I'll admit it here, even though it's not "herbal" and it's not correct to
say so any more, but when I was in those earliest weeks with twins and a 4
yr. old (whose "adjustment" to the disruption in his previous
king-of-the-world existence was to play (very loudly), every morning just
before 4:00 AM, a Disney recording he had of "It's a Small World After All"
on the little record player his grandparents had given him), I was
exhausted, frazzled, and couldn't sleep at all. My doc told me to take
Benadryl - diphenhydramine - at night to sleep. I was aware of the "risks"
r/t BFing (decrease in milk supply - believe me, I could have fed the entire
neighbourhood with the supply those excellent-nursing twins brought in!),
figured that with the constant stimulation my breasts were getting this
supposed effect would be more than offset.

A couple of nights of improved sleep (and it didn't interfere with my
ability to nurse or care for the babies at all, just let me sleep when they
slept) and I was about three million times better! Sometimes a little simple
pharmacology is not the end of the world! Simple, cheap, now OTC, and
effective...

(Not to diminish or dismiss in any way the need for careful assessment
re:PPD, or diphenhydramine's potential effect on supply and therefore
inappropriate for women whose supply is borderline.)  I most certainly
*also* had a PPD, and that needed to be dealt with in its own right, but I
still needed to be able to sleep when the babies let me. Sometimes a few
nights of decent sleep can go a long way towards *preventing* a PPD.

Cathy Bargar RN IBCLC
Ithaca NY

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html