Posted by mdertinger on February 28, 2002, at 12:24:10
In reply to Pregwifeonprozacwantstoleavemewithbabyorkillself, posted by BigD on February 28, 2002, at 11:59:27
> Sorry for the weird subject line, but not enough room allowed to describe my situation. My wife is on prozac, just recently. She is Bipolar. She's in her third trimester of pregnancy (our first), and has been off lithium ever since she conceived. only now has she gone on this new medication Prozac. She feels like she has forgotten God, and that's the worst sin, and she feels like God hates her, and that I'd be better off with out her. She also feels that I could raise our future son better without her, and that my parents could help raise him. She wants to get away from me and everyone she's around because she feels like she brings harm upon them. She's has shared with me almost daily these feelings. I've tried to encourage her, but to see your wife despair of life is crushing. What do I do? Has anyone gone through similar circumstances, or maybe share their experience with their meds while pregnant or thereafter. I'm really concerned about the postpartum period. I've read it can be pretty tough.
How long has she been on the Prozac? It will take 4-6 weeks for her to feel better.
Just keep reminding her that these feelings are totally due to 1)being off her regular medication, and 2) hormones from pregnancy are outrageous. She only has a couple more months to go, and then she can immediately go back on the Lithium once the baby is born. I would NOT recommend she breastfeed, because 1) there are only a few meds you can take while breastfeeding (Prozac is one of them/Lithium is not) and 2)breastfeeding brings on it's own new set of hormones.
She will most likely have post partum depression. The key is to get back on meds right after the baby is born. If you have family that can come and stay, that would really help. Lack of sleep after the baby is born will also make the depression much worse.
Also, after the baby is born, she can take Xanex to immediately get relief from anxiety, scarey, I'm no good feelings. (Again, no breastfeeding with Xanex).
I went through this twice. I was on Prozac for 8 years before getting pregnant. I went off my meds while pregant, but remained relatively OK until after the baby was born. Then the post partum really hit. I didn't start back on my Prozac until after 4 weeks, because I was breastfeeding and thought I could get by a while longer (I had survived 3 months w/o meds after my first born, but did eventually get post partum very bad). Then 9/11 hit, and I was immediately sick. Severe stomach cramps from anxiety, depression, wanting to give the baby away. I went to a mental hospital for a couple days (it was yucky). My new psychiatrist told me I should have started back on the Prozac at the end of my third trimester.
Again, see if you can get some help. My mom watched my 2 year old and 1 month old baby for 2 weeks until I recovered enough to feel like I could handle them.
Does your wife work? She could probably get on medical leave because of "pregancy complications" (the depression). But maybe work is good for her, if it takes her mind off her mental health.
Hope this helps!
poster:mdertinger
thread:95829
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020222/msgs/95830.html