We live in a really fast-paced world today. With all of the latest technology like cell phones and texting, computers, tv, video games, etc., it just sets a person up for information overload. You have to take time out of your day to relax and allow the mind to just shut down. Everybody experiences a little bit of worry and anxiety sometimes. Anxiety is no fun. Nobody likes to feel frazzled and feel like a nervous wreck all the time. But this is something that people with postpartum depression experience a lot of the time, if not all the time. And it's not like you can control it with will power. You don't want to snap at the people around you, but because you're not feeling well, your nerves are shot, and your hormones are all out of balance,....which leaves you feeling irritable, this is what you end up doing despite your best efforts to keep your emotions all under control. You don't want to snap at your kids, you love your kids. But with all of the stress and responsibilities of motherhood and for some mothers who have to work outside the home, the added stress of going to a full-time job everyday, dealing with traffic in the morning and after work, and just being SUPERmom, you find yourself caught up in moments where you feel completely overwhelmed and just need a break!
I would have moments when my kids were little that I really wanted to run away from home and I felt like a bad mother for feeling this way. I would ask my husband if I could leave for a couple of months just to get away but he would say if I did I couldn't come back. I know this was his way of expressing his fear of being left to deal with the responsibilities all by himself so he wanted to scare me into not leaving, which worked lol. There's a lot of guilt and condemnation that goes along with these feelings and I just wanted to be a normal, happy mother like other mothers that I would see enjoying their kids. "Why did my kids get on my nerves so much" I would think. "Why did just about everything get on my nerves so much?" I mean it wasn't all the time but it was majority of the time that I had to deal with these "off" emotions. The feelings of wanting to run away would come usually when I would be washing the dishes after an 8 hour day at work, spending 2 hrs on the road traveling to daycare to pick up the kids and then home to cook dinner. I didn't want to leave for good, just get away for a couple of months in a hotel, by myself with no dishes to wash, no one to clean up after, no one requesting all of my attention 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, with little break in between. How in the world did I get through it all? Only by the grace of God and of course with the help of my husband. He helped me out a lot which was truly a blessing. Fortunately I married someone who likes to cook so whenever I was too tired to cook, he would cook dinner. He pitched in to help with laundry and other things around the house as well. Although there are a lot of women who do it, I really can't imagine what single mothers with 2, 3, even 4 kids have to go through. Parenting is hard enough with two parents sharing the load. The hard work of parenting definitely requires two people.
Anxiety interferes with daily life and your ability to function normal. By normal I mean, being able to be your real self, be in a good mood and maintain emotional balance, and truly enjoy life. What's normal is looking at a sink full of dirty dishes and thinking I gotta get this done and you just do it. What's not normal is looking at a sink full of dirty dishes and it overwhelming you to the point where you just want to curl back up in bed, put the covers over your head, and fade away. That's not normal at all. Housework can be a challenge, but it shouldn't be that much of a challenge where you just can't seem to get it done or can't function enough to even get out of bed to take a shower. When showering becomes a chore and a burden then there really is something wrong and you need some help. Postpartum depression is not a 'bout of laziness, it's an illness. There are things that are not functioning normal in the body whether it's hormones or nerves and the body is not functioning properly.
Anxiety can get so bad that you're irritable about every little thing. It's like having PMS everyday. You don't want people to see you in this light...moody, irritable, cranky. Nobody wants to be around that kind of person, and you don't want to BE that person that no one wants to be around. So you try to hide it from those on the outside, but you usually end up letting it lose on those closest to you. They suffer from your bouts of anxiety. My husband use to call me Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And that's exactly how I felt a lot of the time. Anxiety can ruin the best of relationships leaving the sufferer feeling isolated and lonely in the long run. And not only do you end up feeling lonely and isolated, guess what other feelings have come along to join you? Feelings of guilt! Guilt from snapping at those around you, and guilt for not being able to be the best mom that you really want to be to your kids, and lastly...guilt for feeling like you have this horrible personality disorder. So you think, why me? I wanted to be like my grandmother who had 11 kids and was ALWAYS in a good mood, even when she had extra kids (her grandkids). I use to think, "Wow! I would love to have a transplant lol, of whatever 'calm' genes that those mothers who deal with a lot of kids with so much patience have."
How in the world do their hormones remain so stabilized and balanced after all those darn kids!! (~eyebrows raised~Lol) .
During those days when I struggled with postpartum depression and would have moments of really bad anxiety, irritability, serious mood swings, etc. I would sit and look at my husband sitting in front of the tv so calm and peaceful. He was like this ALL the time. All I could do was wish that I could be that way. I prayed and prayed for God to provide me with a solution to this problem. "Must be nice" I would think to myself about my husband's calmness. "It's something about those genes" I would always tell him, "hey I need those calm genes".
When my daughter was about 6 and I really struggled with my weight and was really desperate to get the weight off and get back in my size 7/8 clothes that I wore before having my kids, I went out and bought a weight loss product called Relacore. After watching the commercial, even my son who was 9 at the time said "Mama I think that's what you need, and I think that's why you have belly fat, because of stress" Lol. I totally agreed with him. This was before the days of learning about hormones and the workings of the human body. I thought, well it's over-the-counter and it's used for weight loss so it must not be too unsafe, plus it was advertised as an herbal product so it has to be safe. Also, little did I know about the FDA at that time and products that are allowed on the market that really are not that safe for the public. Well, I ended up not taking Relacore anymore because I just don't like pills or drugs of any kind unless I know for sure that it's all natural. And a lot of drug companies that make claims of "all-natural" really don't reveal everything that's in their product, just as those food companies who "claim" that their product is sugar-free, low-fat, or low-carb. Even though it seemed pretty safe and had herbs in it, I still in the back of my mind was unsure of the claims of all-natural so I stopped taking it. But the first couple of x's that I took it I was so calm and I thought "Wow, so this is what everybody else feels like ALL the time....Awesome!!
Well I know first-hand what those of you who are experiencing postpartum depression go through. That's why I am so passionate about helping other moms get through it, learn how to cope with, and eventually find healing and relief from it and overcome it!
So here's a rundown of the B-vitamins, their function, and what they do for your body:
All B vitamins help the body convert food (carbohydrates) into fuel (glucose), which is used to produce energy. These B vitamins, often referred to as B complex vitamins, also help the body metabolize fats and protein. B complex vitamins are needed for healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver. They also help the nervous system function properly, and are needed for good brain function. All B vitamins are water-soluble, meaning that the body does not store them.
**Although you can use a good B-complex vitamin supplement to get your intake of B vitamins, it's good to try incorporate foods that are rich in vitamin B into your diet.
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
B1, also called thiamine or thiamin, is one of eight B vitamins. Like other B complex vitamins, thiamine is sometimes called an "anti-stress" vitamin because it may strengthen the immune system and improve the body's ability to withstand stressful conditions. It is named B1 because it was the first B vitamin discovered.
Symptoms of thiamine deficiency are fatigue, irritability, depression and abdominal discomfort.
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Dietary Sources:
The best sources of riboflavin include brewer's yeast, almonds, organ meats, whole grains, wheat germ, wild rice, mushrooms, soybeans, milk, yogurt, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and spinach. Flours and cereals are often fortified with riboflavin. Riboflavin is destroyed by light, so food should be stored away from light to protect its riboflavin content. While riboflavin is not destroyed by heat, it can be lost in water when foods are boiled or soaked. During cooking, roasting, and steaming preserves more riboflavin than frying or scalding.
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Niacin also helps the body make various sex and stress-related hormones in the adrenal glands and other parts of the body. Niacin helps improve circulation. Symptoms of mild deficiency include indigestion, fatigue, canker sores, vomiting, and depression.
Dietary Sources:
The best food sources of vitamin B3 are found in beets, brewer's yeast, beef liver, beef kidney, fish, salmon, swordfish, tuna, sunflower seeds, and peanuts. Bread and cereals are usually fortified with niacin. In addition, foods that contain tryptophan, an amino acid the body coverts into niacin, include poultry, red meat, eggs, and dairy products.
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
Pantothenic acid is a component of coenzyme A (CoA), an essential coenzyme in a variety of reactions that sustain life. CoA is required for chemical reactions that generate energy from food (fat, carbohydrates, and proteins).
Dietary Sources:
Small quantities of pantothenic acid are found in most foods. The major food source of pantothenic acid is in meats. Whole grains are another good source of this vitamin because it is found in the outer layer of the grain. Milling, which is a process of stripping the grain and how we get white rice, destroys the nutrients in grains so it's best to eat whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa.
Legumes are another food source which contains pantothenic acid. Higher sources of pantothenic acid are cooked lentils.
Vegetables such as broccoli and avocados also have an abundance of this acid. The most significant sources of pantothenic acid in nature are coldwater fish ovaries (or caviar...not sure if I would ever try caviar personally) and royal jelly which you can find in health food stores.
Vitamin B6 (Pyroxidine)
Vitamin B6 helps the body to make antibodies. Antibodies are needed to fight many diseases, maintain normal nerve function, make hemoglobin and keep blood sugar (glucose) in normal ranges. Hemoglobin carries oxygen in the red blood cells to the tissues. A vitamin B6 deficiency can cause a form of anemia. Vitamin B6 also help the body make several neurotransmitters (chemicals that carry signals from one nerve cell to another. It is needed for normal brain development and function, and helps the body make the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which influence mood, and melatonin, which helps regulate the body clock. Along with vitamins B12 and B9 (folic acid), B6 helps control levels of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine is an amino acid that may be associated with heart disease. Your body need B6 in order to absorb vitamin B12 and to make red blood cells and cells of the immune system.
Dietary Sources:
Vitamin B6 is found in:
Avocado
Banana
Legumes (dried beans)
Meat
Nuts
Poultry
Whole grains
Fortified breads and cereals may also contain vitamin B6. Fortified means that a vitamin or mineral has been added to the food.
Vitamin B7 (Biotin)
Biotin, also referred to as vitamin H, belong to a category of vitamins known as the B-complex group.
Dietary Sources:
Biotin is available in a wide variety of foods, including nuts, legumes, milk, meat, eggs, cauliflower, bananas, mushrooms, soybeans, whole grains and cereals.
Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid)
Vitamin B9, also called folate or folic acid, is one of eight B vitamins. Folic acid is the synthetic form of B9, found in supplements and fortified foods, while folate occurs naturally in foods. Folic acid is crucial for proper brain function and plays an important role in mental and emotional health. It aids in the production of DNA and RNA, the body's genetic material, and is especially important when cells and tissues are growing rapidly, such as in infancy, adolescence, and pregnancy. Folic acid also works closely with vitamin B12 to help make red blood cells and help iron work properly in the body.
The evidence about whether folic acid can help relieve depression is mixed. Some studies show that 15 - 38% of people with depression have low folate levels in their bodies, and those with very low levels tend to be the most depressed. And one study found that people who did not get better when taking antidepressants had low levels of folic acid. One double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that taking 500 mcg of folic acid daily helped the antidepressant Prozac work better in women, but maybe not men. But another study found that taking folic acid and vitamin B12 was no better than placebo in relieving depression in older people.
Dietary Sources:
Rich sources of folate include spinach, dark leafy greens, asparagus, turnip, beets, and mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, lima beans, soybeans, beef liver, brewer's yeast, root vegetables, whole grains, wheat germ, bulgur wheat, kidney beans, white beans, lima beans, mung beans, salmon, orange juice, avocado, and milk. In addition, all grain and cereal products in the U.S. are fortified with folic acid.
B12 (Cobalamin)
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in neurological function (the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system), DNA synthesis, and required for proper red blood cell formation.
Dietary Sources:
Some dietary sources are beef liver, clams, fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk and other dairy products, some breakfast cereals, and nutritional yeast (brewers yeast).
www.lifesourceintervention.com
References:
National Institutes of Health . (n.d.). B Vitamins . Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bvitamins.html
National Institutes of Health . (n.d.). Office of Dietary Supplements . Retrieved from
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12/
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