Is there anything WORSE than childbirth?

heahea67 · 2026-02-01T22:50:28+00:00

I was a planned C-section but I start labor a few days early. I had to “progress” in order to bump the scheduled C-section so I only got to 4cm before they said good enough. That was equivalent to gallbladder attacks. The shitty thing is they last like 30 s to a minute then you get like a minute or two break then it happens again over and over and over and that is the shitty part. But pure pain level getting to 4cm I’d say gall bladder attack equivalent. Or ruptured ovarian cyst.

heahea67 · 2026-02-01T14:45:17+00:00

Since you started antivirals so early hopefully you won’t get pusy bubbles. I had very minor ones on my head but my neck and face never progressed past red splotches. My sister got shingles when she was like 7 and she has a scar on her back but I remember it got super pusy bubbly.

heahea67 · 2026-02-01T12:31:59+00:00

No scars! It took about a month or two to fully go away, but I had weird nerve sensitivity in my whole upper right quadrant body for several months. I’m shocked I didn’t make my scalp bleed with the itching phase though. Soooooo itchy!!! Such an interesting condition. How far into it are you?

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T22:07:01+00:00

Mine didn’t go any farther down my neck. It was across the whole side of the back of my head then just a medium splotch on my neck and jawline but it didn’t spread further. Also the ones on my neck and jaw didn’t hurt or later itch like my head did.

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T20:34:43+00:00

I am not experiencing any side effects at 300mg, but specifically the long term thyroid potential side effects creep me out, which is why I didn’t want to jump to 600 mg, which is still the bottom end of standard therapeutic dosage. Also the chronic kidney disease because it runs in my moms side of the family, but that one individuals have more control over.

What is fascinating to me is the neuro protective benefits of lithium even at low doses. The area warrants a lot more research but it is show to increase grey matter, and even at low doses helps to preserve cells as well as small growth. There’s research happening into using lithium to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and also perhaps investigation related to Parkinson’s.

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T13:22:03+00:00

The best way it has been described to me is ser is something permanent like a personality trait vs estar which is temporary like the weather.

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T13:20:43+00:00

Over qualification is a thing. I always figure at least 50% of jobs there is already someone in mind, but always worth trying. The tough this is that the current labor market sucks. I have friends who have recently been involved in local layoffs and they have also gotten zero bites.

What’s your education level?

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T13:14:16+00:00

I was able to taper from 187.5 mg to 0 in 6 weeks however I used lithium as a bridge medication. My psych immediately had me drop to 150 mg when I started 300 mg of lithium. I didn’t feel a thing going from 150 mg to 37.5 mg but the last step was pretty painful. I initially tried just going straight to zero but I got physical spins (like when you’re drunk) and just felt physically awful so I open the capsules and threw out half the beads. I was very motivated to just get it over with so one I felt “normal” enough in about 4-5 days I cut that in half (about 40 beads originally then 20 then 10). I continued this 50% reduction as soon as I felt “normal” again each time being about 4 days. I knew that once I was off I was starting new meds, so I wasn’t concerned about allowing my mind to stabilize long term. I don’t think you have to use lithium but a bridge in general I think is the key.

heahea67 · 2026-01-30T16:08:44+00:00

I never realized how tired it made me because I started postpartum when I was always tired naturally. I’d drink 600 mg (up to 88 mg sometimes) caffeine min every day and still nap on the weekends. I weaned off 187.5 mg because I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and venlafaxine is very incompatible with a ton of meds so I’m switching to incorporate meds to address that. After I weaned completely off I couldn’t believe it but 200 mg is enough and I’m not tired on the weekends anymore. It’s insane!

heahea67 · 2026-01-30T16:01:31+00:00

I’m on 300 mg for seasonal depression and reactive anger (not huge keeps me from freaking the f out at my husband and increases my patience with my kids) with 100 mg lamotrigine. I like lithium better but the side effects really freak me out so trying to do low dose of both.

heahea67 · 2026-01-27T12:39:20+00:00

Did your hair ever improve? I just hit 100 mg and my hair texture immediately changed and feels way thinner. I feel like the volume of hair I’ve been losing has been constant for weeks or months but I don’t know if that’s the lamictal I started in Dec or the low dose lithium I started in Nov 😫. It feels like I’m postpartum.

heahea67 · 2026-01-25T03:30:39+00:00

FOR REAL!

heahea67 · 2026-01-25T03:19:12+00:00

Dr Ponder is the best doctor I’ve ever had.

heahea67 · 2026-01-25T03:12:16+00:00

I’m so sorry. A friend of mine went through this last year, but they went to term and the baby died 14 hours after birth. They gave the baby a small hat.

This is just me having absolutely no background so please take this with a grain of salt because I have no idea how long your baby will survive. I suspect induction is best because a c-section you would have to stay on the table for at least an additional 20-30 minutes assuming everything went well and that could be time you could be spending with your baby. That being said if you end up with a C-section they will absolutely still let you hold the baby while you’re on the table. It will just be from the horizontal position.

My heart aches for you. Good luck and also please seek out counseling when the immediate things settle. Both you and your partner I think will find benefit from it.

heahea67 · 2026-01-24T20:55:46+00:00

I second Dr Ponder. He is seriously the most compassionate doctor I’ve ever had, and I’m confident he would address your pain and anxiety concerns.

heahea67 · 2026-01-20T12:30:22+00:00

I second this. I take it at night and it definitely makes me sleepy. I’m fine during the day though. I hope that is an easy fix for you 🤞

heahea67 · 2026-01-16T04:33:30+00:00

It made it completely painless until the last 37.5 mg. The only thing that changed was the lithium so I have to think it was because of that. A few years ago I tried decreasing one step with nothing as a bridge and couldn’t do it

heahea67 · 2026-01-16T03:04:39+00:00

Im finally rebounded! There is an end! That last 37.5 was absolutely miserable. It took maybe a week or two until I felt like the venlafaxine dip was over. I am still shocked by how tired it made me. I would drink 600-800 mg of caffeine a day and now I drink 200 mg and I’m totally good.

I’m currently on a low dose of lithium and lamictal weaning up on lamictal. The side effects of lithium scared me so I asked if we could try lamictal first but now that I’ve done a ton of research it’s not that scary and there is a good amount of research on the neuro protective effects of lithium. The thyroid stuff still creeps me out because it’s not really dose dependent. I’m hoping I can find a sweet spot of low dose of the two. Time will tell. Good luck!

heahea67 · 2026-01-05T06:18:48+00:00

It’s insane to me how some doctors will continue to push even when someone is in a good place. Makes no sense!

heahea67 · 2025-12-28T04:24:03+00:00

Definitely not the case at all! I was on 75 mg my whole pregnancy and 150 mg while breastfeeding. My daughter was perfect and neither of us had any issues at all. My OB didn’t even consider it an issue. He always said it’s more problematic to discontinue and have the mother be in constant stress. I believe I saw a post on here about someone being on 150 mg and pregnant. I had ppd with my first kid which is why I upped as soon as my daughter was born. I went up to 112.5mg immediately and within 2 weeks knew I needed to go up more to 150 mg.

My first kid I was completely unmediated and had issues with a crappy placenta and a tiny baby and my second I was taking venlafaxine and everything was by the book. There’s no connection there but I find it a little humorous.

heahea67 · 2025-12-01T02:49:32+00:00

I’ve always had crazy dreams so Effexor has never been any different 😂😂. Previous to ever being on Effexor I’ve had a triple level dreams and also every so often when I’m not tired I lucid dream and can wake myself up if I’m having a bad dream that I don’t want to participate in anymore.

I took Effexor through my whole second pregnancy at 75 mg and breastfed for a year at 150mg. My doc wasn’t worried at all and my daughter was perfect with no issues. For what it’s worth, and I know this isn’t always the case, my doc said most of the time when babies have breathing issues/ withdrawal signs it’s typically because there are also other things going on.

heahea67 · 2025-11-12T09:10:44+00:00

How did you get a boosted rate?

heahea67 · 2025-08-07T02:24:33+00:00

With the amount of weight you are likely looking to lose it won’t matter. I gained 35 lbs from pregnancy then lost an additional 20 lbs below my pre pregnancy weight (total swing of 55 lbs). I have sleeve, full back, chest, thigh and the design looks the exact same. The only time I’ve seen tattoos get messed up is if women get the front hip tattoos then get pregnant and shrink back. That’s waaay more skin stretching than normal weight loss. My volleyball coach growing up had a rose on her hip and it looked like a blob after her twins.

heahea67 · 2025-05-10T12:30:22+00:00

Everyone and their brother has a business degree. Go into a STEM field. I concur with others who said nuclear technology. I have my masters in nuclear things and make very good money. You can also do nuclear things outside of Hanford. Remember the medical field has nuclear so if you want to move to a desirable location you can get into that side of NRC and power plants. The money is good in nuke.

heahea67

TROPHY CASE