Periods & mental health

[DR. KATE]

Does anyone find their periods effect their mental health?

I get so grouchy and stressed & lethargic , I had a baby 13 weeks ago and had 3 periods in last 6 weeks.
It's a nightmare, does anyone know what I can do to eliviate the mental health symptoms ..
Any advice will be greatly appreciated x

[DannieGirl]

hey, i completely understand what your going through. periods suck! infact i am on mine right now. i had my lg 7 months ago but have been on the pill from when she was 6 weeks old.
apparently evening primrose oil is good, maybe try looking up alternative therapy for periods. your hormones will still be calming down after having been pregnant. might also be worth speaking to your gp about it.
xxx

[DR. KATE]

Thanks for replying hun.

I'm not on any contraception am a bit worried about going back on it , but that could stop my periods which would be good but with the contraception and respiridone could play havoc with my hormones .. (worse than the periods lol )

Def gonna go see the gp

[Stellata]

Yes, ever since I started age 13. 30 years later... I do find that it varies depending on what's going on in my life and also how attentive I am to taking care of myself [or not].

[Ballerina123]

Speak to your health visitor. It would be go for her to know that your moods are being affected so soon after giving birth, just to avoid falling into any type of postnatal depression.
It's very common for women to have problems like this after birth.

[PinQ]

you could try b vitamins too as they are supposed to be a good lift when you're on your period. But keep an eye on things as it may be baby blues as opposed to just because of your period.

[DR. KATE]

Oh I did have post partum psychosis, I don't have a hv as my son had gone to live with his dad temporarily (hopefully)

I'm in a low secure ward at the moment because of it. Now better but the periods are effecting it , and not comfortable approaching staff about it..

Should be out in a week or so, so will go see my gp, where do you get the b vits from and the evening primrose oil from ?? Holland and Barrett ??

It's a nightmare surly there's a limit before I get anaemic ..

Just wanna feel better than this, while my period is on !!

[PinQ]

yeah you can get them anywhere, boots or superdrug - wherever. They should help a bit. are you on any prescription meds? if so you should check interactions just to be safe. Hope you feel better soon.

[DannieGirl]

s ti was put on risperidone after having my baby as i said that quetiapine was too sedating whilst she was so young and needed feeding every 4 hours. i tried out the implant and it made me moody..and the risperidone made me leak...even though i had never breast fed in the 6 months of having my little girl.
i am back on my original birth control which is a pill called mercilon, it is a low dose combined pill, it has been amazing as it regulated my periods. (i started my periods when i was 9 and only have one ovary and i went on the pill when i was 14 as i wasnt having regular periods).
anyway, i too suffered postnatal psychosis and after 3 months my lg finally started sleeping through the night so i was able to go back on to quetiapine (which i was on for 6 years..and on a low dose during pregnancy).
i've had to start seeing a private psychiatrist as the one i was seeing nhs wouldn't do anything but shove me to one side. i was pretty high, hadn't slept for 5 days and off the walls, my husband got so worried and i've been diagnosed with bipolar and put on depakote as well as the quetiapine. if i had that diagnosis before rather than bpd i probs would have been looked after better after the pregnancy.

[Ballerina123]

Personally I think approaching a female member of staff about this problem would be worth it. Why suffer alone when it's highly likely they can help.
Post partrum psychosis is due to hormone inbalance and so is irregular periods, they could be more connected than you think.

Hope you get well soon. But def try asking.