14 months after pp

[Mims2014]

Hi all,

I've made a few posts on here so thought id do an update about where I'm at.

suffered from pp in March 2014, onset was on day five after my son was born (easy straightforward birth) i was hospitalised on day 13 after getting no sleep since my son was born. Was prescribed Aripriprizole and had no negative side effects.

luckily didn't suffer from depression afterwards. I did however suffer from anxiety afterwards, particularly about feeding Glenn or being alone with him. That reduced after a couple of months and i was able to take over as main carer.

i still think about pp every day, another sufferer (28 years ago) says that's common but it fades.

I'm back at work and off the medication now so fingers crossed that I'll remain healthy.

trying for baby number 2 end of this year x

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hello Sally

I think you have done so well to recover and be back at work in just over a year. It took me much longer than that with my first PP (undiagnosed almost forty years ago, until I met Dr Ian Jones and the APP team a while back).

As your PP experience was not long ago it is understandable that you frequently think about it. However, I agree that with time the memory of such a life event will fade. However, you should be very proud of yourself for overcoming such an awful illness in a short space of time. PP mums are awesome!

There is a lot of very good information here from other mums about having a plan in place for subsequent pregnancies, some of whom did not experience PP second time round.

Thanks for the update. Take very good care of yourself.

[Ellie_at_APP Partner]

Hi Sally,

It's great to read your post and to hear about your recovery. Sounds like you have recovered amazingly, what a brilliant achievement. It will also be a really hopeful thing for other people to read who are at earlier stages of recovery.

I had PP in August 2011, and yes I would agree with you it is with me constantly, but not necessarily in a negative way. I don't think the experience will ever leave me, I see it as something I carry with me always, but I now don't see it as particularly negative but rather that it has given me a completely different outlook on life, and actually lots of positives have come from it. But yes, I do think of it still quite a lot.

Take care

[Vee82]

Hi Sally,

Good to hear that you are back at work and doing so well. I only discovered the APP website by chance. I was astounded to find all the wonderful information and decided to have a wee peek at the forum. Your post '14 months after PP' inspired me to add a post '33 years since PP' so my sincere thanks to you. I could never have expected to have received the wonderful responses from women who have shared the same experiences. For me, PP is no longer a hidden and shameful event buried in my past. I'm out of the closet & proud to be a PP survivor!

Take care. Vee Xx

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Hi Sally,

How lovely to read you post, and I'd agree with what sunnyandwild has put about thinking about PP - I too had it in 2009 and it's still with me but not always in a bad way. In some ways I think it's part of me and whilst it doesn't define me it's just something I can't change and I am OK with that. Being involved with APP has helped me in this too and finding this forum - it helps to know there are others out there which I didn't have early days.

It sounds really positive that you're back at work and things are going well. I went back to work after about 9 months as I'd planned to and wish I'd waited, even though I got there in the end. I am very stubborn like that! The anxiety I experienced was really hard too, and when you mention being left alone with your baby, I remember struggling with that as well. But I can also say that even from I thought I was all fine, and meds were stopped (which took a while), it was a little later that I then realised that giving myself time and space, and that it was OK to be a bit shakey for a while, was fine and actually pretty helpful.

I hope everything continues to go well for you, thanks for sharing your story. xx