Pregnancy and depression...anyone been through this?

[mrsS]

Finally I got help this morning by my lovely GP who has helped me in the past.

She asked me a couple of questions and it did not take long at all for her to suggest antidepressants. She was so lovely and emphatic and agreed that I should not have to wait any longer. She also said that I am past the crucial stage so that the medicine will not affect the baby.

I'm just waiting for the pharmacy to open now and then I will go to collect the sertraline that she prescribed.

Thank you so much ladies for all your wonderful support, knowledge and input. And thank god there are some doctors out there who take these things seriously.

[Yak]

MrsS I am so pleased for you. And yet absolutely appalled on your behalf that you've had to go through all this! You've done brilliantly. I agree it is definitely worth thinking about writing about your non-treatment from the other GPs when / if you feel strong enough. It's terrifying to think that other people out there in vulnerable situations could be prevented from getting the treatment they need. Hope you feel better soon. xx

[Mathilda]

Great news mrsS, I hope you start to feel better soon!

[susyp]

I;ve been following this - I'm so glad you were so persistent and I am sure that you experience and bravery in posting here will help many other women in a similar position. Sometimes the medical profession can be wonderful, sometimes not. I hope you start to feel much better soon xxx

susypx

[mrsS]

Thank you all. I too hope that the medication will start working soon. Just getting help this morning made things feel a little bit easier.

The NHS is brilliant and something I seldom complain about, but when it comes to the mental health side of things some doctors really need more training or change in attitude...

Sx

[tomo]

So sorry to hear what you've been going through and glad you've finally got the help you need. Interestingly there was a feature on The Today Programme this morning about the lack if support for women suffering from pnd and antenatal depression.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21612543

This is the organisation they set up to help women such as yourself- not sure if you're aware of them?

http://www.pandasfoundation.org.uk/about-us.html

Hope you begin to feel better soon. Cx

[Belle]

Just logged on and so pleased to see the news I was hoping for! Really relieved for you 1) that you were taken seriously and 2) that you got the help you were looking for. Just taking that step is bound to make you feel better in itself. Good luck and really hope the meds kick in fast - they should do. And reassuring that the GP said it's a safe stage to start them. Hope to meet up soon - will PM.

[bjm]

Thank goodness. At last you get someone who is hearing how you feel and what you want x

[mrsS]

Thank you all. It will probably take some time for the medicine to kick in and I feel absolutely terrible in the mornings, but just knowing that it will get better helps, makes me feel less trapped!

tomo - thanks for the links, I listened to the radio program and what they talked about felt hugely familiar. I am so glad they have started that charity, I think more awareness needs to be raised.

[Cessj]

mrss,just caught this thread today and I wanted to say how sorry I am to hear about your depression and the dreadful lack of care you received in the absence of your regular GP. As someone who has suffered with depression since childhood, I know just how despairing it feels when the black dog descends. Unfortunately, it's a time when you're not feeling at your strongest and it's all too easy to let yourself be pushed around or fobbed off by unsympathetic medical professionals who really should know better. I am just coming out of a three year spiral, during which I ended up accepting redundancy from work, as I did not believe that I would ever recover sufficiently to return. The day after I signed the papers was one of my bleakest days ever, and as it happened I managed to get an appointment at my GP surgery, but with a different GP instead of my usually incredibly supportive GP. The GP told me that I should pull myself together and get back into work (and this minutes after explaining to her that I had signed a redundancy agreement the day before). I was so shocked that I actually gave her a piece of my mind! I went home, and as you do when you're depressed, ran it over and over and over in my mind, and then thought, hell, no! I'm not letting her treat me like this. So, as Belle suggested that you do, I wrote to the practice and within days I had a phone call inviting me to meet with the practice manager and another senior member of the practice management team, which I duly did. I explained to them what had happened, and they presented several options of dealing with the matter, including a face-to-face meeting with the doctor concerned. I chose that option because I wanted her to know just how badly her treatment and attitude had affected me, and that had she behaved towards me in the same way just a day earlier, I might well have gone and thrown myself under a train, having been at the receiving end of disgraceful treatment from my employer and the union that was supposed to support me). Moreover, I wanted to address her face to face because in the event that I needed to make an urgent appointment in the future, and she happened to be the duty doctor and the only one available, that I could feel able to see her knowing that I would be listened to and treated accordingly. To cut a long story short, I received a very humble apology from the GP concerned, and as it happens, there has been an occasion when she was the only GP available and I had no choice but to see her. As I pointed out to her, I might be severely depressed, but I am not a doormat, and I can only wonder how other people living with depression or other debilitating mental health issues but lacking my assertiveness would have responded to that particular doctor. So, yes, when you're feeling better, it is definitely worthwhile making a complaint to the PALS - it might be too late for you, but hopefully it will mean that other patients do not have to endure the appalling lack of care offered to yourself. I applaud your willingness to seek support from others - and I hope that it won't be long before the medication kicks in, and that you can start to explore other forms of treatment such as yoga or acupuncture, as well as allowing yourself to start to enjoy these last few months of your pregnancy.

[WorkingMummy]

The discipline of self care, knowing what is right for you and pursuing that path, looking after yourself, when you have depression, is incredibly hard. It takes a lot of courage and grit. It's also, in my experience, potentially part of finding/choosing (however you look at it) your way through the illness.

MrsS has shown heaps of this courage and grit, and so have you, Cessj.

[Saffron]

MrsS, so glad you're able to see your regular GP and start the treatment you want. I found sertraline very rapid acting for my postpartum depression, so I hope you start to feel better very, very soon. I also found that although I didn't 100% like the way sertraline made me feel, it was still better than feeling like I wanted to hang myself in a wardrobe. In some ways I felt that it was a "crutch", but I knew (and my drs agreed) it was the crutch that I needed to move me from illness to health. When discussing the course of treatment, a truly wonderful and understanding NHS GP told me, "We do more harm than good by taking women off these [antidepressant] drugs too soon." I think it was one of the most reassuring and kind things I've ever heard, even though I only ended up needing sertraline for a short time.

The GP also sent me for general bloods (thyroid, vit D, iron, inflammatory markers etc). Although these things are unlikely to have caused your depression, as I'm sure you know, it might be worth having them checked because they can hamper your recovery. I had an underlying issue with low iron. Adding that issue to my depression certaily magnified it for me.

Also even if you're feeling better postpartum, it might be worth running bloods again, because there are haematological changes across pregnancy and postpartum periods. In my case, pregnancy was masking another underlying problem with my platelets (suspected but not confirmed before/during pregnancy). I asked one GP to test this 6 wks postpartum, and she said it wasn't necessary. I asked a different GP (when we changed practices) at ~4 months postpartum, and results finally confirmed that I have a rare and significant platelet disorder, which had been masked by blood volume dilution in pregnancy.

Finally, if you have a thyroid test, ask if it's a TSH only test. This is sometimes the only test performed, but it is not 100% diagnostic of thyroid dysfunction which can share symptoms with depression and worsen co-existing depression. I've just recently come across some interesting information on this website http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/, and I'm going back to my GP to make enquiries about previous tests. We have a family history of thyroid dysfunction, and I found that antidepressants did not lift some of the symptoms that have a high cross-over with thyroid dysfunction.

GPs can't know everything, but the best ones will welcome your input, rather than turning you away. Good luck with your pregnancy and beyond. xx

[mrsS]

Saffron, you are full of knowledge - thank you so much for sharing! I will definitely ask to have those tests.

I started sertraline on Thursday morning and I feel a little bit better already. I think just being listened to and given help made me feel a little bit less trapped.

I definitely agree with you, sometimes we need help to get better and to get through things. I considered asking for help last year as I was suffering so badly with AWFUL pmt - I would suffer from intrusive OCD-like thoughts two weeks before my period and then feel a 100 times better as soon as my period started. But I just about coped so did not want to start medication. I wonder if a deficiency could be the cause of that.

Thank you again for everything

Sx

[mollie]

Dear mrsS,

so sorry it has taken from Feb 20th for your voice to be 'heard' and help from the GP to materialise.

I can't imagine how difficult this time must have been for you, and thanks for posting here about how things are going. So many people have read your messages and it has been great to hear people sharing their experiences.

Networks of support are so important especially at inbetween stages in our lives: pregnancy being one of those key times.

Hope this week goes well for you

[mrsS]

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who wrote to me on this thread and sent PMs.

I have now been taking medication for 11 days and I feel better already, I have started to be able to enjoy the little things in life such as buying baby clothes and enjoying a piece of cake. I sleep better and am able to do things. The future is not looking pitch dark any longer and I have not had a panic attack for at least five days.

Thank you so much for all your support, this forum is truly amazing!

[Belle]

This is brilliant news - and I'm sure things will get even better. Take care xxx