Episode free (and off meds) during pregnancy/postpartum

Magali - posted on 10/05/2010

I'm 36 weeks pregnant and i went back on my meds a weeks ago cuz I was having harmful thoughts and after the birth of my last child i have a severe postpartum depression and psychosis i'm taking seroquel and its working good so far.

Jamie - posted on 09/29/2010

Wendy,
I am at 37.5 weeks and I am really starting to feel the emotions and the effects of being off my meds now. I am miserable. I am lonely, sad, and depressed. I cry everyday now. I am not far from delivery and can definately tell it is not going to be easy once the bayb gets here. It is rough now but through the middle it was fine. I actually had a decent time - the hormones helped but it is not the same for everyone. Some people the hormones mess you up more but for me it helped to keep me somewhat sane. I am scared now though cause my paranoia isz coming back, anxiety is coming back, and depression and mood swings are coming back.

Wendy - posted on 09/29/2010

I have one son, and desperatly want another child. I have been weaned off Venlor and want to stop the rest of my medication before becoming pregnant. It is very comforting to know that many of you have been doing great during the pregnancy. My main fear is postnatal depression and I suffered terribly from depression with my son. I am going to do everything possible to stay healthy during my future pregnancy. Any suggestions for keeping the depression at bay when having a baby?

Jess - posted on 09/27/2010

katherine- i also crashed after my babys birth not only did i get post natal depression but i also started having sevire panic attacks and had to take valium regulary so had to stop breast feeding, shes 6months old now and im finally stable, im thinking of having another baby but am terrified of getting panic attacks again :(

Jamie - posted on 09/14/2010

I am currently pregnant and off my meds. I have not had a hard time. I have had a little depression here and there but for the most part I have been good. I do have some negative feelings about the pregnancy which I think are stemming from the bipolar, but I feel more normal and even emotionally than before. It happened this way with my first child to but afterwards I got worse. I expect the same this time.

Rachel - posted on 05/28/2010

ABSOULTELY! I was on top of the world, not in a mania way, but I was happy and steady in my first pregnancy. Post pardum was difficult I became very depressed. Then, 2 months later, I found out I was pregnant--again. That pregancy was awful, I was freaking out about what I was going to do with two kids under the age of 1. My kids are now 2 and 1, and though I've figured out the routine for having basically twins, I still have never felt as good as I did during my first pregnancy. I believe the hormones were key also. Did you ever get hormone replacements? I am very interested to see if this is helping.

Katherine - posted on 04/16/2010

Me too!!!!!!! With both of my pregnancies. It was fantastic, I felt better than I ever have in my life. A few months after their births though, it was like I crashed. I had never felt so horrible.

Jess - posted on 02/24/2010

hi jenny & oh my godness that sounded like your describing me!!, im 9 months pregnant at the moment and thought i was the only one!!, ive never felt as stable in my entire life as i have during my pregnancy and i was very unstable for years and years beforehand, also with rapid cycling bipolar. ive probley been on almost every medication out there with most of them not working at all & some i found even made things worse. ive come completly off medications before and gone absolutly off the rails but since i fell pregnant ive come off them and im a completly different person..in a good way, stable and in controll of my emotions!, im so happy but feels bittersweet at the same time because im so afraid i could crash at any day & this might not last or even worse im scared of getting bad when the babys born or getting postnatal depression. i spoke to the midwife about some sort of hormone replacements for postpartum & she looked at me as if i were mad and said no i should be fine to go back on my old medication afterwards!..i tried to explain that it didnt work & i felt it has more to do with some kind of hormone imbalence but she wouldnt listen, as a midwife she probley just doesnt have a lot to do bipolar so ill try speaking with my gp about it now i know im not the only one!

thanks for sharing your story, im now inspired to press my point about hormone replacements for postpartum! hope everything continues to go well., jess x :)