Postpartum depression and after-abortion meds?

[Amelia G]

Hey everyone, someone who is both a Blue Blood hottie and a dear friend of mine had to have an abortion a few weeks back for medical reasons. She has been filled with disproportionate rage and depression and is so sad since, really suffering. The hospital did not give her any follow-up info and she is not close to any doctor she would usually go to at the moment.

Does anyone have any suggestions of home remedies which help postpartum depression and related conditions?

Does anyone here have any suggestions for what sort of doctor does this type of follow-up would normally be done by?

Does anyone here have any suggestions on what types of prescriptions she should be asking a doctor about?

[VoldtaEngler]

That's extremely saddening to hear. I'm unsure of any home remedies honestly except just to have close friends to be near and be there.
As for prescriptions, when I used to be extremely depressed and suicidal years ago, I was on Xanex and Zoloft. And honestly they worked.
Here's a list of some anti-depressant drugs available that she may want to ask her doctor about.
http://www.coreynahman.com/antidepre...sdatabase.html

Give her my best~

[kellie]

Its sad, I actually have had patients that came in because of how depressed they got after an abortion. Hopefully in a month or so she will feel better, once her hormones get back to normal.
She could ask her doctor about getting on some antidepressents in the mean time. All antidepressents deal with serotonin except for 2- wellbutrin, and remeron. Personally, I can not take serotonin drugs because they fuck me up really bad. Remeron deals with your norepinephrine. Wellbutrin more so with your dopamine. Remeron knocks you out at night, but makes you eat like a horse. Anyone concerned with their weight going up shouldnt take it. Wellbutrin is close to being speed, so anyone sensitive to caffeine or speedy cold medicine shouldnt take it.
Then there is cymbalta and effexor. These 2 drugs deal with your serotonin and norepinephrine. I have heard nothing but praise sung about cymbalta, but coming off of either of these 2 drugs isnt fun. Cymbalta is new, and there is not a generic yet, so it will be super expensive.
Then theres the SSRI meds that only deal with your serotonin. Paxil, prozac, zoloft, lexapro, celexa, and luvox. Those are pretty commonly prescribed, and most people dont have bad side effects ( unless your me, and you have every bad side effect that can happen ). Prozac used to be called the "diet drug" because most people lose weight on it.
Theres some older medications like pamelor, elavil, buspar, and a couple more that I cant think of right now. Those are not really prescribed anymore since they have so many more side effects than the new meds. She should stay away from MAOI's at all costs, but no doctor in their right mind would go handing those out for a situation like this.
Talk to your friend and see if she has taken any of these meds before, and see what worked in the past. Its all a matter of finding out what chemical in your brain you need to be fucking with, the wrong medicine can mess you up.
She can ask any family practice doctor or psychiatrist for antidepressents.
No clue about home remedies.
Hope this helps!

Oh yea, thers a really good webpage called www.crazymeds.org that has some really funny descriptions of the medications.

[VoltaireBlue]

as for the herbal route, the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is st. john's wort. the other thing I would recommend is taking a class, or investing time in a hobby.It may help her to see that she has something fun/interesting to show for her time other than being depressed; also the time spent on such class or hobby will help take her mind off her depression. Or just simply doing things that make her happy. I've never taken chemical meds, but I have most deffinetly been depressed for months at a time, and all of these things helped alot....

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

The problem with depressed people is that they seldom want to, or really are able to do the things that make them better.

I am a big fan of the doctor route, but since that is not available here is what I have learned over the years. Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with postpartum depression, just the run of the mill variety, so I don't know if it will help.

Studies have shown that clinically depressed people often have a shortage of omega 3 fatty acids. I have not seen anything conclusive saying if this is cause or effect, but this alteration in my diet seems to help some. Salmon is the best source I have found so far, followed by halibut, albacore tuna and flax seeds are among the best sources. The cabbage family is next but has a fraction of the above sources including cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower (which I still cannot spell correctly) There are always supplements of course. Avoid caffeine, nicotine and stress as these deplete the omega 3s.

Exercise and sunlight are show to have effects as well. Something as small as 15 minutes of each a day make a difference. Unfortunately, depression makes you massively resistant to these ideas, but if you can get them they do help.

The bad news in, none of these are quick. They are more long term treatments to help keep you out of the cycle. They will help (or have helped, everyone is different) but not quickly. The good news its, it's stuff that is good for you anyway.

When you go to the doctor they should ask about, and probably do a test related to her thyroid. It is a common cause of depression.

Hope that helps a little.

[kellie]

The problem with depressed people is that they seldom want to, or really are able to do the things that make them better.

I am a big fan of the doctor route, but since that is not available here is what I have learned over the years. Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with postpartum depression, just the run of the mill variety, so I don't know if it will help.

Studies have shown that clinically depressed people often have a shortage of omega 3 fatty acids. I have not seen anything conclusive saying if this is cause or effect, but this alteration in my diet seems to help some. Salmon is the best source I have found so far, followed by halibut, albacore tuna and flax seeds are among the best sources. The cabbage family is next but has a fraction of the above sources including cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower (which I still cannot spell correctly) There are always supplements of course. Avoid caffeine, nicotine and stress as these deplete the omega 3s.

Exercise and sunlight are show to have effects as well. Something as small as 15 minutes of each a day make a difference. Unfortunately, depression makes you massively resistant to these ideas, but if you can get them they do help.

The bad news in, none of these are quick. They are more long term treatments to help keep you out of the cycle. They will help (or have helped, everyone is different) but not quickly. The good news its, it's stuff that is good for you anyway.

When you go to the doctor they should ask about, and probably do a test related to her thyroid. It is a common cause of depression.

Hope that helps a little.

Oh yea, you can get Fish-oil pills for the Omega 3, and a B vitamin complex pill for your B vitamins. Both of those contribute to depression.
If you can get a B vitamin shot, even better, but they are not so easy to come by.

[CorporateGoth]

No...unfortunately I have no real advice as far as any medical treatments are involved specifically geared toward postpartum, but my wife has dealt with general depression for years and we have gone a few rounds with various antidepressants...and not to sound dark but its not always a pretty road. Since they all (i think all anyway) work with a persons existing chemistry which can vary wildly (especially postpartum), it seems like the doctors kinda go with a spaghetti method for which drugs to perscribe. My only advice would be to find a doctor tha she or the people who are caring for her truly trust and to make sure she can be observed over a few months. most of these drugs effects can change over time. My wife was on Paxil for a while and it worked well at first. About 3 months into it, it took a pretty drastic turn and we had (HAD) to get her off of it.
Obviously I dont know this person, but is she the type who would respond well to a support group atmosphere? Under the right circumstances, they can be fairly effective.
Also, is she even receptive to getting help? While dealing with depression, attempts to help are often percieved as attacks. Of course, if she needs it she needs it, but those who are caring for her need to be prepared for those kinds of reactions.
I'll ask around and see if I can find any other ideas on the subject. It's good that shes got someone who cares enough about her to try and help.