Pregnancy caused huge setback need hope

[[Ma...]]

2 hours ago, [[F...] said:

I really feel for your situation willhealsoon. I was also poly drugged and sensitive too. I haven’t had a setback this bad before. It’s definitely the pregnancy itself causing it because I have taken nothing in years other than some vitamins and minerals which I don’t react to. I just pray to god things don’t get worse after the birth. I actually regret getting pregnant now 

Hi @[Fe...], I did regret getting pregnant and was unable to relate my pregnancy to a baby. I mean I was feeling so miserable and focused on my own troubles that I only wanted everything to come to an end. I didn’t really feel I had a baby inside who I would soon meet and love, it was just out of the equation, could not think about it. But, in case you should be worried about the baby being badly affected by your state of mind and terrible symptoms, then I can also offer you some relief. There is a lot of fairytale beliefs around on the importance of being happy, playing classical music and these kind of things while pregnant, but, even though I can’t say it isn’t good, I really believe that pregnant women are, for the most part incubators and that it is not of great relevance if their brains are ‘sick’. I’m totally convinced of this.

[[Bu...]]

Hello again @[Fe...],

I am so glad that other members found this thread and have offered such kind support.  I did some searching and I think that @[Sw...] may have also been in a similar situation, so perhaps she will chime in as well.

Blessings

[[Fe...]]

Thankyou as something I feel so guilty and sick about is it my baby is in distress or suffering because of the way I feel and my symptoms which I don’t have much control over 

[[Sw...]]

Hi @[Fe...] I am glad @[Bu...] tagged me. Listen, I am currently, almost, 7 months from taking my last benzo. I have been in withdrawal this entire pregnancy. You can look at my post history and see my symptoms and things I’ve been dealing with. A good 75% of all my symptoms have gone away. Currently I have intermittent neck and scalp pain on one side only. I am experiencing Anhedonia unfortunately again, loss of joy and excitement, as you described. I am struggling with insomnia. And I have incredibly difficult tinnitus. It’s not severe, it’s moderate, and it’s my worst symptom. It causes me anxiety, but I don’t think I have anxiety for any other reason than stress from tinnitus. I get tingling in my fingers and face and head, it’s mild and intermittent. These are really all what’s left of my symptoms from 5 years of benzo use. 
 

anyways, I feel like you need someone to talk to. I am 36 weeks and 3 days pregnant and I relate to you. 
 

how far along are you? 

[[Fe...]]

Thanks for replying. I am almost 34 weeks. My symptoms have been worse than my withdrawals I had years ago. Do the doctors and hospital believe you are still in withdrawal even though it’s been months? They tell you to avoid stress during pregnancy but how can you? I actually am in a semi window today it makes a big difference to my mental state and it’s because I wasn’t being attacked internally much and I slept a full 8 hours. I had bad anhedonia for years after benzos but it probably won’t last as long for you you seem like you’re recovering nicely. So sorry you’ve been through this too. I am also iron deficient and everytime I tried taking iron tablets I would get extremely bad reactions and I had to stop 

Edited June 5 by [Fe...]

[[JJ...]]

I hope you feel better soon

Edited June 5 by [JJ...]
Decided not to share

[[Mi...]]

Praying you start feeling well soon.  i know many people are against ADs for numerous reasons.  I just listened to an NPR show on postpartum depression.  There is a new medication that helps women in a week instead of months and I believe you can still breast feed when you take it.  Otherwise, many women take Zoloft because you can nurse with Zoloft. I went into depression after a year postpartum.  It was not fun.  That was thirty years ago.  I believe there are support groups for postpartum depression and if you are still feeling uneasy maybe you can find some help there also.  If your medical care team is not supportive and you do not feel comfortable with them maybe, ask some friends who they might recommend.  Praying you are guided to the perfect care providers and people who know how to help you the best.  I hope you have some postpartum family and friends to help you out once your sweet baby arrives.  Blessings.  

[[Sw...]]

Just a warning to all the new post partum depression drug being prescribed is gabaergic and is one of the first and I think only antidepressants to stimulate gaba receptors. It’s NOT a good idea to take any medication that you don’t first rigorously research. I foresee MANY people reporting symptoms from this drug in the long term and it frightens me it’s going to be given to pp women first. In a podcast I listened to they said once enough pp women have been prescribed the drug with no adverse effects (ha!) they will then off label prescribe to all sorts of mental health conditions. I am sure it will be effective but sadly long term it will fail. 

[[Sw...]]

@[Fe...] how are you doing today? Are you in the United States? I live in us in the east coast. It’s been beautiful weather all week so far. I saw a chiropractor yesterday who made me aware that the pain i am in on left side of neck and scalp is because I have a huge stiff shoulder complex that needs therapy. He adjusted me and it was SO relieving. 
 

you know, pregnancy hormones seem to shine a light on issues the nervous system has been “holding” on to. My chiro asked yesterday if I’d had any injuries recently. I said no, but a few years ago I had a TERRIBLE surfing accident that I just “got over” since I wasn’t in pain even though I got bashed on the head by my surf board from the force of a large wave. 
 

he said the body holds onto these injuries, sometimes for years, and silently, until one day something pushes our system to the limit and our body starts to have pain. Well I bet benzo withdrawal is being stored in the nervous system too. And pregnancy can absolutely bring it to the surface. That doesn’t mean it won’t get better! That’s good news, your body is just sayin “hey I’m not fully healed yet, look what’s left, help me.” 

 

Edited June 6 by [Sw...]

[[Sw...]]

Iron needs to be addressed, can you start with small doses and slowly taper up? You need iron for proper neurological functioning. It made me a little off in the beginning too but now not a problem. 
 

I don’t tell my doctors I’m struggling. I’ve been through this before and I know they can’t do anything. I am sure if they could help me they would, but sadly this is about time, and personal life choices that will relieve stress overtime or worsen. 
 

have you been approaching your mental health with any skills like therapy, cbt, meditation, visualizations, deep breathing, positive self talk, prayer? 
 

I find this to be a big missing piece to our healing. It’s hard because it’s easy to think meditation or prayer is useless but it’s very helpful and changes brain chemistry!

[[Fe...]]

Hi Sweet Surrender 

I’m in Australia it’s winter time here and I’m sweating like crazy from the hormones. I don’t know if this is benzo withdrawals anymore. It could be partially , I don’t think there’s anyway to tell. But something that has been giving me some relief is remedial massage. I must be trapped in a traumatized stressed fight / flight state. The massage must get me out abit. On the days I’ve had it I notice about 50% improvement in my symptoms. I usually am acryally able to get in some sleep even though I still feel aggressively internally attacked in my sleep some nights.  Whatever it is it feels unbelievable and I can’t believe it’s happening. I did a cortisol salvia test and it came back high. I did the test all day and on a day where I was just sitting in bed doing nothing. It’s not me causing this it’s my body’s dysfunction attacking me. Like I have severe ptsd from all the years of medication injury withdrawals and now my body is stuck in sympathetic. Also the low iron has really complicated things. The demand on iron for a pregnant woman is high and I’m eating as much meat as possible but without supplements I’m not getting the levels up quickly enough. All I’m able to tolerate is organ meat like spleen and liver but not high doses. So I’m doing it slowly. This has all been very scary. I also believe that the stress of making this baby has been too much for my system to handle. Surely once she’s out I’ll get my reprieve but I’ll also have the task of looking after a newborn which can b so tough depending on the baby so I’ll have that stress too. Last night I started thinking what happens if a mother is too unwell to take care of her baby? If the family can’t take over then do the government take away her baby? These are fears I have as I’m not functioning. The slightest bits of stress set me off into this hyper adrenal state and it takes so long to get any sort of normalcy again. In the first trimester I was functioning other than feeling nauseous. It’s gotten worse as the pregnancy has progressed so it’s likely the hormones increasing to levels I can’t handle. Plus the baby taking my nutrients I haven’t properly replaced plus the stress of the baby making. I eat as healthy as humanely possible and I track what I eat so that I know I’m meeting my nutrient targets daily but I still feel depleted. I react to lots of supplements and was never able to take a pre natal but my blood test levels where all normal for folate b12 and iron when I started the pregnancy. 

[[Mi...]]

.Can you stay with anyone postpartum or have anyone stay with you? You probably already know Infants sleep a lot but you need to nurse every two to three hours, at first.  Most moms need help feeding themselves, having others prepare food for you is really helpful, if it's possible. I used to do postpartum visits, as a nurse/lactation consultant.  Sometimes I had to do many visits.  Hopefully, if you need extra help someone can be sent to your home to help you.  Here to get help beyond a week, typically you need a doctor to put you on disability and to order a home health aide so many hours a week.  Sometimes, a social worker can make recommendations and connect you to help.  I really feel for you right now.  I am holding you in my prayers and in my heart.  

[[Fe...]]

My husband will be off for a month and my mother will help make me food. But my symptoms are so severe I don’t know how I’m going to b able to nurture and care for her. And I don’t know if these symptoms are going to be gone in a month or if I’m going to be like this for months / years. I don’t know what’s causing it. I tried taking iron again yesterday and I’m paying for it today. It’s so scary what my body is doing to me. I didn’t know such horrid physical symptoms existed. It’s like a bomb going off in my nervous system or like my nervous system is aggressively attacking itself. 

[[Fe...]]

I’m scared that my baby can feel what I’m feeling or that she will come out neurologically screwed up like me  I don’t know how it works 

[[Ma...]]

1 hour ago, [[F...] said:

I’m scared that my baby can feel what I’m feeling or that she will come out neurologically screwed up like me  I don’t know how it works 

Hi @[Fe...], in my opinion, always my opinion and from my own experience, I don’t think your baby can feel what you are feeling in terms of anxiety or depression. Neither can it be harmed by your physical symptoms. As I already told you in another post, our womb is an incubator where babies get their nutrients and oxygene and all they need to keep growing. As long as you eat proper food and don’t take any harmful substances, everything will be ok. Don’t worry about this, and of course, she won’t get neuronogically screwed because you are now. She has her own genes and they are not being affected by your mental state at the moment. By the way, don’t let others press you  on breastfeeding if you happen to not feel able to put up with it.Bottle fed babies grow perfectly fine and sometimes the circumstances make it the best option for you. I didn’t breasfed my daughter as I needed to take my ADs back to get out of the hell of a pregnancy I had. It was the best option for me. Saying this just in case, maybe breastfeeding is a blessing for you. I really want to help you putting aside of these worries you are having about your baby’s wellbeing. I wish I could manage to give you some relief in this respect.

 

 

 

 

[[Fe...]]

Thankyou that is really helpful to know that. I am eating aswell as possible and haven’t taken a single harmful substance. So good to know she’s not being affected.

 

i think what I have is hyper androgenic POTS that I developed coming off psych meds and it’s exacerbated by the pregnancy. I’m having cortisol and adrenaline blood tests this morning 

[[Mi...]]

On 09/06/2024 at 01:10, [[F...] said:

My husband will be off for a month and my mother will help make me food. But my symptoms are so severe I don’t know how I’m going to b able to nurture and care for her. And I don’t know if these symptoms are going to be gone in a month or if I’m going to be like this for months / years. I don’t know what’s causing it. I tried taking iron again yesterday and I’m paying for it today. It’s so scary what my body is doing to me. I didn’t know such horrid physical symptoms existed. It’s like a bomb going off in my nervous system or like my nervous system is aggressively attacking itself. 

I am glad to hear you have family that will be there for you.  If you are still feeling horrible and anxious  I wonder if Zoloft would help calm your nerves.  Like I said in the past doctors said you can breast feed on Zoloft.  You would need to ask a professional. Another super source of iron is 

 

On 06/06/2024 at 02:20, [[S...] said:

Just a warning to all the new post partum depression drug being prescribed is gabaergic and is one of the first and I think only antidepressants to stimulate gaba receptors. It’s NOT a good idea to take any medication that you don’t first rigorously research. I foresee MANY people reporting symptoms from this drug in the long term and it frightens me it’s going to be given to pp women first. In a podcast I listened to they said once enough pp women have been prescribed the drug with no adverse effects (ha!) they will then off label prescribe to all sorts of mental health conditions. I am sure it will be effective but sadly long term it will fail. 

Wow, that is important information they did not mention on NPR.  Thank you for looking into that.

[[Fe...]]

Just letting you all know all my symptoms went away once my baby was born and I started breastfeeding. My baby is doing well. But I have a feeling I might be back once I stop breastfeeding 

[[...]]

@[Fe...]🌺 My congratulations!!! Soo wonderful and i'm soo glad  

I hope stopping breastfeeding won't influence much your good condition. At least to me, it seems most probable.

Health and happiness to you both

[[Ja...]]

Delighted your little baby girl has arrived safe and sound.  Congratulations, surely there can be no greater distraction than a new baby!
 

[[pi...]]

Congratulations! Enjoy this special time with your little one! 💜