PP before birth?

[Arae007]

My psychosis started a month before I gave birth. It continued into postpartum but my big episode happened before I gave birth... would that still be considered pp? I’m having difficulty getting answers and a proper diagnosis. No one seems to know anything. Desperately looking for more information. Thanks!

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Hi Arae007, and welcome to the forum. I can see from your other responses that you are in Canada - did you manage to contact Postpartum Support International? Their website is postpartum.net/get-help/pos... and they are a good source of support with local resources.

The APP Insider Guides might also be helpful to you - app-network.org/what-is-pp/... - in particular reading about recovery and info for partners (as someone who can then reflect back on their own experience perhaps this could be helpful for you). In terms of diagnosis, pp is usually something that does occur after birth but some women have psychotic symptoms/ episodes in pregnancy too. Whilst there is a lack of research into this area, it’s possible that the pregnancy/ antenatal/ postnatal period has had this effect for you. The info on FAQs from the APP website might also help: app-network.org/what-is-pp/...

I hope some of this is helpful. Take care, xx

[Arae007 in reply to Hannah_at_APP]

Thank you! Yes, thank you for the info. I did get in touch with someone.

[Jp32]

Hi there Arae007, thank you for posting, and welcome to the forum. I had a very similar experience to yours, I too had PP a month before giving birth, in fact, I may have had it even a few months before, but it went undecteted. I felt so bad, because my GP had referred me to a Perinatal support unit (in Ontario). I was so nervous, I never attended, and I feel so bad about that. I also struggle with anxiety, so I had thought it was anxiety, but I now realize was more then that. I know that PP can occur during the pre stage, and can be hard to detect and/ or diagnosed due to the emphasis on postpartum. I’m not sure where you are located, but you can research perinatal support I.e, mood support, mental health etc. You can also always reach out to your GP, and they too may assist you in finding a team to support you. Thinking of you, and please know you are not alone Mama. Thank you for posting, you also have helped me realize that I am not alone in what I’ve gone through, thank you Mama. Hugs

[Arae007 in reply to Jp32]

Thank you for sharing and thank you for the information. I am so thankful for this forum. It’s reassuring to know that I’m not alone and crazy. It’s been a year and after hearing some of the women’s stories, I finally feel like I’m beginning to heal. ❤️

[Ginny2018]

Hi

I also suffered antenatally- from very early on. I had no history of difficulties outside of pregnancy. My symptoms disappeared immediately after birth. One consultant has since suggested that perhaps once the placenta hormones reached a certain level, they affected me in this way. Once the hormones left my body I returned to normal.

I also met with diagnosis problems-the assumption of medical professionals was that it must be anxiety or a stress reaction and tried to treat it as such which was the completely wrong approach. I felt that they had a fixed bias and didn't really listen or take it seriously. I knew that something was very seriously wrong.

I have since met with prof Ian Jones recommended by this site. He has confirmed that what I suffered was a psychosis. However there is a lack of research as to why it happens and how many women suffer from it. My symptoms were the same as those women suffer in PP-including very strong delusions.

I imagine there are a lot of women out there who have been affected but gone undiagnosed.

Thank you for sharing your story-it's reassuring to me too-it's a lonely place when your whole being has been taken over and no one seems to know why and you feel like the only one.

[Arae007 in reply to Ginny2018]

Thank you for sharing. It’s reassuring and brings me comfort. I can’t believe there isn’t more information out there about this! I was told by multiple professionals that I was just “stressed”. That definitely wasn’t stress... more like a week long, crazy, outer body experience. It almost destroyed my relationship. It affected my loved ones. I couldn’t care for my child. It was a living nightmare. It’s been a year and I’m finally building some confidence again, only after realizing I’m not the only one out there and this is an actual thing. It haunts me and I’m worried it could happen again. Looking back I can see there were some signs. I’m trying to be proactive and take preventative measures. I think i just need to heal. I’m glad I found a safe place to start. ❤️

[Ginny2018]

Me too. I think this website should be compulsory reading for every perinatal psychiatrist/nurse training!

I've read some stories here where mental health care was great-sadly my experience was not. A lovely junior doctor was the first professional person to recognise something was very wrong-she was only there to treat my dehydration caused by sickness, but she noticed things the psych team had totally dismissed as a 'stress reaction'. Even when I said I thought the TV was talking directly to me, I was hallucinating spiders and that the baby was an imposter etc, I was told it was 'anxiety'!

It broke my relationship too-thankfully we were able to rebuild it eventually. The lack of professional understanding didn't help.

I think that things will only change when mental health professionals start recognising psychosis antenatally, so the right type of treatment can be given.

[Lrobinson6 in reply to Ginny2018]

I went through the same thing (thinking the tv was talking to me). I actually got admitted to the hospital to a mental ward a month before I was due. I went straight from that floor to labor and delivery when it was time. The time spent on the mental health floor was some of the worst stuff I've been through in my life (constant screaming etc). I was so paranoid I thought I was supposed to kill my baby and was thinking of smothering it while it was still in my stomach. I got back on meds asap and wasn't able to breastfeed because of it. Which was a big deal to me. I have since been diagnosed with low vitamin D and I bet that played a big part in everything. The depression/ hallucinations etc...

[Arae007 in reply to Lrobinson6]

I’ve just found out I have low vitamin D. My iron was low, I was anemic but it wasn’t a concern from my doctor at the time. Since then I’ve been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I’ve read in some cases, that can cause hallucinations as well. I had a lot of stress as at the time... Maybe all of that created the perfect storm.