Tag Archives: Postpartum Mood Disorders

Trace elements important aspect of Postpartum Mood Disorders

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A recent study out of Iran focused on the dissemination of several papers focusing on trace elements and their relationship to Postpartum Mood Disorders.

The trace elements included were Zinc, Magnesium, Iron, and Copper. All four elements were involved in both pathophisiologies and treatment of Postpartum Mood Disorders.

With Zinc, levels were lower in women struggling with a PMD. Altered levels of Zinc can lead to behavioral disturbances including depression according to the researchers.

Magnesium deficiency is linked to a number of psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and various other mood disorders. According to the researchers, “In pregnancy, the fetus and placenta absorb huge amounts of nutrients particularly magnesium from the mother; this depletion of magnesium with not enough intake of magnesium is hypothesized to be a cause of postpartum depression. Further, nursing is known to deplete maternal magnesium as well. (This is cited as source 31 in their writing)

Iron deficiency can be at the root of depression, learning difficulties, and a number of additional issues. “Iron is the most common single nutrient deficiency in the world and more than 50% of women at reproductive age suffer from iron deficiency,” according to the researchers. Primarily in depression though, the researchers focused on the need of normal iron levels in order to produce dopamine, “a neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in mood disorders.”

Copper is intrinsically important in the conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine, as stated in the researchers report. A deficiency in Copper contributes to a deficiency in dopamine and norepinephrine, causing depression and possible additional mental disorders. Low copper leves showed an association with Postpartum Mood Disorders in one of the studies examined but yet a different study showed higher levels. More research is needed to further examine the specifics of Copper to Postpartum Mood Disorders and to determine what levels are therapeutic in warding them away.

The researchers concluded an examination of the levels of the above four trace elements is important both in the diagnosis and treatment of Postpartum Mood Disorder. These trace elements may prove to be a good alternative approach for treatment, especially for nursing mothers who wish to avoid pharmacological involvement in their recoveries.

Bottom line though – make sure your doctor examines physical causes including vitamin and mineral deficiencies before handing over that script for an anti-depressant.

Just Talkin’ Tuesday: How do I survive relapse?

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Original blank stock art uploaded by enimal @ www.sxc.hu

Over the past month or so I’ve heard a lot from several of you about relapse. What is it? What if I get stuck in it? How do I know it’s relapse? How do I get out? Is it like Quicksand? Will I get sucked in further if I struggle? Should I just stay calm? Am I down for the count if this happens? What do I do???? HELP!

Relapse sucks.

It just sucks.

It sucks the life out of you all over again, sucks your progress down the tubes, it just – well, sucks. There’s no nicer way to put it, frankly.

What is relapse?

Relapse is when you begin to show signs and symptoms of how you were feeling at the very beginning and these issues begin to interfere with daily living for more than a couple of weeks with no sign of decreasing. These signs and symptoms are set off by a myriad of things – something happening very similarly to what something that happened around the time of your child’s birth, re-visiting the hospital at which something traumatic related to the birth or immediately after the birth occurred, any situation increasing stress to a level at which you’re not ready to cope, or an unknown trigger.

How do I know it’s relapse?

I cannot tell you for sure. But chances are if you’ve had a whole bunch of good days and then wham! You’re two weeks into a string of bad days, chances are you may have a relapse episode on your hands. Think about when this pattern started. Did something happen at the beginning of this that may have triggered it? Moving? New Daycare? New Job? Loss of Job? Financial issues? Difficult news about a loved one?

How do I get out of relapse?

The same way you got out before – complying with your prescribed course of treatment, whatever that may be, and being open with your doctor about what’s going on in your life right now. If you relapse, it’s a good idea to get all your levels tested again – Iron, Thyroid, and Vitamin D. Even if you did not experience issues initially, it’s a good idea to rule them out again. Be sure to be open and honest with your care provider. They are at the mercy of what you share and to be treated successfully, they are relying on you to paint a clear picture of what’s going on as YOU know YOU best.

Is it like Quicksand? Will I get sucked in further if I struggle?

Yes and no. You’ll go further if you struggle against your prescribed course of treatment and remain a non-participant in your recovery. But if you turn and fight like the strong courageous woman I know you are, you’ll escape pretty quickly. (Halle Barry once said on Oprah that the repeat visits to depression valley were always easier because she had been there before and knew the way out. SAME principle applies here. Deep down you know your triggers, your flash-points, and you can control them. And even if you feel out of control, you’ve been here before and know what to do if you just let your body and mind relax.)

Am I down for the count if I relapse?

Absolutely not! Relapse is merely a detour on the way to Recovery. It can put you down for the count but ONLY if you let it do so. Once you decide to fight back though, Postpartum Depression does not stand a chance.

Let me put it to you this way – A caterpillar goes through hell to survive from the time it’s born. It eats, chews, grows, and then if it’s lucky enough, it builds a chrysalis. You know what it’s doing in the chrysalis? Morphing into a butterfly. A beautiful, gorgeous, amazing butterfly. Once that chrysalis pops open and the butterfly is set free, it can never go back. Sure, it can stop by and admire the now empty shell of its past life but it can never climb back into the original chrysalis. The SAME is true for you. You can never truly go back. We can only move forward and move with whatever bumps come our way. We choose to either make them into beautiful butterflies or remain a lowly caterpillar. The choice really is yours even if you can’t see it right now through all the fog.

So this is where I want to kick off the discussion. Have YOU had a relapse? A setback? How did you cope? What would you tell someone who is now relapsing to give them hope? What would you want to hear? Let’s get to Just Talkin’, ladies (and gents)!

Want to answer this on your own blog? Grab the button to the right! Just be sure to link back to this post so your readers can check out the comments here as well.

Are PMD’s the new Jimmy Chu’s?

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Six years ago, I woke up and wandered into my walk in closet. To my left, neurosis and psychopathy. To my right, temporary madness. I walked right past them to the very back of the closet and grabbed a pile of dusty boxes from the darkest corner.

Ahhhhh.

There they were. All the members of the Postpartum Mood Disorder line, their labels obscured by years of dirt and grime, left there by the previous generation of women just for me. Chills ran down my spine as I placed the boxes on the floor and plopped down beside them, dizzy with anticipation.

Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Depression, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and the most spectacular and rarest of them all – Postpartum Psychosis.

As I opened one, cobwebs covered my hands as stale air escaped.

I hyperventilated as the suspense of discovering my poison washed over me.

As I pulled the lid off, there it was, shining in all its glory.

Postpartum Obsessive Compulsive Disorder! I clapped my hands with glee, grinned, squealed, and slipped my toes into the bejeweled insanity, strapping my heels in for the bumpy yet glittery ride.

As I returned the other boxes to the shadowy corner, the fun times rolled full force ahead!

Horrible traumatic thoughts about harming myself and my baby slammed into me. I shivered in sheer delight. My anxiety level shot sky-high as my daughter screamed and fussed in the next room. And oh yes, my favorite of all – my newfound fear of kitchen knives as they became central to the little shards of horrificly delicious thoughts.

Oh yes.

THIS is what I am talking about. This is awesomeness all wrapped up in a gorgeous pair of killer heels. Where on EARTH had they been my whole life? This rocked.

As I sat down in the living room to nurse my daughter for what seemed like the 50th time in less than 3 hours, I admired my fancy new shoes. They were hypnotic, yet psychotically tragic at the same time. But dammit, they were mine. Bejeweled, beveled, and shining like gold, they clung to my feet with a grip that just would not quit.

Slowly the sun slid beneath the horizon as the house darkened and a loud silence filled the world, screaming at me.  Yet here I still sat, pinned to the couch, nursing baby on my boob, on my gazillionth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, shoes still strapped to my feet. My heels blistered, my toes horribly pinched, my arches swelled, and my cankles threatened to devour the straps.

I wanted to take the shoes off. Now.

But baby wouldn’t stop eating. Life wouldn’t stop moving forward, swallowing me whole, the thoughts wouldn’t stop swirling around my head long enough for me to figure out how to undo the now almost buried straps beneath my cankles.

I pulled, I fought. I screamed, I wept, wailed, gnashed.

I needed professional help.

Had I waited too long? Had I done permanent damage to myself? To my marriage? How would I care for my baby if I could no longer function? What on earth had I really sacrificed to be so fashionable? Slipping on a PMD was the trendy thing to do, right? Why wasn’t this working for me? What the hell had I done wrong?

Turns out I had done nothing wrong.

And for the record, I didn’t really slip on a PMD. No, it crept up on me from behind, beat me over the head, and rode me like a drunken sailor rides a mechanical bull after one too many beers during shore leave.

I did NOT choose to have a PMD.

I do not claim to have a PMD so I can be like Dooce.

I do not claim to have a PMD so I can outdo your bad days.

I do not claim to have a PMD just because the cool kids are doing it.

I do not claim to have a PMD just because I want more traffic to my blog, dammit.

I started my blog to cope with an unexpected pregnancy AFTER two episodes of Postpartum OCD, one of which spit me out on my bed, rocking back and forth in the fetal position muttering “I don’t want to be Andrea Yates,” over and over to avoid grabbing a pillow and smothering my daughters. Yes, I said daughters.

My Postpartum experience couldn’t be solved simply by going home and calming my daughter down because even when she was calm, those thoughts still crashed against my shores, angry, unforgiving, and pushing me even further toward the overgrown jungle.

I for one, applaud mothers daring to be vocal about their experiences with PMD’s. As we raise our voices in a loud and beautiful chorus, more mothers are aware of what CAN happen after the birth of a baby. More mothers today know what to do, how to seek help, and have access to peer support immediately via the blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook, or other Social Media sites.

At the same time, I do agree that some might cry wolf. BUT – it is not my place to judge them. It is not my place to tell them to MAN UP. It is not my place to force them to a doctor so they can pop pills and become one of the “cool kids.” (By the way, if you go to a doc about a PMD and he/she immediately writes you a script, RUN. Run quickly. Find someone who rules out physical causes such as thyroiditis or anemia first. Please?) It is not my place to diagnose them. It’s not my place to compare their journey to theirs and try to one up them. It’s not my place to brag that my Motherhood Lane has more or less potholes. It’s not my place to blame them for feeling lied to if that’s what they express. It’s just not.

It’s my place to listen. It’s my place to show compassion. It’s my place to love them as they travel down their OWN Motherhood Lane. It’s my place to offer resources through which they will also find compassion, empowerment, and achieve the Motherhood Journey they so sorely yearn for as they lay curled in their beds, unable to get up because the thought of facing one more day has left them powerless. Or the thoughts racing through their heads have frightened them so much they want to sleep forever – because when you’re asleep, when you’re asleep .. those thoughts are quiet. But they’re there as soon as you wake up and when you have a new baby, let’s face it, you’re up a LOT.

Once again, disappointment creeps deep within my heart. I wish we could co-exist in our own spaces without offering critique. Without feeling like the grass on the other side is just a smidge greener and then offering suggestions on how to improve our neighbor’s lawn or gossiping with the other neighbor about how the problems we are having with our own lawn is SO much worse than the ones they are experiencing. Fire Ants? Yeh, well, I’ve got moles. Moles? I’ve got groundhogs. STOP IT. Just stop it.

Can’t we all just grab a margarita and tear down the fences between us without the competition? Please? Cuz that, that would rock.

Have you been to #PPDChat yet?

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Two weeks ago, on May 3, the very first #PPDChat took place @Twitter. (Don’t worry if you’re confused, I’ll explain what I just said in a few minutes!)

We had a few attendees at both chats. Overall response was very warm, excited, and generally thrilled about this new avenue of support available for new moms struggling with postpartum mood disorders.

This week’s attendance was even stronger, especially in the evening. Women were sharing, supporting, getting brave about seeking help (two even made doctor’s appts!), and even more exciting to see was that they were STILL chatting about it this morning! Attendees continued to encourage and support each other well after the official chat was over. Last night’s chat was so phenomenal it had tears streaming down my face. The sheer POWER of social media at it’s finest – truly doing what it’s build to do – help us connect and support each other. Speechless!

Imagine my surprise to see folks like @marchofdimes and @60secondparent spreading the word about #PPDChat!

I am so excited to see what is in store for #PPDChat and can’t wait to see you there!

I promised to share how to participate.

First, you need a Twitter account. It’s free and easy to sign up. Just go to http://www.twitter.com to get your account.

Once you’ve signed up, you’re good to go.

Our “chat” is held every Monday. There are two chats. The first chat takes place at 1:00pm EST with the second chat taking place at 830p EST. Both chats last about an hour but if they’re going strong or there’s someone who really needs to continue discussing, we won’t cut you off. Ever. We promise. Even though we call it a “chat,” it’s really a serious of tweets (those are messages sent on Twitter) with a specific hashtag (phrase which follows the # symbol). Our hashtag is #PPDChat.

There are a few ways to follow the chat.

If you’re already on Twitter and have a program like Tweetdeck or use Seesmic or HootSuite, you should have a way to follow specific #hashtags.

If you’re just on Twitter via the web, type in the hashtag (#PPDChat) into the search box. The search page will update to show you additional tweets and you can click on them to see the new messages. There is a message/Tweet box at the top of this page so you can participate directly from the tweet page.

There’s also http://www.tweetchat.com. You do have to authorize this to work with your Twitter account and then type in PPDChat up top next to the hashtag. (it’s a little hard to see – I had a rough time with it) The nice thing about using tweetchat is that it automatically hashtags all of your tweets for you so you don’t have to remember.

If you have any further questions, please leave a comment here or find me on Twitter. I’m still @unxpctdblessing there. Click here to follow me: http://www.twitter.com/unxpctdblessing

I do have lovely co-hosts assisting me in this endeavor and I am SO happy they are because without them it wouldn’t work as well as it has so far! Thank you ladies!

Co-hosts are:

@postpartumprogr

@ivyshihleung

@Atlantamom

@helenfcrawford

MOTHER’S Act supporters gather to celebrate enactment of historic postpartum legislation

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Today, at 1130 a.m. EST, a gathering will take place. A gathering that has been years in the making, has had some of the most amazing and dedicated supporters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, and a gathering that celebrates the thousands and possibly millions of lives which will be saved in the years to come.

Senator Menendez, Rep. Bobby Rush, Carol Blocker, Susan Dowd Stone, Katherine Stone, Sylvia Lasalandra, and several other advocates are gathering on Capitol Hill to celebrate the enactment of the MOTHER’S Act. This is a momentous day indeed.

This past year I spearheaded a blog event to help increase grassroots support of this bill. Several other women also worked diligently to increase support and gather signatures for a petition which was presented to Senators in support of this bill. It was not an easy task. We had opposition. Opposition which attacked us like nothing I’ve ever experienced. They said things about us that simply were not true in an attempt to bring us down and decrease our support for the bill. But it didn’t work. We persevered through their words, through their hatred, through their guilt-ridden tactics. Was it easy? Heck no. But we kept on in the trenches because we had truly been IN the trenches fighting off our own battles with Postpartum Mood Disorders before our births as advocates. We knew what it was like to be tragically alone in that cold, damp place. And we were gonna be damned if we let that continue to be the norm.

Along the way, we proved our compassion for all new moms. We provided resources and supported them as they cried out for help in the darkness of their battle with Postpartum Mood Disorder instead of attacking them for choosing to use certain therapies available to them.We lifted women and families up with love, warmth, and cherished each one of their experiences. We cried with them, laughed with them, celebrated victories and comforted in times of loss and grief. We were there.

We won a good fight.

And today?

Today’s just the icing on the cake – the party.

But beneath that icing, rest assured we will continue our hard work. We WILL be there for all those who contact us, who lean on us for support, for reassurance that yes, YOU too can beat this beast.

Today though, I’m giving you permission to have your cake and eat it too. We’ve damn well earned it.