infertility is making me depressed : ( commiserate? have you tried meds? thoughts?

[Anonymous]

We just hit our two year mark!!! and although we are just now starting to get help (we are pretty young, 28, so we thought we'd give it two years before trying other things) the whole process is really just knocking me down : ( I've always dealt w/ some anxiety but now along w/ feeling extra anxious I also feel depressed. I know Zoloft and Prozac are the two pregnancy/nursing friendly medications: so who has taken them? at what doses? and how did you like them? Ideally I'd like to stay off of them. I've been in therapy, off and on for years, which is great and wonderful for really looking at ones life... but I'm starting to feel like I may need a little more help.

Ugh!

[Anonymous]

I don't have any experience with those medications, but I did want to put in a good word for infertility support groups. You can find ones close to you on the RESOLVE website. I joined one recently and found it has been a great way to vent about the process and, more than I expected, get a ton of information from other women in the same boat. It's helped me a lot with depression I've been feeling.

[Anonymous]

I also don't have experience with those meds but will share some things (in addition to therapy) that worked for me. I suggest these just for some ideas - not to diminish how you're feeling or the suggestion that meds may be right for you; only you and therapist can make that determination. But for me, it helped to consciously do things I knew I wouldn't be able to do if I got pregnant and we had a baby. So I re-learned how to row at the school on the Potomac by the Watergate, then spent a lot of early mornings before work on the water with a racing shell. It was amazing. My husband and I bought a double-kayak and got out onto the water a lot with that. I did more stuff with my dog - took him to a dog beach, explored new hiking trails, etc. I tried to volunteer some more through church - making casseroles for homeless shelters and that kind of thing. We traveled. We randomly went out to dinner at odd hours. I slept in until noon quite a lot of Saturdays. We repainted a bunch of rooms. For a stretch (after a m/c), I reduced my schedule at work, left a bit early every day and came home and gardened.

I felt like I needed to take control of other areas of my life, since the fertility issues could feel so overwhelming and dominating. My life had become all about work and trying to get pregnant, and I wasn't happy. So I really worked to find things that made me happy so I could put those other two things in a different perspective.

[Anonymous]

Are you going to an RE? Two years is enough time to try on your own. Once you go to an RE and get that ball rolling I bet you will feel much better. Good luck!