How long was your recovery

[Milkybuttons]

Just wanting to hear from some of those that have fully recovered. How long until you felt back to your 'normal' self?

[Kat_at_APP Volunteer]

Hi Milkybuttons - this is a topic that comes up a lot on the forum, as each of us search for reassurance. We've had a lot of different responses but the good news is recovery DOES happen. For me it was probably 6-12 months to get over the shock of the Psychosis. And then another couple of years (!) to really come to terms with it all.

On the topic of normality and what is our "normal self": I think actually I've reached a point where I'm a quite different person to who I was before my illness (and hence before motherhood). I can't put my finger on the exact changes, but I am definitely more self aware, and more resilient. So overall it's been a positive experience. But I realise that not everyone views their illness that way.

In terms of what can help speed up or cement recovery - for me it was medication, rest, healthy lifestyle factors (exercise in particular) and getting back to spending high quality time with my husband, and as a new family. We really enjoyed travelling prior to becoming parents and that's something we were able to get back to relatively quickly (taking our son to family in Italy etc). When I was an inpatient I couldn't see myself ever travelling anywhere ever again - I was a shell of my former self and could barely make it down the corridor to the bathroom. But I proved myself wrong!

Best of luck with your own recovery, however long it seems,

Kat x

[Anna_10 in reply to Kat_at_APP]

I had pp in Dec 2013 and was in a psychiatric ward for 1 month. Was off all meds and can say I was 100% better 1and a half yrs after xx There is light at the end of the tunnel and you will get there . All the best x

[Arabella-]

I had PP from January to March and then got better in April. After that I got depression, which is common. It's only now I feel ok again. But I did get there! X

[Theo116]

It took me about ten months to feel like my old self. I was in a psychiatric unit for a month and then went to mbu three months later. I was at home in between. It is a hard road and I never thought I would get there. For anyone reading this hang in there and get as much rest as you can x

[Helen_84 Volunteer]

Hi MilkyButtons,

For me personally it was just over a year before I came off the antipsychotics and 18 months before I came off anti-depressants, however I was feeling much more comfortable and happier in myself by the time my daughter turned one - I was very sensitive to weaning off the medication so it took a long time with both the antipsychotics and anti-depressants. Now 2 years on I am definitely recovered and have been mentally well for a long time.

I can remember in the first few months feeling like I had lost who I was and constantly wondered if I would ever feel like my 'old normal self' again. It was something that really worried me. I think I was probably still in shock about what had happened and was still processing it.

Like KatG, where I am now is different from my old self - becoming a mum and having to cope with such a traumatic illness is a huge thing to go through. But I see this as a positive, I am more sensitive to other people's emotional needs (I hope!) and much more self aware as well.

Know that you WILL get there, xx

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Hi Milkybuttons, recovery can be different for us all and as others have said, the overwhelming message is that time is a great healer and that recovery really is possible. I know I didn't feel that way at the time though and was so impatient to get back to "normal" - whatever that is with a new family and after such a traumatic illness such as PP.

I took antipsychotic medication for a year and lithium as a mood stabiliser for 3 years. For me, each meds reduction felt like a milestone, almost similar to first Christmas/ birthday/ other family events. It really helped to see recovery as a journey in which I was on a road which would take me to where I wanted and needed to be. At the time I never truly believed that I would get back to "me" as a person (wife, friend, colleague, woman, nevermind Mum too!) It felt like a million pieces that needed somehow piecing back together but I had no clue where each bit went at first. But it got there. I would say I felt "recovered" after about a year, but with hindsight, the confidence and wholeness almost of recovery was a little longer. I did like to look back though and recognise this, including things I would never have believed X weeks/ months ago and recognise that I had indeed come further along that road than I perhaps thought at the time. Try and be kind to yourself. It can be really frustrating but then also rewarding and I too think I am probably a little changed from my pre-PP self. But then everyone is affected by having children and other big life-changing events. The extra "layer" of the PP doesn't feel helpful but perhaps with hindsight it is...

I also wanted to ask if you've seen the APP Insider Guides, including one about Recovery: app-network.org/what-is-pp/...

I hope some of this has been helpful to you. Take care, xx

[Missmuppetmoo]

Hi Milkybuttons,

To be back to as near normal as possible, took me about 4 years. I did have 2 relapses so my recovery did seem to take an awful long while.

There is no set time limit, your recovery will happen at your pace, but you will recover.

I was taking anti psychotics at very high doses for 18 months, coming off these was nerve wracking but you just have to take each day as it comes.

I'm still on anti depressants, albeit a low dose, as I had a further diagnosis of a mental health illness in 2008.

Most important is take care of yourself, that helps a lot with recovery. You will get there.

[Hidden]

This is an old thread but Ill answer too...I was sick for Dec, Jan and half of Feb 2018. My major depressive episode spontaneously remitted after 3.5 months of relentless suffering. At 6 months postpartum I was myself again but shaken by the experience with little confidence. I am now 8 months postpartum and weaning off Seroquel slowly but weaning is a nightmare. Withdrawal definitely sucks!