Stress Center Peer Support

I recently had a baby 6 weeks ago and since then I have experienced a lot of anxiety. Mainly due to lacl of sleep and possibly post partem depression as well. Just within the last week I have not been able to sleep either just a couple of hours or not at all at night or during the day. This has been going on for 4 nights now. Has anyone else had this similar experience? How long can I go without sleep and how can I talk myself into sleep? I have taken all kinds of sleep aids. I need to get this taken care of, I have a new baby and family to take care of...HELP!!!!!

Mama Mo,

First I would like to say congratulations on your newest addition.

Are you not sleeping because of anxiety or are you just wide awake with no anxious symptoms?

Your body will find a way to get the sleep it needs even if it is just an hour here or fifteen minutes there.

My sister went through the very same thing you are experiencing, she was put on a medication to help with the anxiety and postpartum depression. She is also breastfeeding so I know the medication did not affect the breastmilk.

You have a whole lot going on right now so is it possible to ask your doctor for medication to help you through this period of time until things stabilize a little more?

You really do need immediate relief and fifteen weeks for the program to kick in fully, I am sure seems a daunting task, (although you would most likely notice a difference after two to three weeks).

And yes, many, many of us have gone for what seems, days, weeks, and months with little, or no (even though your body actually does get sleep, you are just not realizing it because it is so intermittent) sleep because of an overload of adrenaline in the system.

Your body will take care of itself and will sleep when it needs to, unfortunately for now it is not coinciding with your newborns schedule.

Yes, I went through exactly the same thing 3 years ago when I had my son. I had alot of anxiety and felt overwhelmed with my new responsibility. Add a newborn sleep schedule and I just couldn't sleep. The horomones that get released when you are anxious, cortisol & adrenaline interfere with sleep. I tried alot of meds and couldn't tolerate them. I suffered for 8 months and then I found this program. It helped me get my life & sleep back. If you don't have this program then get it. One other thing I did was to give up breastfeeding and use formula. My son slept much longer once on formula and my husband could share the duties at night. I felt guilty about it at first, but in the end it was the best for all of us. Plus I didn't want to expose my son to all the meds, I just didn't think that Ambien & Prozac were good for a newborn. Those drugs DO pass to the breast milk. Doctors will still prescribe them to a nursing mother if they think that the benefit out weighs the risk to the baby. But studies do show that antidepressants can effect the neurological development of the child. This program allowed me to get better without meds. If you get the program, lesson 8 is the one that helped me with the sleep. You are not alone, lots of women have been through what you have and you will get better, but the best way it to get proactive and learn how to get over the anxiety.

This post makes me really nervous. I'm thinking about getting pregnant and I'm so terrified on functioning without sleep. I have enough trouble as is without a child to stay awake during the day. I'm always so tired all of the time. If I have a baby, I feel my world will fall apart and I won't be able to take care of myself or the baby or my husband. That's one of my fears I'm having trouble converting to positive. But I really do want a baby. I haven't gotten to week 8 yet, but I'll remember to pay extra attention to it later on.

Definitely need the relaxation tape for this. You will feel it drift away.