Hormones and whatnot

Something I'd want all my female friends of child-bearing years to know: Weaning a child can cause post-partum depression-esque symptoms. Hormones are crazy things, my friends. I had Henry almost weaned right before my trip to Denver, and while I was there I gradually stopped pumping because the plan was to not resume nursing when I got home. My last night in Denver, a huge panic attack hit. Yowzah. I've had them before in times of high stress, and traveling does tend to make me more susceptible (lack of sleep from difficulty adjusting to a new time zone, not eating right, worrying about the kids while I'm away, etc.) so I thought I was just having a rough time being away for so long.

Then I got home and kept having anxiety attacks almost every morning thereafter. Finally, I thought, Wait, the only thing different now from before I started having these attacks is that I'm not nursing Henry. I did some online research and found anecdotal evidence from other women who experienced increased anxiety and even PPD-like symptoms after weaning. Come to think of it, I had panic attacks after weaning Padraic, too, but I had ascribed them to my trip to San Francisco that I took right after weaning him. I'm sure both things played a part.

I don't see my OBGYN until October for my annual exam so I've made my own decision on treatment for the time being: I've resumed nursing Henry once a day (first thing in the morning), and it has worked wonders. The anxiety disappeared like magic. I guess I have a sensitive system and it's out of whack from close to 4years w/o having a period. When I look back, I had probably a dozen periods between weaning Padraic and conceiving Henry, and I still haven't had one since then. My body needs some serious readjusting time, but for now I am happy to nurse the little booger just enough to keep my sanity in check. Dr. S will help me sort out the long-range plan next month.

See, there are all sorts of weird things the female body is capable of. Know you probably all know more about my inner workings than you wanted to. Just wait until I get my kidney study done as a result of discovering my bicornuate uterus early in pregnancy #2! LOL!