Antidepressants?

I have not had my baby yet (ETA next month) but I am a psych provider. Sounds like your depression is unmanaged with therapy alone. I'm glad you took the step to find a therapist though! What I'd recommend is trying SSRIs like Zoloft for about six months and re-assess how everything is going. Medication choice will depend on your condition and your psych provider's assessment. One thing to remember is most antidepressants take about 4-6 weeks to work fully. So don't lose hope during that time and keep on taking the meds as directed. I certainly think it would be helpful for you to start medication. Take care and good luck with everything!

I've been on Zoloft for almost a month now. It has definitely helped alleviate the "very low" moments, but I also am going to seek out therapy in addition to medication. My midwife said that doing both together has a higher success rate than one or the other. I tried meds first since I'll be returning to work and therapy is another thing to juggle time wise, but I've realized it's something that I should really try for me and my family.

I started antidepressants/anti anxiety medication and after the birth of my eldest child it’s the single best thing ive ever done. Absolutely and utter, without a shadow of a doubt, the best thing I’ve ever done. They saved my life.

As another poster said, taking them alongside therapy was brilliant. It definitely helped from all aspects. I have zero regrets taking them. I was on them for approximately a year, then came off very easily by reducing my dosage. Then when I had my second I went back on them and I’m still on them now at almost 9 months PP (though I only started four months back). I will come off them again in time.

I started antidepressants when I was one month postpartum and they changed everything for me. I am also in therapy and have been for years before my child because of my depression, but postpartum depression hit harder than anything I’ve ever experienced before. I really thought I was going to hurt myself or my baby and it was absolutely terrifying. Antidepressants can take you kind of midline. The lows are still there but they are much more manageable and, in my personal experience anyway, the highs are a little bit dulled down - but to me that’s worth it to not have to deal with the low lows if you see what I mean. Medication for depression can take a while to adjust to and it’s not a one size fits all either, you may need to try a couple of options if it’s not working for you and that’s totally normal, but do give them some time to get working as it’s not instant.

I would say if therapy isn’t helping especially in this super vulnerable time, meds might be the way to go. Remember you can wean off them at any time, they don’t have to be forever, but they can do absolute wonders in the mean time.

I hope you have a support group around you that you can lean into, and you are not alone, it will be okay ❤️

I went on an SSRI for PMDD pre-pregnancy and it did help to rebalance me but be careful, there was a side effect of a lack of sexual feeling and I could not orgasm. I really struggled with this and stopped them after a few months, it took another few months to go back to normal but I’ve read some people never get back to normal.