Postpartum psychosis

[niccie27]

I have postpartum psychosis and postnatal depression I take150mg sertraline and30mg arapiprazole but my mood is like a rollercoaster up and down in the blink of an eye , my care coordinator says wait a few more weeks for the arapiprazole to work (was upped from 20mg to 30mg 5,weeks ago) but I can't cope with the ups and downs i'm either bouncingof the celing or lower than the floorthere is no middle ground any advice is appreciated xx

[Lilybeth Volunteer]

Hello niccie27

So sorry to hear you're suffering with depression. It's such an awful feeling and so hard to cope with on top of the effects of PP. You might recall from your previous thread that I had PP twice many years ago with what seemed like an endless depression following my second episode. Some days were so hard that I struggled to face the day and get out of bed. I too felt that some days the 'black dog' was on top of me and I couldn't get off the floor. I also had hallucinations during my depression and was hospitalised so you are doing well to remain at home.

I'm glad you have a care co-ordinator for support and you also mentioned that your partner is very supportive too. It must be very hard to cope with routine and the effects of medication keeping you stable. Perhaps as your care co-ordinator suggested it might take a while for the new dosage of medication to kick in although I remember how awful it was to feel helpless and hopeless while waiting for my mood to lift and remain stable.

I'm not sure if PANDAS (pre and postnatal depression advice and support) might be helpful for you at pandasfoundation.org.uk/ as they have been mentioned on the forum before. They have online support and can direct you to help local to you. Also the Mind charity has a page about depression at mind.org/.

Perhaps you could also ask your GP to refer you for counselling? Talking therapy might be an outlet for you. Don't put pressure on yourself to be well .... take a day at a time and remember to treat yourself gently. Perhaps having a few hours out with your partner, or meeting a friend for coffee and a chat might be a change for you. You have had so much courage to battle through this illness ... take good care of yourself and please keep talking here if it helps.

[Keziah8 Volunteer]

Hi...sorry for what you are going through.

I had PP and then PD last year.

For PP i was in a mother and baby unit. This really helps recovery. How come you are staying home?

Also I had different medication to you. My medication helped me so much and I recovered very fast.

I was on Olanzapine and Lorazapam when I was being treated for PP.

When I had PD they gave me Fluoxetine but it made me feel horrible.

Eventually I had Citalopram and it works really well for me.

So my point is that you need to find what medication works for u.

Ask your doctors to review your medication as its giving you bad side affects etc.

I recovered from PP within 9 weeks but took Olanzapine for 6 months as advised.

I recovered from PD after 3 months. The PD started after PP. Which is quite common.

I still take citalopram out of choice.

I hope this helps.

All the best...and get well soon

[Kojo12]

Hi Niccie27,

To begin with congratulation of acknowledging that you have this illness and you need help. For me this is a huge step to your recovery. My wife has not agreed that its an illness and therefore she refuses help. Sometimes her mood is good other times bad. But with her case she does not acknowledge its a postpartum and therefore she does not need help. Recently she agreed to take 5mg a day which is very low as prescribed as 2x a day.

For her first PP, she was given Olazapine 20 mg daily in the hospital and it worked really fast within 2 months there was huge improvement. But there were side effect of drowsiness and weight again etc.

For me your case is better, it only a matter of time you will be stable. Continue to talk to your health professionals and trust in God that you will be better. As i earlier said acknowledgement to this illness is to me 70% of your recovery process. The rest of the 30% its time, patience and taking your meds you will surly recovery.

Take care and speedy recovery

[Jocelyn_at_APP Partner APP]

Hi niccie27,

It's great that you have reached out on the forum. I found it so useful and supportive during my PP. I was on setraline during my PP and found that eventually my moods did settle down. I also went back to doing yoga as well which I found really helped me. Not only was it a good relaxation technique for me but it meant I actually had some time each week dedicated to myself. As new mums we tend to forget about ourselves and I found having that time was really important for me. Even if you aren't into yoga, just making sure you take that time for yourself.

Look after yourself. xx