Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Disability or Destiny?
Just published an article "How to Find Your Destiny After Being Disabled" at eHow.com. Check it out at: http://www.ehow.com/how_4878584_destiny-after-being-disabled.html All comments and article ratings are appreciated! I have also written two other articles related to Bipolar and Pregnancy that you can link to from this article.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sleep Deprivation
Most adults need between 5 and 10 hours of sleep, with the average adult sleeping about 7 to 8 hours a night. During pregnancy some women require more sleep than usual. Pay attention to your body's sleep requirements and don't label yourself as lazy. If you are tired, ad can do it, allow your body to rest.
Too little sleep can trigger a bipolar episode. When it is sleep deprived, the body creates a "sleep debt." You need to pay your body back for the sleep you've lost, or else you accumulate more and more of a sleep debt which can be dangerous for a bipolar person with a tendency to go manic or to feel depressed from lack of sleep. Plus, just driving a car becomes dangerous if you are not sleeping regularly.
After delivery, regardless of wehther you're breastfeeding or relying on formula to feed your baby, you are probably not getting enough sleep. New parents often sleep lightly just to ensure that they can hear their baby crying or out of a protective 6th sense.
What can you do about it? Avoid too much caffeine intake. Talk to your doctor about adjusting your medications. Discuss natural ways to induce sleep with your medical team. Learn to meditate before sleep. Wind down activities about an hour before bed and take a nightly pastime, such as reading, that you can make into a bedtime ritual to help induce sleep. Find out if some other source, like excessive snoring or insomnia, is contributing to the problem.
Get help with the care of your newborn during night feedings. Pump breast milk for the occasion or switch your baby to formula to enable others to help with feedings.
Try to go to bed and get up at the same times each day. Synchornize your sleep pattern with your baby's if you are a stay-at-home mom. Avoid thinking about stressful topics or exercising 2 hours before bed. Try deep breathing or yoga instead. Make sure your bedroom is conducive to sleeping comfortably. Try everything!
Too little sleep can trigger a bipolar episode. When it is sleep deprived, the body creates a "sleep debt." You need to pay your body back for the sleep you've lost, or else you accumulate more and more of a sleep debt which can be dangerous for a bipolar person with a tendency to go manic or to feel depressed from lack of sleep. Plus, just driving a car becomes dangerous if you are not sleeping regularly.
After delivery, regardless of wehther you're breastfeeding or relying on formula to feed your baby, you are probably not getting enough sleep. New parents often sleep lightly just to ensure that they can hear their baby crying or out of a protective 6th sense.
What can you do about it? Avoid too much caffeine intake. Talk to your doctor about adjusting your medications. Discuss natural ways to induce sleep with your medical team. Learn to meditate before sleep. Wind down activities about an hour before bed and take a nightly pastime, such as reading, that you can make into a bedtime ritual to help induce sleep. Find out if some other source, like excessive snoring or insomnia, is contributing to the problem.
Get help with the care of your newborn during night feedings. Pump breast milk for the occasion or switch your baby to formula to enable others to help with feedings.
Try to go to bed and get up at the same times each day. Synchornize your sleep pattern with your baby's if you are a stay-at-home mom. Avoid thinking about stressful topics or exercising 2 hours before bed. Try deep breathing or yoga instead. Make sure your bedroom is conducive to sleeping comfortably. Try everything!
Designing Recipies
Use the time you are pregnant to get creative about what you eat. Create a new beverage. Create a new smoothie. Create a new salad. The options are endless. Stick to your healthy food cravings and the recommended diet for each stage in your pregnancy. Soda is not to be encourged. If you have carbonated drinks, try mixing club soda or mineral water with your favorite low sugar fruit juice. My favorite beverage while pregnant was prune juice and sparkling mineral water. That might not sound too appealing to most, but when you get into your third trimester, it could help with preventing heartburn and constipation.
It's ok to have a cup of coffee in most cases, but try to limit your caffeine intake. There are great herbal teas, such as rose hip and raspberry or nettles, which can have a positive effect on your reproductive system if you drink them in moderation.
Traditional Medicinals offers a caffeine-free Organic Pregnancy Tea to support a healthy pregnancy that helps to tone uterine muscles. And, of course, water is one of the best things you can drink to keep yourself hydrated and help avoid nausea and constipation as well.
It's ok to have a cup of coffee in most cases, but try to limit your caffeine intake. There are great herbal teas, such as rose hip and raspberry or nettles, which can have a positive effect on your reproductive system if you drink them in moderation.
Traditional Medicinals offers a caffeine-free Organic Pregnancy Tea to support a healthy pregnancy that helps to tone uterine muscles. And, of course, water is one of the best things you can drink to keep yourself hydrated and help avoid nausea and constipation as well.
Pregnancy Resources Online
For general baby wellness and other pregnancy tips:
For mental health:
For balancing career with motherhood:
For daycare questions and tips:
For single parenting help:
- http://www.webmd.com/baby/
- http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/pregnancy/
- http://www.parents.com/pregnancy
- http://www.justmommies.com/pregnancychannel.shtml
- http://babycenter.com/pregnancy-symptoms
- http://www.smartmomma.com/pregnancy.htm
For mental health:
- http://www.dbsalliance.org
- http://www.apa.org
- http://www.bpkids.org
- http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-publication.html
- http://www.bipolarwebsites.com
- http://www.nami.org
- http://www.patientcenters.com/bipolar
For balancing career with motherhood:
- http://balancing-career-mothering-suite101.com/writers/cfm
- http://www.mommytrackd.com/survival/tips
- http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/mom-central/working-moms
For daycare questions and tips:
- http://pregnancyandbaby.com/pregnancy/baby/interviewing-daycare-providers-2068.htm
For single parenting help:
- http://www.singleparent.lifetips.com
- http://www.babyzone.com/mom_dad/single_parent_index.
- http://www.whattoexpect.com/what-to-expect/landing-page.aspx
- http://www.ehow.com/information_1301-babies.html
Bipolar and Alternative Medicine
Once you have considered the options for treating bipolar with traditional pharmaceutical drugs, you need to know that you have additional options. Alternatives to prescription drugs for treating bipolar are available. However, if you go down this path you will potentially need even closer monitoring for any changes in behavior or your mental health status. Discuss with your doctor how you may combine alternative medicine with pharmaceutical drugs or as a substitute.
I found a mental health advocate from my insurance company who helped me find a psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Brauer from Palo Alto, who was willing to supervise my well-being without drugs during pregnancy. This can be a challenge depending on the area you live in. This is still a new field and doctors are concerned about getting sued for malpractice if they do not treat you with medications and you relapse during your pregnancy.
However, don't try to go without medications on your own! You absolutely need professional monitoring. Do seek professional help. Set up regular appointments with your psychiatrist. It is a good idea also to see a therapist for hour-long sessions each week or at least every two weeks.
Your moods can fluctuate. This is normal and a trained psychologist who maintains a good working relationship (and with whom you also educate as to the signs of a bipolar episode for you) should be able to spot when you need help. Your moods alone are an indicator and a trained professional should be informed as to what your individual signs are.
Journal your moods and what's happening to you between appointments. Share your journal with your psychiatrist and therapist. Be honest with yourself and your medical team so that they can help guide you through a drug-free pregnancy. For your health and well-being your baby needs your therapist and doctors to keep their fingers on your pulse at all times.
I found a mental health advocate from my insurance company who helped me find a psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Brauer from Palo Alto, who was willing to supervise my well-being without drugs during pregnancy. This can be a challenge depending on the area you live in. This is still a new field and doctors are concerned about getting sued for malpractice if they do not treat you with medications and you relapse during your pregnancy.
However, don't try to go without medications on your own! You absolutely need professional monitoring. Do seek professional help. Set up regular appointments with your psychiatrist. It is a good idea also to see a therapist for hour-long sessions each week or at least every two weeks.
Your moods can fluctuate. This is normal and a trained psychologist who maintains a good working relationship (and with whom you also educate as to the signs of a bipolar episode for you) should be able to spot when you need help. Your moods alone are an indicator and a trained professional should be informed as to what your individual signs are.
Journal your moods and what's happening to you between appointments. Share your journal with your psychiatrist and therapist. Be honest with yourself and your medical team so that they can help guide you through a drug-free pregnancy. For your health and well-being your baby needs your therapist and doctors to keep their fingers on your pulse at all times.
Holistic Healing for Bipolar
Women have a lot of hormonal changes that the body goes through during birth and even if you suffer from postpartum depression as a result of hormonal changes, you need to know it's entirely normal and you will be ready to raise your child as soon as you take care of yourself and your own body and mind.
The only book I could find on treating my mental illness the natural way was The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder by Stephanie Marohn and while it was not specific to pregnancy, I would recommend it strongly to anyone labeled as a bipolar person. The reason for this is that the book lists the following 20 different factors that can contribute to bipolar disorder and explains them in detail. If you can manage these factors you will go a long way toward keeping yourself balanced and feeling good during your pregnancy. Also, bipolar in particular is clinically diagnosed as a chemical imbalance in the brain when in reality there are many things that can trigger a bipolar episode as excerpted from Ms. Marohn's book and listed here:
20 Factors in Bipolar Disorder
The only book I could find on treating my mental illness the natural way was The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder by Stephanie Marohn and while it was not specific to pregnancy, I would recommend it strongly to anyone labeled as a bipolar person. The reason for this is that the book lists the following 20 different factors that can contribute to bipolar disorder and explains them in detail. If you can manage these factors you will go a long way toward keeping yourself balanced and feeling good during your pregnancy. Also, bipolar in particular is clinically diagnosed as a chemical imbalance in the brain when in reality there are many things that can trigger a bipolar episode as excerpted from Ms. Marohn's book and listed here:
20 Factors in Bipolar Disorder
- Genetic vulnerability
- Stress
- Chemical toxicity
- Heavy metal toxicity
- Food allergies
- Intestinal dysbiosis
- Sensitivity to food additives
- Nutritional deficiencies or dysfunction
- Neurotransmitter deficiencies or dysfunction
- Hormonal imbalances
- Hypoglycemia
- Structural factors
- Medical conditions
- Medications
- Stimulants
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of exercise
- Lack of light
- Energy imbalances
- Psychospiritual issues
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Coordinating Medical Treatment
It is important to coordinate your medical treatment. If you are being seen by multiple doctors, such as a psychiatrist, OB/GYN and others be sure to get them communicating among one another. This can be challenging if they are all part of different insurance plans. For some reason my OB/GYN refused to talk with my outpatient psychiatrist when I was in labor and she wanted to give me Vicodin for pain. But, I didn't want to take any drugs other than an epidural at the appropriate stage in labor because I didn't want a mind-altering drug to affect my bipolar condition and I had been off all medications throughout the pregnancy. I asked my psychiatrist to speak with my OB/GYN about it and he said he would be glad to if she contacted his office. A catch-22 situation since each doctor said they would speak to the other only if the other would make the first move to call. And it happened when I was in an extreme state of pain, not feeling the energy to follow up.
Create a treatment plan for yourself long before you go into labor that involves all of your doctors working together to treat yourself and deliver your baby in the safest way possible. Also, pack a handy list of all your health providers and your insurance cards in the bags you take with you to the hospital when you are in labor. Ask your labor partner to help you contact them if any assistance is needed because you may not be able to speak for yourself if you are experiencing painful contraction. More information is available on pregnancy planning and related mental health issues in my book, Pregnancy and Bipolar.
Create a treatment plan for yourself long before you go into labor that involves all of your doctors working together to treat yourself and deliver your baby in the safest way possible. Also, pack a handy list of all your health providers and your insurance cards in the bags you take with you to the hospital when you are in labor. Ask your labor partner to help you contact them if any assistance is needed because you may not be able to speak for yourself if you are experiencing painful contraction. More information is available on pregnancy planning and related mental health issues in my book, Pregnancy and Bipolar.
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