[EllaC]

Oh, thank-you for the information, Lotus! Much appreciated.

Aren't hormones key to good health.. Shouldn't that then be a primary focus for all women/men especially post childbirth given the high rates of post natal depression! By gawd I could have saved myself a lot of grief if only I had known that hormones could have been behind my post natal and was given the opportunity to become balanced again.

No kidding... I'm sorry you had to go through that! I know that some of my worst depression was due to some hormonal imbalance (e.g. the impact birth control had on my emotional health was horrible).

Doctors rarely discuss natural treatments for chronic pain and mental illness-- and yet some of the best treatments are all-natural and non-invasive. I've been able to treat most of my chronic problems with diet and exercise. Now I'd like to try herbs for PMS.

That's really inspiring what you have said above! I've read until my eyes have popped out of my head all about natural health and remedies. I think you can get to a point that you read TOO much and don't retain all you have learnt - case in point myself!

I had a doctor here once when we moved to a new town and I mentioned I didn't want to take antibiotics if I didn't have to fear of side effects and she said "oh YOU PEOPLE make me sick with all your natural healing stuff!" - I was soo angry I almost told her to go and get *^^&*.
The sadest part is for me I lost almost 2 years of my wee daughters life by not being able to bond with her in that crucial time because I was suffering quite badly from the post baby depression. Not ONE doctor said to me, why don't we check out your hormone levels or iron levels etc given I'd just given birth. Maybe things may have been soo much better.

I hope you are well over your depression now, it is a cruel illness with far reaching consequences.