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Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

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    #1

    Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

    Hello All!
    Just a quick question that has me wondering if my situation is fairly common!

    Basically I believe I started to drink heavily after I was hit by post natal depression with my first child. Nothing about my life was bad, it was actually a wonderful thing and much desired..but the shell-shock of a new baby seemed to rock the very foundations of my world.

    I drank to numb some of the anxiety I was feeling about motherhood ,then it became a habit, despite the fact that I was given Zoloft fairly early on and was able to pick up on the fact that I had the PND myself within the first 6 weeks!
    Funny thing is I did not pick up on the fact that I was becoming an alcoholic quite so quickly.

    In between baby1 and 2 I came off the meds and kind of thought I was okay, then crashed again with the new baby! I am SO glad I could pick up on the PND,but why did it take so long for me to 'see' that I also had the other problem?? I have been a heavy drinker for about 4 years now (with gaps due to being pregnant & breastfeeding).

    Did anyone else find that they turned to the drink after having children? And I am asking the Dad's out there too..cause I think my poor hubby was as shellshocked as me!!

    Thanks everyone for listening1
    Chicken
    Tags: None
    #2
    Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

    Hi Chicken

    It was exactly the same for me, my drinking became heavy after I got PND after the birth of my first child and has continued to get worse. I have have been binge drinking for 10yrs now and I am terrified of the damage i've done to myself

    x

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      #3
      Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

      Hi Sweetgum!

      It amazed me how I went from basically someone who drank 'socially' and somtimes binged, but was never craving a drink...to someone who needed it every night to stop the anxiety attacks about the little one.

      When I got the PND..hubby didn't know what to do for me..I could see he was as confused by the whole thing as me..and terrified ot the emotional wreckage that was his former partner! As a result he did the only thing he knew how to help..he gave me a drink each night to help me chill out! I don't blame him for this..it was ultimately my choice to drink, but perhaps I might have dealt with it differntly..who knows!

      Since then, well the habit has stuck with me! As soon as the stress escalates I reach for a drink...and don't stop at one!

      How old is your baby now? Mine are 4.5 and 2 years!
      Chicken

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        #4
        Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

        no children but yes, it took me FOREVER to figure out i have a drinking problem and that i CAN fix it by simply not drinking!
        getting the alcohol out of the system is only the beginning.
        the next step is retraining our thought processes and patterns.
        the good news is that we did finally get it!

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          #5
          Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

          Chicken,

          I had a social drink once in a while when my kids were young. But my drinking career began in earnest when I turned 45 and the menopause symptoms kicked in. I believe that PND, menopause or any real disruption in hormone levels can be at fault..............
          That's just my .02

          Lav
          AF since 03/26/09
          NF since 05/19/09
          Success comes one day at a time :thumbs:

          Comment

            #6
            Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

            I agree Lav-hormones are killers..urgh!!!!
            I was SO not in a good headspace for the first 6 months of my baby's life..can't even say I overly enjoyed motherhood,but since then I've loved it for all its worth!
            1967- I think reatraining our thought processess is the biggest challenge Ie: yesterday as soon as some stressed kicked in my brain craved the AL!!! Yet before that was having a great day and not thinking about it at all! So hormones and thoughts....hmmmmm!!!!
            Chicken

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              #7
              Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

              Yes!! I didn't have a baby until I was 25, and one afternoon someone had left some alcohol behind after a get-together. I was married to a t-totaller, so alcohol was never in our house. I had a wonderful life and a lovely daughter, but I took a drink that afternoon and it seemed as it was an elixer.
              Enlightened by MWO

              Comment

                #8
                Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                nope not me


                :congratulatory: Clean & Sober since 13/01/2009 :congratulatory:

                Until one is committed there is always hesitant thoughts.
                I know enough to know that I don't know enough.

                This signature has been typed in front of a live studio audience.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                  Mario:H:H:H:H:H:H:
                  Love it!
                  Chicken

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                    Hi Chicken
                    My babies are 10 and 4 x

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                      mario;706043 wrote: Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                      nope not me
                      :H:H that's funny :H

                      even though i did not drink till i was 30,i think i started more out of the situation i was in than any thing else.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                        Hey Chook, yep PND was a MAJOR factor for me. However, mine was left undiagnosed after my first child which was very damaging...trouble bonding..and now I'm terrified that there's permanent damage- that he'll always feel a bit distant from me. I self medicated with booze and it was a HORRIBLE time.
                        After my 2nd was born I 'fessed up to the doctor that I was worried I wouldn't cope and she put me on anti-d's - a much better experience all round.
                        I now tell ANYONE who's having a baby if they feel they need to then get on some meds, it's not a crime.
                        Mine are 4.5 & 2.5.

                        xo

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                          But what do the menfolk think/feel about this whole PND issue?

                          Hi All!

                          SKendall you were still a baby then when you started having babies! I was 30 yrs and they say that older women make more neurotic mums! But I grew up in a house with nil alcohol & then married into a family that have it alot..so it was always available and offered at the first signs of stress etc. They still do!urghhhhh!!!!!

                          Angel the best thing for me was when a friend of mine (a nurse) came up to my while I wa in hospital and said "don't worry about being on anti-d's, it was the best thing I ever did, you would be amazed at how many 'proffessional people are on them and have mental health issues'! I relaxed about PND after that,got on with being a Mum, but the alcohol was entrenched by then unfortuantely!

                          But I wonder still what men think of this whole PND diagnosis,especially the men/our partners who have to ride the storm with us into early parenthood? I have heard that the Dad's can also suffere a form of PND too!

                          But whichever way you look at it, as Lav said, the hormones are a 'big'trigger toward the drink!
                          Chicken

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                            Interesting thread this, I did my thesis on 'Postnatal depression should be regarded as a loss of former self' and yes from my research partners also become depressed. I certainly can see why peeps can become dependant on AL during this stressfull time, however, there are many peeps who sufferer from postnatal depression (PND) who do not succumb to AL. Awareness of dependency on AL and the ability to ask for help and support from healthcare personnell is key at this time. Additionally the research reports that healthcare workers are aware of the stressful issues that face new parents in particular those who suffer from PND and they are available to support and help those who are finding it difficult.

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Anyone else find drinking started with PND??

                              I agree Chook, anti-ds were the best thing I ever did. I was worried that I'd never be the same and I'd have to be on them forever...miraculously I started to feel myself again and weaned off them when bubs was about 12months old. To any new Mums out there again I say, talk to your doctor if you feel the need. You are a better Mum if you look after yourself.
                              Thanks for a good thread Chook.

                              xo

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