By Guest Writer, Stacey Ackerman

The first time I noticed something was wrong with me was three weeks postpartum. It was after the birth of my third child, so I felt pretty confident that I could handle this newborn thing. I woke up that morning feeling dizzy. The room started spinning. Everything felt sort of off balance and out of whack, but I couldn’t figure out why. I called my OB/GYN who thought the allergy medicine I had taken was making me drowsy, which seemed like a logical explanation.

Over the week, the dizziness came in spells. It would get really bad, making me feel like I was living in some kind of dream world, then I would feel okay for a few hours. I wasn’t feeling sad or depressed; just strange and surreal.

I called for a follow-up appointment to learn more about postpartum depression (PPD). I talked to a friend who had given birth two weeks before me and she was taking antidepressants. I didn’t feel like I was depressed, however, I just didn’t know why I felt so off. [Read more…] about Why My Postpartum Anxiety Was Difficult to Diagnose