QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
I am almost 9 months postpartum and feel tired all the time. I have been anemic most of my life which would logically be the reason I'm so tired all the time but I'm scared this could be related to depression. A friend of mine was telling me that she had the baby blues at 8 months postpartum...what is "Baby blues"? Thank you for your time.
ANSWER:
The "Baby blues" refers to a depression that occurs after birth.
Occasionally it's due to the lack of attention mothers now get, sometimes it's a worsening
of an underlying mental health diagnosis such as the BPD, dysthymia or depression, and
often it's due to a temporary low thyroid - hypothyroidism. Some recent studies
implicate low thyroid as the cause in a much higher percentage than was every thought.
The
Newsletter I use for my patients on low thyroid may be
helpful to you. The
screening test may give clues to
other diagnoses.
I usually recommend getting the following labs checked on my patients in this situation:
CBC (complete blood count), ferritin (for iron stores), UA with culture, FTI or T7, TSH,
B12, and comprehensive metabolic profile.
I hope this information was of use to you.