Feeling Discouraged

[girliegrl1723]

I scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN last week out of desperation. I am 14 weeks pregnant with my second child. I have a 2 year old at home. This pregnancy has been escpecially difficult for me and after explaining to her how I have been feeling, she suggested I may be battling some sort of depression, whether onset from the pregnancy or just the pregnancy making it worse, she isn't sure. So, she reccommended that I see a therapist abd gave me some names of people she thought were great. Of course, none of those names are in network with my insurance. I got a list of psychologists that are in network but have no idea where to start. The one woman who i found was closet to me, I left a message for this morning and she has yet to call me back. I just feel like I don't want to just call a million people and go with whoever answers the phone and get back to me as this is a hard enough step for me to take to begin with. I also don't want to let it go because I know myself and I will never follow through and I know I need to. Also, my other concern is that my OB doctor suggested I may need some type of medication and I am not opposed to that, but a psychologist can't precribe medication. She said the woman whose name she gave me would call her (my OB) and my OB would be the prescribing doctor, but will every psychologist do that? Are there psychologists who are anti-medication, because i definately don't want that. I don't know - this is all so new to me and I just want to get the help I need so I can be a healhy, happy wife and mother. you know?

[therese83]

Usually 6 - 8 weeks trial.

It sounds like you had PPD and it has not been dealt with.  You can recover from this.  I had it very severely after my 4th baby.  With medication (which i tried to avoid for one year) i have made a good recovery and am now back to myself.  But that was my final baby.

It is an illness, like any.  Try out the psychologist.  It really helps to talk to someone and to 'focus' on yourself/your feelings for one hour a week.

There is a PPd forum here with some good links

Get all the support you can and take it slowly.

[girliegrl1723]

thank you. i do feel like something has been off with me since having my son two years ago but i just never did anything about it. my OB said that they don't test hormone levels when you're pregnant because your hormones are all over the place. she really feels i may need some medication to balance myself out during this pregnancy and take it from there. the psychologist i called and left a message for yesterday called me back last nite and i am going to see her tonite. i mentioned to her the meds my OB suggested (zoloft or wellbutrin) and she didn't seem oppossed, though she seemed to lean more towards zoloft. does anyone know anything about that?i guess we will see how it goes. if they do start me on medication-how long will it take for me to start to see or feel a change in my mood? is there like a standard trial period you have to give every medication before you know if it will work or not?

[LeftCoastChick]

I know it's confusing, and I can imagine how rough it is in your case. Meds are pretty dicey when you are pregnant, there are very few that are safe to use. I would suggest you look for a psychiatrist instead, I've jumped through hoops with psychologists to get treatment. In Canada, we have to pay for the visits, there is no coverage except I think 4 visits if you have private insurance. I was lucky enough to get a shrink, they are fully trained in psychopharmaceuticals and would know which might be safe. Has your OB done any hormone tests, because hormonal imbalances can show up as depression as well, so you want to make sure you rule that out as well.   I think meds are important in the treatment of many folks with depression, at least to get you through difficult times. Did your get PPD after your first child? If you did, from what I've read, and it's only my guestimation, but it usually means there is a chemical imbalance going on.

I hope this helps rather then confuses you more. Talk therapy is extremely important, but when there's a neurochemical imbalance as well, usually medical intervention is required as well.

Congrats on your baby :)

LCC