Weaning - PPA trigger?

[Anonymous]

I’m 8 months post partum and will begin the weaning process / no more pumping shortly. Very excited to get my boobs and time back! Here’s my question: did weaning trigger PPA/PPD/anger for you? How long did it last? Did anything help? Medication?

I just missed a pumping session for the first time and I feel like my hormones are fluctuating wildly. Like I’m about to have my first period after 17 months of not having one including all of the frustrating emotional aspects of it too (anger, stress, anxiety). I woke up annoyed / low level mad this morning and I’d really like to not feel this way for an extended period of time….

I currently pump 4x per day in 15-17 min intervals.

[Anonymous]

For me, yes. I was fine after birth but weaning made me very hormonal - crying in the grocery store, etc. For me, it lasted two weeks but I weaned faster than advised with that baby. With the other babies, I weaned more safely and would feel hormonal for a few days after I dropped a session and then stabilize.

I didn’t treat with meds since I knew it would only last a few days. I just took it easy, knew my feelings weren’t reality (I FELT like my husband was the dumbest person ever but that didn’t mean that he was), and hung in there. Meds take a while to work, so I didn’t think it was a good option. YMMV

[Anonymous]

Yes. My kid weaned on her own without me initiating it, and while I pumped to try and slow the process down, the hormone crash from no longer actually nursing triggered a PPD relapse for me that was worse than my original PPD.

I do think this could have been mitigated if I'd weaned with my kid, stepping down our nursing sessions slowly over time. We literally went from 3-4 sessions a day to 2 and then to 0 over the course of two weeks. It was really fast and I think the hormone issue was compounded by some emotions around feeling rejected by my baby and suddenly losing a bonding activity that had been one of the first ways we'd bonded when she was a newborn. It was a wave of intense emotions happening right at my hormones went nuts. Not great.

If you are worried, I'd talk to a lactation consultant and just look to step down slowly, maybe over the course of a couple months. I'd also think about your interactions with your baby and how you can how you can shift from nursing to other bonding activities to ease that transition for you. Obviously snuggling with your baby at bedtime or in the morning won't replace breastfeeding hormones, but it does provide you with oxytocin rushes that can help. One thing I did during this time was put my baby in the carrier instead of the stroller more often (she loved the carrier so this was nice for both of us, not just for me). That closeness during non-nursing times helped me regulate my emotional response to our changing relationship and ultimately helped me get through the PPD.

Good luck! It's good you are thinking about this in advance. I had no idea that weaning would trigger my PPD and didn't realize what was happening at first. It was a relief to understand that I was having a hormonal response, not just an emotional one, and thankfully I was able to work with the therapist I'd seen for the first bout of PPD to get through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me, yes. I was fine after birth but weaning made me very hormonal - crying in the grocery store, etc. For me, it lasted two weeks but I weaned faster than advised with that baby. With the other babies, I weaned more safely and would feel hormonal for a few days after I dropped a session and then stabilize.

I didn’t treat with meds since I knew it would only last a few days. I just took it easy, knew my feelings weren’t reality (I FELT like my husband was the dumbest person ever but that didn’t mean that he was), and hung in there. Meds take a while to work, so I didn’t think it was a good option. YMMV

PP back to say I was less hormonal/emotional if I shortened sessions rather than dropping them. So I shortened a session to 10 minutes (only one letdown) without emotional effects, and that helped soften the effect of eventually dropping it all together.

[Anonymous]

Yes! I was way worse after weaning than at any other time. I cried every day and was a mess. I at least knew what was happening and that it was all hormones, but it was intense.

[Anonymous]

Very hormonal but not PPA.

[Anonymous]

I actually felt so much better when I weaned. I think my anxiety started easing up a ton. But honestly I can’t remember if there was anything within the few days I was doing it.

[Anonymous]

YES! When I weaned my first, it was sudden and dramatic, despite the fact that I was weaning very slowly. I was crazy amounts of anxious, couldn't even really function. My emotions were all over the place. Things like, I'd be having a perfectly nice, normal conversation with my husband, he would say something funny, I would laugh, then the laughter would turn nearly hysterical, then I would start crying, and I wouldn't be able to stop.

It was short lived though - just a couple weeks, I believe. Left as soon as it arrived. I just waited it out - there really wasn't even time to consider treatment, it all happened so fast.

I have a history of anxiety, but didn't have any PPA or PPD or even baby blues, until weaning.

I will say, then when I had my second, I did have a bad case of PPD, so keep an eye out for that in the future.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thank you so much everyone! I scheduled an appointment with my OB just to be safe. I’ll likely delay weaning until after a very stressful work project ends in 2 weeks. I don’t need 2 extra triggers! Lol. But really, I’m dreading this but looking forward to the other side. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have never ever felt depressed in my life except the two times I weaned my children. I went through a depressive episode for 2-4 weeks each