Mia Lundin - Female Brain Gone Insane: An Emergency Guide For Women Who Feel Like They Are Falling Apart

FEMALE
BRAIN
GONE
INSANE

An Emergency Guide for Women
Who Feel like They Are
Falling Apart

MIA LUNDIN, R.N.C., N.P.

Health Communications, Inc.

Deerfield Beach, Florida

www.hcibooks.com

Disclaimer: This book is not intended as a substitute for the advice and/or medical care of the readers physician, nor is it meant to discourage or dissuade the reader from the advice of his or her physician. The reader should regularly consult with a physician in matters relating to his or her health, and especially with regard to symptoms that may require diagnosis. Any eating or lifestyle regimen should be undertaken under the direct supervision of the readers physician. Moreover, anyone with chronic or serious ailments should undertake any eating and lifestyle program, and/or changes to his or her personal eating and lifestyle regimen, under the direct supervision of his or her physician. If the reader has any questions concerning the information presented in this book, or its application to his or her particular medical profile, or if the reader has unusual medical or nutritional needs or constraints that may conflict with the advice in this book, he or she should consult his or her physician. If the reader is pregnant or nursing she should consult her physician before embarking on the nutrition and lifestyle program outlined in this book. The reader should not stop prescription medications without the advice and guidance of his or her personal physician.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lundin, Mia.

Female brain gone insane : an emergency guide for women who feel like they are falling apart / by Mia Lundin.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-1416-2

ISBN-10: 0-7573-1416-3

1. WomenPsychology. I. Title.

HQ1206.L865 2009

155.6'33dc22

2009025616

2009 Mia Lundin, R.N.C., N.P.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-9592-5 (ePub)

ISBN-10: 0-7573-9592-9 (ePub)

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

HCI, its logos, and marks are trademarks of Health Communications, Inc.

Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.

3201 S.W. 15th Street

Deerfield Beach, FL 334428190

Cover design by Larissa Hise Henoch

Interior design and formatting by Lawna Patterson Oldfield

ePub created by Dawn Von Strolley Grove

This book is dedicated to

all the women who felt like they were

going insane and suffered in silence

or without appropriate help

or explanations.

CONTENTS

To my mother, Britt Lundin, and in memory of my father, Arne Lundin, who always let me do what I was set to do, and who did not complain when I had to leave my country to walk my path.

To my oldest and very intelligent son, Emil, who as a seven-year-old boy got uprooted and accompanied me on my journey. It was hard for him, but he has never complained.

To my sweet son William, who came into this world to give me the experience of postpartum depression so I could understand what feeling insane felt like and whose beautiful singing I listen to when I need comfort.

To my independent daughter, Amanda, who has watched me patiently at the computer, writing on my book day and night while writing her own amazing poetry.

To my best friends Ewy Axelsson and Yvonne Ebberoth, who love me unconditionally and support me in all my endeavors.

To Ilene Segalove, who helped me write this book. Without her witty and artistic brain all the information would still just be swirling in my head.

To my agent, Gareth Esersky, at Carol Mann Agency, who sold the book to Health Communications, Inc.

To Michele Matrisciani at HCI, who believed in the book and convinced the rest of the board to acquire it.

To Ann Gossy, who helped me edit the book so you all would really get what I wrote.

To all my wonderful patients, who have trusted me in their health care and told many other women to do the same. They have all taught me a lot of what I know.

To Areli Contreras, my receptionist and medical assistant, who can multitask like no one else while still keeping a smile on her face. I would not be able to run a practice without her help.

And at last but not least, to Abbey, my dog, who patiently sat at my feet waiting for a walk while I was lost in my creation of writing this book.

I am so grateful to all of you.

PREFACE:
MY FEMALE BRAIN GONE INSANE

IN 1990, WHEN I WAS THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD, I gave birth to my second child and settled into being a happy and contented mom. After five months of successful and gratifying nursing, I decided to wean my son. He went easily from breast to bottle, but I didnt. All of a sudden, I began to experience horrible feelings I had never known before. Waves of nervousness and anxiety rushed through my body. I couldnt control the overwhelming sensations of fear and panic. I could not sleep. I was unable to eat. I felt like I was spinning out of control. I had no idea where this was coming from, and I was convinced I was going insane. Why else would I feel this way? Id always been a secure and confident person and, when I weaned my first son, years before, I was just fine. In six short weeks, I lost twenty pounds and with it, total control over my own emotions. I also lost the hope of ever getting back to normal. I wondered, What was wrong with me? Was I falling apart?

In an attempt to maintain some sanity, I began an avid search to find out what was going on. There wasnt much written about my specific symptoms (this was years before Brooke Shieldss book and others on the subject of postpartum depression). I finally discovered the writings of an English doctor named Katarina Dalton who identified suffering like mine as a type of postpartum depression (PPD). Dr. Dalton successfully treated women suffering from PPD and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) with pills, vaginal suppositories, and injections of natural micronized progesterone. I began to feel some hope.

At the time, I was working as a nurse practitioner in a gynecologists office in Los Angeles. In spite of my daily freaking out, I had the where-withal and was desperate enough to try out Dr. Daltons protocol. I asked my supervising doctor to give me a shot of natural progesterone. Within twenty minutes, all my symptoms: the anxiety, the fear, and panic simply disappeared! Sadly, the effect lasted only about forty-eight hours. I tried another shot and had the same remarkable relief. Since I wasnt really clear or confident about what I was doing, I stopped the progesterone shots and sought psychiatric help. The doctor confirmed my diagnosis of postpartum depression and gave me a now antiquated tricyclic antidepressant. Apprehensive about the pills, I was reluctant to take them, but after about two months I consented. Although I never felt quite right on the medication, I began to improve little by little, and in about a year, I recovered from PPD and the trauma of losing control. Although almost nineteen years have now passed, I will never forget what it was like to suffer from my female brain gone insane.

My own experience with postpartum depression and the relief of my symptomsthanks to the injections of natural progesteronefed my curiosity about the intricate dance between female hormones and the female brain. I also knew I wanted to find ways to help women handle the emotional meltdown associated with hormone imbalances in the most natural ways possible. After my own recovery, I began work as a nurse practitioner at a womens clinic in Manhattan Beach, California. At the time (now it feels like ancient history), menopausal women were given estrogen such as Premarin, primarily to eliminate symptoms of night sweats and hot flashes as well as to prevent osteoporosis.