PPD? hormones out of whack??

[♥ms.pacman♥]

over the past week or so i've getting headaches every day, sometimes multiple times a day. i got my period a few days ago, so i thought it was related to that..i tend to get pretty nasty headaches for 2-3 days around my period anyway.

but this time this has been going on for more than a week..more like two...i have been getting headaches from EVERYTHING. from walking into another room. from sitting in a car. half the time i would wake up with a headache and it would last for a few hours. it's beyond maddening. yesterday i got a headache just as i was sitting at the computer and i was in tears the afternoon because it was just so frustrating and it felt so hopeless. i don't think i've had a day in the past couple weeks where i went from morning to night without having a headache. i took some ibuprofen which helped a ton, i was talking with DH and i was feeling MUCH better in the evening.i was able to make dinner while dh was still at work and the kids were playing. i was actually starting to feel like i could get over this.

however, this morning i woke up suddenly at 4:30 am and one of my breasts was so engorged it was painful. this was so strange, this pretty much never happens..my DD has been STTN for 6 months, does not nurse at all at night, and now this out of the blue. so strange. also, i was *starving*. at 5am i got up to pump and eat. then immediately as i was pumping i felt a terrible headache coming on. i could not go back to sleep at all, my head was throbbing. This morning i could not stop crying, my DH canceled a gym appointment he had this morning because he felt so bad for leaving me like this.

sorry for the novel.. if there is any advice you can give, or what could possibly be going on, i could sure use it. i feel like such a failure because these headaches are becoming so debilitating and they are really starting to affect the entire family in a negative way. they keep me from enjoying my kids and doing things from my family. i dont' really have anything stressful going on in my life, my kids are relatively easy, they are great sleepers, yet i can't seem to function like a normal person, if that makes any sense. over the past couple months I have already seen an ENT (did allergy testing, since i feel like i have sinus issues..i wasn't really allergic to pollens and such), a chiropractor/acupuncturist, a therapist, and last month i've joined a gym and started exercising. I have been on the minipill for 6 months. am just so exhausted of trying every single thing to stop having these headaches, and now they are just getting more and more frequent, plus i am having all these crazy mood swings/very depressed episodes. I feel like i'm in PMS/PPD hell. I just want to be a normal person. :(

i was thinking of making an appt with my OB, but i have no idea what to say or if she can help. i don't know if antidepressants can help if it's a hormone-related issue. i don't know if it's PPD or what... for pete's sake, my DD is already 10 months old. i have no idea what it is like to have a nursing 10 month old and not be pregnant..i weaned DS at 12mo when i was 6 mos pregnant with DD.

[SkyrMommy]

I had to wean DD around 10 months because of some health issues and supply, and I remember feeling off; more tired/exhausted, short tempered and overall ill. I don't remember headaches or as severe symptoms as you are describing, but my OB said any ahcnges in hormones or your body can throw you for a loop... call them, simply describe everything as you've done for us and see what they can do to help.

:hug: Hang in there mama! You'll get better!

[wendibird22]

This may be a stab in the dark but what about the possibility of a food intolerance? I've been dealing with frequent headaches, fatigue, and a few other things for about 14mo now. It all started when DD2 was about 9mo. I did an elimination diet (sucked!) for a while and think I have a gluten intolerance (I tested negative for celiac). Many intolerances, and celiac in particular, are triggered by stress, illness and pregnancy. I have a few friends who were diagnosed celiac w/in a year of having a child. Migraines and depression are common symptoms of gluten intolerance.

I would also consider checking out your thyroid as that can also cause headache, fatigue and depression. And additionally your iron and vitamin levels. D3, magnesium, folate, etc can be off (especially with breastfeeding) and cause symptoms too.

[pinkmomagain]

Could it be the minipill? I have no experience with it, but it's something I'd ask my OB about since you started it 6 mos ago.

[twowhat?]

Could it be the minipill? I have no experience with it, but it's something I'd ask my OB about since you started it 6 mos ago.

:yeahthat: definitely make an appt and describe all of the symptoms and timing to your OB. The minipill IS A hormone so it could put you out of whack, esp as your own hormone levels fluctuate and change over time with nursing.

Hope you feel better soon!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks for all the replies! i called my OB office and although she is out the NP is available this afternoon, and luckily i can go while my kiddos are napping (DH works from home).

and wendibird-that is so interesting you mention gluten. i have been following your posts on this bc i too often suspect that i have a gluten intolerance..i often have a very bloated stomach and i look very pregnant. even after losing some weight it is still there, and it seems like its' not all fat but more like bloating/swelling if that makes any sense. i had this problem earlier.... about 8 years ago i was also having tons of GI issues (stomach pains) and i had several tests for gluten intolerance/celiac and they all came up negative, despite the fact that i really felt that eating foods with wheat made it worse.

now that i think of it, i have been eating tons of pizza and cake this month (DS's birthday was a couple weeks ago, we've been having a number of parties/celebrations).yesterday as i felt the headache coming on, i had just eaten a few slices of pizza for lunch. Though can a reaction be that quick? I always thought it took a few hours after eating for the body to react to something be eaten...

[twowhat?]

thanks for all the replies! i called my OB office and although she is out the NP is available this afternoon, and luckily i can go while my kiddos are napping (DH works from home).

and wendibird-that is so interesting you mention gluten. i have been following your posts on this bc i too often suspect that i have a gluten intolerance..i often have a very bloated stomach and i look very pregnant. even after losing some weight it is still there, and it seems like its' not all fat but more like bloating/swelling if that makes any sense. i had this problem earlier.... about 8 years ago i was also having tons of GI issues (stomach pains) and i had several tests for gluten intolerance/celiac and they all came up negative, despite the fact that i really felt that eating foods with wheat made it worse.

now that i think of it, i have been eating tons of pizza and cake this month (DS's birthday was a couple weeks ago, we've been having a number of parties/celebrations).yesterday as i felt the headache coming on, i had just eaten a few slices of pizza for lunch. Though can a reaction be that quick? I always thought it took a few hours after eating for the body to react to something be eaten...

It can be that quick - it won't hurt to cut gluten from your diet now and just see what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised:) You can look up more online, but gluten intolerance is different from celiac disease.

[wendibird22]

:yeahthat:

I've also been learning that celiac and gluten intolerance have a very broad spectrum of symptoms. For some people it is an immediate reaction and for others it is delayed. Symptoms can also linger...so you had gluten 3 days ago but still experience symptoms. I've also read that symptoms can come/go because a theory is the immune system gets exhausted and can't keep up the fight day after day so some days it puts up a good fight and you feel like junk and other days it just gives up. Don't know how true that is, but common speculation on the celiac discussion groups. I've also learned that the tests for celiac have a very high false negative rate so you can be celiac and have a neg blood test. I'm finding that unlike some other intolerances (like lactose) where you eat the offending food, get an immediate reaction, eliminate the food, get an immediate positive response, that gluten takes much much longer. The celiac discussion groups recommend giving it a solid 3 mos (yikes!) to see improvement. I can totally relate to the bloated/pregnant look. I've been GF for 3 mos and my stomach is so much flatter.

If you do decide to give it a try you really have to read up on what gluten is found in, like soy sauce, malt flavoring, etc. You could be ingesting gluten w/out realizing it.

If you are going to the OB today maybe they'd consider doing another celiac blood test? Things can change over time. The ttg and DGP are the current best blood tests. They also need to run a total IGC because if you are IGC deficient than the ttg IGA will be falsely low.

[wendibird22]

Wanted to add that I'm finding that when I eat an offending food I get bloating w/in 30min and headaches for days on end.

[elektra]

Ms. Pacman, that sounds horrible. The gluten posts make complete sense though. I might just trying cutting it out and see what happens.
Once my period returned after DD, I would get migraines right around my period.(But not all the time like yours have been.) I tried various things with my neurologist, including taking Paxil, then Prozac, neither of which helped. I think she wanted to see if the hormonal "issues" could be regulated it might clear up the headaches too. But the headaches didn't stop.
She then prescribed me a migraine medication that has been an absolute lifesaver.
There are quite a few threads here about treating migraines too, such as drinking coke and taking exedrine, among other things. That seems to work for a lot of people. It never did for me though, which is why I need the prescription medication.

[carolinamama]

After DS2, I had awful hormonal shifts around 8-9 months postpartum when I also got terrible headaches. I went to my GP, had my thyroid tested and was prescribed an antidepressant. I was still bfing too. Not sure what helped but it was a very "off" time of my life. I am hoping not to encounter that this time around with DD. I don't have any other advice other than to say I would talk to your OB about it.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

[echoesofspring]

:grouphug:, Ms. Pacman - You've got two little ones, which is hard enough without fighting headaches, hormonal surges. I just wanted to mention that at my mommy and me class last week, another mom mentioned that our childbirth educator had told us that it takes a year for a woman's body to recover from childbirth. I, somehow, had missed that and it was a reassuring thing for me to hear. I think there's a lot of pressure to 'get back to normal' as soon as possible. So please don't feel like a failure, so much of this is out of our control, it may just be your body doing another "adjustment".

That aside, the mini pill, Gluten, thyroid also seem like possible culprits.

And just to throw this in the mix, you may just be plain sick with some sort of virus thing, an acquaintance of ours was having debilitating headaches and after mri's, etc. was diagnosed last week with a virus.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

[theriviera]

First of all, big :hug:. I can only imagine how hard it is to deal with the headaches on top of everything else you have going on.

It seems like the gluten intolerance could be the right path. Additionally, do you think you could be getting rebound headaches?
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rebound-headaches/DS00613

I've found that if I take pain medication more than 2x a week for headaches that I'll end up with rebound.

I hope that your NP can help clear things up for you.

[maestramommy]

Is there any chance you could be pregnant?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Is there any chance you could be pregnant?
haha, that did actually cross my mind, but since i just got my period, i'm on the pill and no nausea whatsoever (when pg i'm already as sick as a dog before 5 weeks), i've ruled that out. but otherwise, i'd be in major panic mode!

at the appt with the NP she basically said it's too early to tell now, since any blood tests looking at hormone levels would be clouded by the fact that i'm nursing. she said she would put in an RX for antidepressant (PRozac) which i guess i could start if i started to feel a lot worse..

though i think i'm going to start with the GF thing. i actually did do gluten-free diet for a while about 8 years ago when i was diagnosed with IBS and i swear the GF diet really helped. most people (even MDs) assumed i was cuckoo because i wasn't super skinny and my test results showed that my small intestines were normal (no flattened villi or whatever due to malabsorption). There must have been some developments in recent years about gluten intolerance, bc back then no one would take me seriously. I swear back then the only type of gluten intolerance was celiac disease, i didn't know that you could have an intolerance to gluten yet not have celiac.

that's interesting about the GF thing being triggered by a pregnancy, i didn't know that. interesting bc i have a friend who found out she had celiac when she was over 40, soon after she had her 2nd child. I was SHOCKED because she was born & raised in Italy, she was always eating pastas, breads and what not, without any symptoms whatseover. I think she only found out when she became anemic and very tired and had some other GI symptoms and her doctor tested her for it.

[twowhat?]

though i think i'm going to start with the GF thing. i actually did do gluten-free diet for a while about 8 years ago when i was diagnosed with IBS and i swear the GF diet really helped. most people (even MDs) assumed i was cuckoo because i wasn't super skinny and my test results showed that my small intestines were normal (no flattened villi or whatever due to malabsorption). There must have been some developments in recent years about gluten intolerance, bc back then no one would take me seriously. I swear back then the only type of gluten intolerance was celiac disease, i didn't know that you could have an intolerance to gluten yet not have celiac.

that's interesting about the GF thing being triggered by a pregnancy, i didn't know that. interesting bc i have a friend who found out she had celiac when she was over 40, soon after she had her 2nd child. I was SHOCKED because she was born & raised in Italy, she was always eating pastas, breads and what not, without any symptoms whatseover. I think she only found out when she became anemic and very tired and had some other GI symptoms and her doctor tested her for it.

I have a friend who is RAIL THIN and is gluten intolerant. It took years for her to get her diagnosis, and she has felt so much better since cutting out gluten. I definitely think it's worth a shot, and I hope that's the answer for you because gluten-free diets are totally manageable!