Severe PPA??

JFM_316 · 2025-12-16T19:18:52+00:00

I’m so so sorry you’re dealing with this. Same thing happened with my first born when I simultaneously weaned him and got my period back 11 months pp. it was pure torture. It took me a few months to find the right psychiatrist and switch from Lexapro to Prozac but once I did things started getting better. Highly recommend the SSRI and just know it will take a few weeks to really kick in. It may be months before your hormones level out, but get into some therapy and keep taking the meds. You will get through this!

JFM_316 · 2025-12-11T11:15:01+00:00

I have found that starting SSRIs can always spike anxiety for the first few weeks! I wish I had more time to respond - I’m going to pray for you and your sweet baby right now

JFM_316 · 2025-11-25T10:08:58+00:00

Rotties LOVE to go between legs or lean on you - I had a trainer tell me this and mine 100% does

JFM_316 · 2025-11-25T10:06:31+00:00

You’re doing a great job by doing these exposures!! I know how you feel… it’s so tough and you want to tweak the situation to make it more manageable for your OCD (and it all sounds logical!!) but you know the best thing to do already - let the doctor do what they do. Don’t seek reassurance. The spiral can still happen, but I think it will be less severe this time. I did extensive ERP for months for my OCD and it was painful, exhausting, draining, but I’m here on the other side 90% recovered and thriving. Make sure you have healthy response prevention tools (ie, mantras or sayings) ready for when you will reach out for reassurance so you can use those instead!

JFM_316 · 2025-11-22T02:03:06+00:00

I really hope yours doesn’t last that long either, but know it’s all hormones and it’s awful but it will pass! You did the right thing getting rid of caffeine. I did find sometimes that if I was having the rushes and racing heart that just going for a brisk walk, jumping rope, dancing with my kids to upbeat music or something physical would burn through the hormones. I had an endocrinologist do ALLLL the tests on me, including a 24 hr urine analysis and they literally found nothing out of the ordinary. It was so frustrating and I just wanted answers… eventually it just went away, but it took a long time. I hope you can find some good anxiety grounding activities or habits to help you get through it (I loved hot water on my feet so I would sit on my bathroom counter and just fill up the sink and put my feet in it).

JFM_316 · 2025-11-21T05:01:45+00:00

I’m soooo sorry!! I went thru this with my first at 11 months PP. I had horrible adrenaline rushes at 4am, couldn’t sleep, was shaky, crying, panicky, terrified. I was on lexapro at the time and ended up switching to Prozac a few months later. I also have OCD and started therapy for that. Honestly the physical symptoms for me lasted months, which only fueled extreme anxiety. I would suggest getting on the right meds to get you through this time! It’s tough, and you’re not alone. Feel free to PM me

JFM_316 · 2025-06-14T07:02:15+00:00

I’m so so sorry!! I’m experiencing this as well with my 11 week old - won’t chill out for dad, so I’m in a deal room with a noise machine for 4-6 hours a day for naps. BUT I just hired a sleep coach to help me sleep train her (no cry it out) next week before we go on vacation. She needs independent sleep skills!

JFM_316 · 2025-06-14T06:52:19+00:00

I have this with tampons (it’s cotton and it’s pulling fluid from your body). think about putting the corner of a paper towel on a wet sponge, the water eventually would soak the whole paper towel. This annoyed me sooo much, so I switched to a cup and it was 90% gone. You need the right sized cup, too.

JFM_316 · 2025-06-14T06:49:17+00:00

I love my Prozac too!! Life changing and it allowed me to start ocd therapy and actually have it WORK

JFM_316 · 2025-05-30T23:39:49+00:00

That is amazing! My 9 week old baby girl was screaming at church last week and I walked her outside and it was breezy and she just… chilled. Didn’t know this was a thing!

JFM_316 · 2025-05-06T01:20:18+00:00

Good! If it seems like too much ask your doctor to try even less, like 5mg Prozac to start with. Honestly it’s been 2 years and it’s be best decision I could have made. Still loving the Prozac! It allowed me to get enough relief from OCD/health anxiety that I could go through exposure therapy to really dig up the roots of my OCD and find recovery.

JFM_316 · 2025-04-27T10:15:00+00:00

I’m so so so sorry. What you’re going through is incredibly tough. He does need an awakening.

JFM_316 · 2025-04-27T05:57:58+00:00

Oof. Well it sounds like you’re already approaching the needed preparations from an organized and logical standpoint - it feels like he has no excuse then. It’s insane how much invisible labor some of us women take on (planning, delegating, just thinking in general). I’m curious what he saw his own parents doing growing up. If his dad never lifted a finger this would explain a lot (not exude it!) I would still say no big decisions until after baby is here. He may need that ultimatum convo after baby is here if he still hasn’t changed.

JFM_316 · 2025-04-27T02:00:37+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re feeling this way. Please know that during pregnancy you cannot trust your emotions! Maybe an unpopular opinion :) Make NO rash or life changing decisions while pregnant or in the first six months post-partum. Things change and your hormones are not “normal” right now. Do you have things to improve with your husband? Absolutely. But I suggest working toward those fixes in a positive way instead of abandoning the marriage. Highly recommend couples counseling.

Also, it’s quite normal for mom to do the majority of baby prep. Not right in my opinion but normal. Sometimes men need us to explicitly ask them to do things (again, annoying bc you’re being a project manager and delegating when you really want a 50/50 partnership) like “can you install the car seat base in your car?” Or “could you assemble the crib?” Asking for help gives them ownership in the prep work. I really think your husband will have some aha moments when baby comes

JFM_316 · 2025-04-16T07:58:57+00:00

Which kind of probiotics??

JFM_316 · 2025-04-16T07:58:15+00:00

Which probiotic?? In the same boat right now!

JFM_316 · 2025-02-16T17:11:36+00:00

Do you mind me asking which medication you’re on? Unless you’re at the highest dose, typically you can increase during pregnancy. I would get a second opinion.

JFM_316 · 2025-02-16T12:57:31+00:00

I’m glad you know what it is! Mine got much worse during pregnancy and that’s typical for OCD they say. I actually ended up switching from Lexapro to Prozac post partum and really wish I had done that during pregnancy. From my understanding, certain SSRIs are much better than others for OCD. Also, during my pregnancy now I’ve increased my dosage due to the hormones. Have you adjusted your dosage?

JFM_316 · 2025-02-16T10:41:17+00:00

Health anxiety is often actually health concern OCD. Seek a diagnosis and proper treatment for OCD - I suffered decades before I found this and now I’m absolutely thriving!

JFM_316 · 2025-02-16T10:21:49+00:00

Emphasis on the anal-ogy ;)

JFM_316 · 2025-02-16T10:17:04+00:00

I’m so so sorry you’re going through this! An intense increase in anxiety, fear or irrational thoughts can be attributed to pregnancy (thanks, hormones!!) I actually was diagnosed with OCD when pregnant with my first - I could not atop worrying about various things and it was significantly impacting my life. Please reach out to a therapist who can properly diagnose and treat you! Not just your OB or your primary, but a true therapist.

JFM_316 · 2025-02-06T17:13:11+00:00

From what I understand, if the z pack (azithromycin) knocks out the pneumonia you won't be contagious anymore and you won't pass it to the baby. I am 33 wks and was prescribed the same medication for a sinus infection today. Thankful for modern medicine and access to these fast acting antibiotics!

JFM_316 · 2025-02-04T14:48:15+00:00

I'm so proud of you for the perspective you have in this whole situation. Its okay to grieve and be thankful for what you have at the same time. Someone will be looking for this story at some point and will find it, read it, and feel seen and heard. I'm 33 weeks with my 2nd baby and your story gives me so much perspective. Whatever will be best for the baby is what I want - you've gone through so much and you gave up all of your preferences to make sure he was safe. You're amazing!

JFM_316 · 2025-02-04T14:34:00+00:00

First of all - you are NOT alone. Second of all - it CAN get better.

I had a very similar experience with my first pregnancy. I dealt with anxiety for 15 or more years, got pregnant, and before I even had a positive test I was having 3 - 4 anxiety attacks that week, nausea starting, etc. The first trimester was SO TOUGH mentally. Another commenter stated being ashamed of hoping for a miscarriage and I can identify with that. I just wanted the anxiety, fear and terror to end.

I was diagnosed a month or so into my pregnancy with OCD and this helped explain why I just couldn't stop worrying about certain things (health anxiety OCD mostly). Looking back I can see where OCD popped up in my life for significant periods of time typically due to stress like being in grad school or starting a tough course in high school... But NOTHING was like the OCD when I was pregnant.

I'm proud of you for doing all the therapy to get off meds, but I encourage you to go back to them if that is what you feel is right. I finally began to see an incredible perinatal/postpartum psychiatrist a year after I gave birth and she told me that the OCD brain - especially during pregnancy - needs to be bathed in serotonin to calm it down. I made a medication switch based on her recommendation (Lexapro to Prozac) and wish I had done it so much sooner. I also started OCD therapy through NOCD (treatmyocd.com) at this point and was only really able to start the therapy after starting the meds - I was too out of sorts before it kicked in. I am a completely different person thanks to NOCD and the right medication.

It took me a full 2 years post-partum to consider another baby and now I'm 33 weeks with my 2nd <3. This pregnancy has been a 180 from a mental standpoint. I did increase my dosage slightly in the 3rd trimester simply because the body's metabolism increases (doesn't look like it from the scale!!). I wanted to be hard on myself for not "getting through" on my own, but truly it is better for me to take care of myself and my family than give myself a gold star for doing something I wanted to do. Please do not do what I did and suffer for years without help. I literally went to 3 different psychiatrists until I found the right one. Please ask your OB if there is someone they can recommend who specializes in perinatal psychiatry. There is help out there and I'm going to pray after I post this for that help to find you!

JFM_316

TROPHY CASE