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Stress support for nursing mom
Hi Bernadette and Daniel,
Was wondering if there is anything safe to take while nursing for stress support. When everything happened with my brother I started to feel a bit stressed. I also developed some involuntary muscle movements, it looks like I’ve been startled but there’s no stimuli. My head ducks down and my shoulders come up ( imagine a cartoon character that’s heard a loud noise). I have absolutely no control over this. If I try stopping it, I just end up twisting my head to the side, another involuntary movement. This happens when I think about something stressful/ get stressed about something I’m thinking of.
I don’t really have any other apparent health issues. I did have a traumatic event lead to ptsd, but I haven’t had any symptoms of ptsd for years. The involuntary muscle movements are completely new. I do have some anxiety day to day but it’s triggered by something stressful ( can be something small and stressful). It’s not constant.
If there is something new I noticed, it’s when I’m in pitch black room I start to hallucinate and see light. This is also new and started a few months ago.
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5 Replies
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The involuntary muscle movements have gotten much better, but still have them once or twice a day.
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@Annie Sye I’ll first reply to your request for stress support while breastfeeding, and then ask a few questions to help you get to the bottom of your involuntary muscle movement and phosphene.
There are many herbs with calming/anxiolytic effects that you can brew as a tea, however research on the safety of herbs in pregnancy and breastfeeding is always limited due to ethical reasons.
Generally what is safe during pregnancy, is safe while breastfeeding (but not the other way around). We’ve put together a guide with a list of safe herbs and herbs to avoid HERE.
And here are other herbs with anxiolytic effects that are generally considered safe while breastfeeding:
Chamomile
Gotu Kola
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Milky Oats
Motherwort
Passionflower
Rose Petals
Skullcap
These herbs can be prepared like any other hot cup of tea, and feel free to mix and match to your taste preference. Steep for 3-5 minutes, sip and relax! 1-2 C per day may help ease your nerves, especially in the early evening when it’s time to wind down. Sourcing is important. Make sure they’re organic. In the US, I like to source my herbs from Moutain Rose Herbs.
Now to help you figure out what’s going on, have you first been to see a neurologist and an eye doctor? That would be my first recommendation to rule out pathology. Then if all looks good, we can put our functional medicine detective hats on and start asking the right questions. If you have any recent bloodwork you can share, that would help as well.
And if you can share your top 5 symptoms, that would help us connect the dots as well. For example, headaches, bloating, loose or constipated stool, painful periods – things people assume are just part of “normal” life.
Waiting to hear from you.
References:
Amsterdam JD, Li Y, Soeller I, Rockwell K, Mao JJ, Shults J. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of oral Matricaria recutita (chamomile) extract therapy for generalized anxiety disorder. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2009;29(4):378-382.
Bradwejn J, Zhou Y, Koszycki D, Shlik J. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the effects of Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) on acoustic startle response in healthy subjects. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2000;20(6):680-684.
Lillehei AS, Halcon LL. A systematic review of the effect of inhaled essential oils on sleep. J Altern Complement Med. 2014;20(6):441-451.
Kennedy DO, Little W, Scholey AB. Attenuation of laboratory-induced stress in humans after acute administration of Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm). Psychosom Med. 2004;66(4):607-613.
Miyasaka LS, Atallah ÁN, Soares BG. Passiflora for anxiety disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;(1):CD004518.
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@Bernadette Abraham Hi B, thanks for the herb suggestions. I’ll purchase from mountain house, I’ve heard before too, that they’re a good company for herbs.
Yes, I’ll list symptoms I’ve had, random ones, in hopes it might shed light on what might be happening. From there I guess, perhaps you can suggest some tests I can take if there’s enough information. I haven’t had any blood work in a while. Please also suggest a basic list of blood work I should have done.
Definitely, I will schedule to see a neurologist if you think we should rule out what they have to say.
Random symptoms:
-Rosacea
-vertical grooves on nails
-missing crescent white moons shapes at base of nails, only have them on thumbs
-enlarged thyroid to the touch ( my mother in law noticed when I asked her to check it by hand. She’s a physician)
-abnormally large pores all over cheeks
-back pain
– difficult pregnancies. The last one was worse than the first. I was failing to progress and was past due. Scheduled induction but still would not progress with medications. They used a foley balloon to pry me open and manually dilate, it was horrifying and I had to do it without pain management. Also, when finally ready to deliver, I had such bad contractions my screams were heard through the halls before I got my epidural. The pregnancy itself was extremely difficult as well, I had such bad nausea and fatigue I could not get out of bed and it got so bad for three months before the last month, where I couldn’t function enough to care of my son, so my mom helped me
-prone to puffy face and inflammation in body
– aching joints
-at times I feel stress changes my hormones in a way where it masculinizes my face ( once I took vitex berry and my face completely softened and changed, feminized)
-prone to lots of hair loss especially at either side of my hairline above my eyebrows
-tendency to hold weight in lower abdomen
– if I get stressed enough I get, what I call, stress sweat, it’s more pungent than my normal sweating.
-anxiety and adhd ( caffeine makes me sleepy)
– as a child I would get such bad anxiety I’d have memory loss, for example, if dropped at school late, I’d forget my entire class schedule like amnesia, even though, I’d been familiar with the schedule for months
-in middle school I had an abnormal spike in testosterone that eventually settled
– no one can tell but I have trouble holding eye contact with strangers, you’d never know, but their gazes seem heavy and make me uneasy. People think I’m friendly and outgoing, so it’s not something anyone can sense.
-poor academic performance before college. In college I taught myself tricks to learn material better; to overcome learning issues. I became a well above average student and had the highest grades in my classes usually.I tried to list anything that seemed to be abnormal from my perspective. I’m not quite sure what is of value information wise and what is not. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, thanks B. Always appreciate the knowledge and information you and Daniel share, bless you both.
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Additional symptoms I just remembered:
-diagnosed with pcos in high school
-when menstruating I get terrible shooting pains that start at the base of my butt and go up, similar to a muscle spasm
– often see bubbles in urine/particles in urine
– I don’t drink much water -
@Annie Sye thanks for sharing the list of symptoms you’ve experienced. Each one provides a piece of a puzzle and helpful clues.
For example, your symptoms of rosacea, achy joints, general inflammation, anxiety, and severe nausea during pregnancy (from possible histamine overload) make me suspicious of some form of gut infection like SIBO, yeast overgrowth, H Pylori overgrowth, etc. If budget allows, you may want to consider getting a comprehensive functional stool test like the GI map for example. You can learn more about this test HERE from the Gut Health Masterclass course.
I’d also then question your immune nutrients vitamin D, vitamin A and RBC zinc levels. These are tested in blood.
Your symptoms of enlarged thyroid, loss of hair and eyebrows, and holding weight in the lower abdomen are definitely reasons to be running a full thyroid panel including antibodies. Here’s a video with the markers to check from our Thyroid Balance course.
But both digestive and thyroid dysfunction are often secondary to adrenal dysfunction and blood sugar dysregulation. Back pain, PCOS, masculinization & testosterone spike, “stress sweating” (aka an adrenaline response), and feeling sleepy with caffeine make me suspicious of blood sugar status and adrenal health (which can be impacted by diet and/or chronic stress)
Here’s a video with the makers for blood sugar testing from our Blood Sugar Regulation course. Can you describe your typical diet?
And to test adrenal health, I prefer a urine test called DUTCH Adrenal. I discuss functional adrenal testing HERE from the Adrenal Balance course.
And given the cramps you experience, testing RBC Magnesium would also be a good idea.
In addition to the above, I would get what is considered in the US an “annual physical” which consists of a CBC with differentials + full CMP. These can provide a lot of insights when assessing it from a functional lens. For a list of markers, you can scroll to p.5 in this handout for the breakdown of the panels.
Let me know if you have questions.
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