alternative treatment.

[wendabell]

Ok ladies,
Im not a medical person and neither is my sister but we are both into alternative therapys.My sister found an article in one of her magazines and i thought you ladies might want to read it so here goes.
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD.
Increase your omega 3 fats.
Take fatty acid suppliments and eat more cold water fish and seafood.Low fatty acid levels just after birth are linked to post natal depression(illness).Mothers docosahexaenoic acid(dha)goes to their fetuses during pregnancy to ensure optimal neurlogical growth so,unless youve taken supplements you are likely to be deficiant.To avoid pni begin taking these supplements while pregnant.
TRY BRIGHT LIGHT THERAPY.
Introduced to treat S.A.D this can also help other non seasonal forms of depression.A 10,000lux lighbox used for 30 mins every day between 7-9am can significantly improve mood and other symptoms of depression with no adverse effects.
CONCIDER ACUPUNCTURE
Which works just as well as the conventional treatments for major depression in both acute and maintenance phases.Out of 26 women having acupuncture for 8 weeks 17 were cured and 6 months later 3/4 were still well.
TAKE YOUR BABY TO A BABY MASSAGE CLASS.
AS mothers with pni often have problems bonding and interacting with their infants,a massage class will help them relate to thier babies better-possibly by the release of oxytocin and by helping them to better understand baby signals.
ST JOHNS WORT,
Which can be as effective or better than a synthetic antideppressant for mild to moderate depression,with fewer side effects.Also the suppiment does not appear to to affect milk production in mothers or infant growth.But one side effect of th herb is phot sensitivity,dont use this treatment with light therapy.
HAVE YOUR PARTNER MASSAGE YOU DURING LABOR.
In one study this led to less pni.


Ok thats it.Remember it was taken from an article in a alternative therapy magasine and im not a therapist.
All i can say about the above is.......
During labor the last thing i wanted was my hubby massaging me i wanted drugs......
St jons wort...tried that with my first bout of pni didnt work i felt but then maybe i was more than moderately depressed..........
Baby massage sounds great but you do have to get past the panic attacks first to get there.......................
Never tried acupuncture...any one else tried it............
I had a theory the other week about pni and S.A.D and if they were linked somehow,do seem to be worse when there is little light................
Ive never ate enough omega 3 fats..........The most i get is when i have sardines on toast occasionally so maybe i should up my intake there.

[Mum2Jack]

Hey cool - My OH doesnt eat prawns but I bought some especially for me for Xmas day, with Avacado and rose marie sauce.... Hes got Pate (if he stops throwing up for long enough - hes now got that BUG I had, it wasnt the Citalopram btw)

I am expecting this to be the cure you know!!!



Jigsy

[francoise]

hey wendy i been taking seven seas pure cod liver oil and evening primose oil, dont know if its working but i have been feeling better since taking them , might be a coincidence i suppose , didnt fancy the massage bit either , never tried anything else to be honest but quite interested in it all .love fran

[scrumpy]

Has anyone heard of something called the Levity Programme? My friend sent me a book about it in the early days of my PNI- called when your body gets the blues. It is not designed specifically for PNI but is for women with depression. It basically involves doing 20 minutes exercise a day, getting more light, and taking a certain combination of vitamins each day-which are quite expensive unfortunately. I have not tryed the programme, could not concentrate to read the book. my friend has tryed it, she had a breakdown after our mutual friend died(and she hadn't just given birth at the time!). she did it in combination with taking prozac and thought it helped her.
Just thought it sounded a bit similiar to the article you put on here wendy.
I am taking fish oil tablets, when i can remember to. Don't know it it helps, but i do feel good at the mo. Also stopped taking the pill, as i think this was giving me major mood swings.
Still have craniopathy as well, which i really do rate.
Love toni

[scrumpy]

Oh btw, also did the baby massage thing with Erin, although never went to classes as i couldn't face them. erin was a VERY fractious baby so we did the massage to try and chill her out. it was part of her bedtime routine for ages, and she loved it, which had the effect of calming me as well. looking back it is probably one of my only happy memories of spending time with her as a new born. It's the only time she didn't cry.
Love Toni

[jennie]

yoga,

If anyone is able to attend a relaxation course,meditation course,or beginners yoga.....go for it....
ant health days so you can have one off treatments invest that £5/£10 .......
Any courses on aromotherpy,confidences biulding /stress busters grab them....
okay I know I'm lucky, as I live in whats classed as a deprieved area so courses like this are ready available....

Look at what's available in your local community........,

I realise now that I have severe post natal depression with Isabelle......,With Dylan I was still in recovery....
I did have a brilliant gp...in a new practise that I joined though they were between h.v's..........
in this nrw pratise I met an other wonderful gp,after the lady went.....I choose to go to himafter the last suicide attempt.He actually said he was flattered a choose to see him.I can't get an appointment with him now but know if I needed to see him he would make space for me...
is it an emergency?
I'm standing there cryimg....it's hard to say yes it is..but it is!!!!!!!!!1

|No one here mentions suicidual thoughts.....
yes we can have a laugh and banter about sex....

suicidual thoughts.They used to crop into my head,when things were so perfect,yes the perfect time to go...
I suppose my kids always stopped me as the thought of how they mihgt grow up with a mother killing herself....
the last time I oded...1 1/2 yrs ago...no actually 2yrs ago!December the 12th....
I wanted to fetch Isabellle from school as I felt it was selfish to leave my kids behind!

I 'd already taken antidepressants....knew they weren't that harmful....,heart races maybe heart attack....
though not likley...,

I got in the street with Dylan and KNew |||I couldn't be trusted with Dylan across the road......

I cross thge road to the community centre opposite....
the manager rushed me into the back room ,I told her I thought I might have taken too many tablets......
she asked me where they were,got someone to sit with me ,phoned an amulence ,took mykeys off me and fetched mt tin of tablets....
Shelley the other girl held my hands and said what pretty nails I have...

[scrumpy]

Hi Jennie,
Are you ok?
You worried me a bit with that last post. Are you still getting suicide thoughts now? It must be so scarey. I had the thoughts when Erin was very young, but luckily for me they have stopped now. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of Erin being without a mum. When my friend died shortly before Erin was born, she left behind 2 young boys. her death had such an awful effect on those boys. Two years on the oldest is still very traumatised. I could never put erin through that. I want to see her grow up into a beautiful young lady.
If you are still having the thoughts, just try and hang on to the thought of those amazing kids of yours, who need their mummy. Have you been back to your gp recently, maybe you should?
Take care Jennie,
Love Toni

[Veritee]

Hi Jennie
Yes are you OK?

It is true that Suicidal thought have not been spoken about for a while or ODing - but it has before and others on here have done as you described.

I think most on her do feel this - it just has not come up recently.

I too suffered them but perhaps not as much as some.
But there were times when I just wanted not to exsist.
Again as everyone says it was the thought of the damage I would be doing to my family and my baby without a mum that stopped me.

Sometimes when |I feel overwhellmed by emotions even now I don't exactly get suicidal but I do have to shake myself out of feeling I am being bad for my family and it would be better if I was not about.

i know this sounds suicidal - but it is not - just me letting negativity get the better of me.

Please let us know if you are OK?
I think you have been upset by what happened on the forum and perhaps not having your classes to run over Christmas may not help

I hope to hear from you soon

All the best

Veritee

[annag]

I didn't get pni after my first child and I took fiesh oil supplements throughout my pregnancy cause I had high blood pressure so it may work I'm going to go and get some now.
Are you o.k Jenny is that how you feel at the moment or where you just making a point that we tend to brush over some of the really awful aspects of the illness and chat about every day stuff alot when some people will be feeling like this. I think that it is the hardest thing to offer support on and find the right words to say and the hardest thing to admit to feeling. I think the day to day stuff helps to convince us where normal mums with friends we can discuss stuff with.

[francoise]

ah anna ,
you are making a good point there i think , we do tend to do that dont we , i have suicidal thoughts , mine has always been to walk outside and keep walking with no money and no phone and not to talk to anyone and then just die of cold or starve or no water , in the gutter is where i intended to end up , but like jenny says you have to consider the ones you love and it would hurt them and ruin them completely so its a definite no no isnt it , we do have the thoughts jennie but theres so much to look forward to with our children we cherish and thats what stops us eh just like you hun , you do mention being invisible alot and not existing sometimes , i think your self worth is so low , you need to listen to your children and you friends jen , you are a wonderful lovely mother and friend to us and it would be a tradgedy to lose a special person like you , keep fighting hun and we will always help you in anyway atall ....love fran

[annag]

I've been to boots and it was really busy and I got my fish oil supplements so I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not holding out for any miracle but they where only £3.49 so its worth a try.