mostly happy. I am thankful that I found help that worked for me. I don't have a history of depression and it was very hard for me to accept that I couldn't fix it on my own.

 

[megumic]

Thanks, Skippy. I think many women do suffer from PPD, but nobody really talks about it because having a baby is supposed to be such a happy time. I look forward to feeling like myself soon hopefully.

Applequeen, thanks so much for sharing your experience with both PPD and Celexa. I can relate to a lot of what you're saying -- my husband is miserable because I am miserable and PPD truly does zap the joy out of everything. It is encouraging to hear that you've had success with Celexa and were able to not be on it for a prolonged period of time. I too don't want to waste any more time not managing my emotions and feeling like a grey cloud is chasing me. Thanks again for posting your story -- it's nice to not feel so alone.

 

[ponder]

I had mild PPD after my last pregnancy. The time during my pregnancy was stressful and that carried over postpartum. I was mainly experiencing anxiety. I always felt tense and little things that would never have bothered me before suddenly did. Teeth clenching was huge for the first 6 months PP. I actually broke a filling. I also was feeling a little indifferent towards DH which really bothered me. I just did not feel like myself.

Best thing I did was talk about it. My SIL experienced it after her third and she was frequently asking me how I was. It felt really good to acknowledge (even to myself) that i didn't feel right. I did talk to my MD 6months PP to have my thyroid checked to make sure it wasn't causing the problem and we did talk about meds, lexapro, i think. I wasn't very keen on the idea of meds at the time and my MD left the decision up to me. I ultimately did not take any meds and everything resolved itself by 7-8 months PP.

If you are experiencing symptoms of PPD i strongly encourage you to have your thyroid checked. Pregnancy can effect thyroid fiction and its actually fairly common to develope hypothyroidism after pregnancy. Hypothyroidism can cause depressive/psychotic symptoms and can occur after any pregnancy. Undiagnosed hypothyroidism can also cause problems with future pregnancies including miscarriage.

 

[aviastar]

My sister takes Celexa normally and is really happy and content with outcomes. I can ask her specifically about Celexa post- partum (she's due with #2 in Feb so I don't know if she's taking it right now, but I do know she started it up again after her first), if you'd like.

Mostly, though, I just want to give you the biggest hug ever and a high-five to boot for being pro-active about this. I don't have any children of my own yet, but I watched my dearest friend suffer terrible PPD and it is so real, and so gut wrenching.

My thoughts and prayers are with you, Strong Mama!