This afternoon I had an appointment with my general surgeon for a post-checkup. I got some pleasantly surprising news! She told me I can go back to lifting! Although, my other surgeon (my OBGYN) still has me on a 20-25 pound lifting restriction. However, I am over the moon! That means I can go back to lifting my little man! That means I don't have to rely on help any more.
God always times events perfectly.
Joe found out that he has to work out of town this weekend. He will have to work long hours this weekend. The surgeon's change is orders is perfect timing because we didn't find anybody to help me over the weekend. I know a lot of people just think that Joe should say "No" and pass up the extra hours, but to put it into perspective: God is giving us the opportunity in helping us pay for our onslaught of medical bills that will be coming in very soon. Some have arrived already. We are probably looking at over $3,000 in just what our insurance doesn't cover. Then we also found out that Joe will have to go to California in a week and a half again for more work there. Again, another opportunity God is giving us so we can stay afloat.
So, I know the next few weeks won't be easy. I am hoping that people don't assume I'm completely healed because I still have a ways to go. The last few nights have been pretty brutal in dealing with my pelvic pain.
I am itching for more time to go by so I can get doctor's write off that I can go back to exercising. I don't feel as good when I am not working out.
I don't know if I put in my past posts that I decided to ditch my anti-depressants when I was really sick right after surgery. I figured my body would have to go through a natural balancing of hormones again. The pharmacist told me if I ever got off my anti-depressants without weaning off of them, I would get sick. I figured since I was already really sick and my kids were gone, it would be the perfect time to ditch them. So far, I have done great. I had once instance that I felt I was on the verge of being too "crazy mommy" but other than that, I feel in control of myself. So, I will keep monitoring myself and go from there.
Although, I must say, I never thought taking my uterus out would lead to such a re-balancing of hormones. I have been extremely weepy and emotional. I can handle weepy. I can't handle irritation and anger.
Today, a guy in a pizza joint asked what I had planned for the weekend. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "I'm watching my kids this weekend while my husband is away."
Pizza Guy: "Sounds like fun."
Me: "Probably not. I'll be exhausted because they're all young and I'm still recovering from surgery."
Pizza Guy: "Sounds like a movie weekend to me!"
Me: "Yep. I definitely won't win Mom of the Year Award, but my kids will still be alive when the weekend is over!"
I think honesty is good. :D
Showing posts with label anti-depressants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-depressants. Show all posts
Friday, September 7, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Mom's on Anti-depressants
I recently just got a message from a friend saying that she was sorry she hadn't been able to keep up on our communication. She is having a "hard time" and is on anti-depressants. Much like her, I know the problems that lead to being on anti-depressants. More so, it's the stigma that goes with being on them.
I never had postpartum depression until after my 3rd child was born. It's not the normal depression symptoms that hallmarked the diagnoses. Sure I was tired, but doesn't that come from having 3 kids ages 3 and under? What got me was my irritability. I had this mood that just would explode at any time. I knew it was there, I tried to help it, but it seems somebody else was controlling my outbursts. When I finally lashed out at my oldest child for what I even knew was not a good excuse, I went to the doctor. I saw the look in my child's eyes that mom was kind of scary. I didn't want her to look at me that way.
After visiting the doctor, I've tried 2 different anti-depressants. Of course we looked for other reasons as to what was happening to me, but all my blood work came back normal. Choosing to go on anti-depressants was hard because Joe's family is pretty against prescription anything. Even Joe struggles with depression at times, whether he wants to admit it or not. I've asked him if he would ever take an anti-depressant just to help get him through the tough times so he can continue to function instead of huddling in a room reading a book. He adamantly said no. I wonder why because that's why I got on the pills. I figured somebody was saying, "Look, all you have to do is take this little pill once a day and you have a better shot at being a better mother." Who would refuse that?
According to WEBMD they said, "There's such extensive literature about the potential negative impact of a mother's depression on her children," Hendrick tells WebMD. "They don't do as well in a variety of factors - scores on IQ tests later on. They don't have a secure attachment with their mother. As they grow up, they tend to show more aggressive behavior toward peers."
I understand everybody's not me and doesn't look at their choices in such a light, but don't you want to have a better shot at being a better parent? I don't mind sharing the fact that I'm on anti-depressants. There's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with my personality. I have a chemical imbalance. www.psychcentral.com stated so nicely, “An important aspect of our advanced monoamine model is that individuals with depression lose chemicals like serotonin and dopamine at different rates based upon transporter density. This helps explain why one person with depression may experience loss of appetite while another may not. And some people have more severe symptoms than others,” said Dr. Meyer."
So to be a better mom, I am on anti-depressants and I would encourage anybody that balancing out hormones to be a better mom, dad, brother, sister, citizen or whatever is worth a shot. I mean, could it be any worse than where you might be right now? If you don't like being a statistic, throw that out the window. You're a statistic no matter which side your on. The question is, do you want to be a part of this next statistic?
According to www.psychcentral.com,
"The next step for researchers will be to investigate why MAO-A levels are raised in the brain and consider prevention strategies. Prevention strategies are critical — according to the World Health Organization, major depression is currently the fourth leading cause of death and disability and is expected to rise to second by the year 2020."
UPDATE:
The supplement I use to help with my depression-- Click that and it will take you to the Solaray Adrenal caps that I use to help aid my depression. I felt amazing one time when the doctor put me on steroids. I got a glimpse of the mom I want to be. So I did some research on a natural way to get that feeling. A lot of the ingredients that I found are in this supplement. Try it, can't hurt!
I never had postpartum depression until after my 3rd child was born. It's not the normal depression symptoms that hallmarked the diagnoses. Sure I was tired, but doesn't that come from having 3 kids ages 3 and under? What got me was my irritability. I had this mood that just would explode at any time. I knew it was there, I tried to help it, but it seems somebody else was controlling my outbursts. When I finally lashed out at my oldest child for what I even knew was not a good excuse, I went to the doctor. I saw the look in my child's eyes that mom was kind of scary. I didn't want her to look at me that way.
After visiting the doctor, I've tried 2 different anti-depressants. Of course we looked for other reasons as to what was happening to me, but all my blood work came back normal. Choosing to go on anti-depressants was hard because Joe's family is pretty against prescription anything. Even Joe struggles with depression at times, whether he wants to admit it or not. I've asked him if he would ever take an anti-depressant just to help get him through the tough times so he can continue to function instead of huddling in a room reading a book. He adamantly said no. I wonder why because that's why I got on the pills. I figured somebody was saying, "Look, all you have to do is take this little pill once a day and you have a better shot at being a better mother." Who would refuse that?
According to WEBMD they said, "There's such extensive literature about the potential negative impact of a mother's depression on her children," Hendrick tells WebMD. "They don't do as well in a variety of factors - scores on IQ tests later on. They don't have a secure attachment with their mother. As they grow up, they tend to show more aggressive behavior toward peers."
I understand everybody's not me and doesn't look at their choices in such a light, but don't you want to have a better shot at being a better parent? I don't mind sharing the fact that I'm on anti-depressants. There's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with my personality. I have a chemical imbalance. www.psychcentral.com stated so nicely, “An important aspect of our advanced monoamine model is that individuals with depression lose chemicals like serotonin and dopamine at different rates based upon transporter density. This helps explain why one person with depression may experience loss of appetite while another may not. And some people have more severe symptoms than others,” said Dr. Meyer."
So to be a better mom, I am on anti-depressants and I would encourage anybody that balancing out hormones to be a better mom, dad, brother, sister, citizen or whatever is worth a shot. I mean, could it be any worse than where you might be right now? If you don't like being a statistic, throw that out the window. You're a statistic no matter which side your on. The question is, do you want to be a part of this next statistic?
According to www.psychcentral.com,
"The next step for researchers will be to investigate why MAO-A levels are raised in the brain and consider prevention strategies. Prevention strategies are critical — according to the World Health Organization, major depression is currently the fourth leading cause of death and disability and is expected to rise to second by the year 2020."
UPDATE:
The supplement I use to help with my depression-- Click that and it will take you to the Solaray Adrenal caps that I use to help aid my depression. I felt amazing one time when the doctor put me on steroids. I got a glimpse of the mom I want to be. So I did some research on a natural way to get that feeling. A lot of the ingredients that I found are in this supplement. Try it, can't hurt!
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