History of psychosis: drug and other questions

"almostmom" wrote in message
...
Can't help much there, except let everyone in your medical care and
family
team know your history. Keep in close touch with them postpartum. The
hormone swing can cause all sorts of things that are very easily dealt
with
if caught early on.

My doctor and husband know about it, of course. But I am a little afraid
to
give too much attention to it and that they will 'over act'. I am really
afraid
that they will take my baby away from me at the first sign of baby blues,
and I
want to prevent that with all means possible. I know it may sound like a
stretch, or even delusional, but I have seen it happen with people I know,
and
after that I have read about it, and it scares me more than anything else.
(Please note that I have a very supportive and caring husband, it is not
that
the baby would be neglected or worse if I do get the 'baby blues')

This is, of course, a valid fear - not delusional at all. Having read your
other post where you mention your doctor wanted you to have an abortion, I
guess you do have to tread carefully. It is always best when your doctor is
also your advocate, and you can trust her.

However, you have a couple of things going for you. 1) You have a
supportive spouse. He can and should go to all doctors appointments (both
yours and baby's) to be your advocate and support. Not just supporting you
emotionally, but supporting your claims of mental capacity (or need for meds
to keep that capacity) to the medical establishment. 2) You have been
monitoring your own condition for some time now, and are well aware of what
it *feels* like to be going down the slippery slope. You are preparing in
advance, because you know what it can be like. You are forewarned and
forearmed.

Also bear in mind that in most states, social services cannot interefere on
grounds of "abuse in the future". They have to have plausible evidence. If
you have never abused or neglected a child before, it would be difficult for
any agency to cough up evidence unless someone reported you to them. If you
are surrounded by supportive people, this is unlikely to happen.

If it helps, the emotional crash hit me on day 4 post partum. I had been
warned, but even so, it caught me off-guard. My mom had to remind me
(speaking loudly over my weeping) of the "Day 4 Crash". Even though I kept
weeping, I didn't feel as crazy once she reminded me.

-Shannon

almostmom wrote:

Do you (or anyone else of course) know if it would help if I take the
medication immediately after a feeding and then pump and dump the
next one? Is anything known about the 'half time' of these drugs or
of drugs in general?

It's unlikely to help, as the half-lives are usually quite long.

For olanzapine, the half-life is 21-54 hours, with time to peak plasma
concentration at 5-8 hours.

For haloperidol, the half-life is 12-38 hours, with time to peak plasma
concentration at 2-6 hours.

--
iphigenia
www.tristyn.net