- Vanderpump Rules star Scheana Shay says she’s getting treatment for her postpartum OCD, which includes a bundle of brain and strength supplements.
- The reality star says the “very traumatic” birth of daughter Summer Moon, 2, caused the disorder.
- Although it’s “a struggle every day in my brain,” Shay says she’s “in a good place.”
Vanderpump Rules Star Scheana Shay has shared how she deals with her OCD — which she says she was diagnosed with after giving birth to daughter Summer Moon, now 2.
“I feel like, especially as a mom, postpartum OCD is something that doesn’t get talked about,” Shay, 38, told PEOPLE exclusively at the film’s red carpet premiere Vanderpump Rules season 11
“He was misdiagnosed. Many people do not know what is wrong with them. And when I realized this, I said, ‘Oh my God. It makes sense now,’ she said.
Vanderpump Rules star Scheana Shay with daughter Summer Moon.
Scheana/Instagram
Postpartum OCD involves an excessive focus on the child, often laced with anxiety, according to the International OCD Foundation.
“Obsessions and compulsions usually focus on the newborn (or unborn) child. For example, there may be obsessions about a baby that has been injured, infected or lost; and compulsive rituals involving checking, mental rituals, and seeking reassurance,” according to the Foundation.
“I’ve had a brain scan since then,” she told PEOPLE exclusively. “I’m on a whole package of brain and strength supplements. And I feel like they’ve really helped with my intrusive thoughts and how I feel in general.”
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“But I mean, it’s, you know, a battle every day in my brain.”
Shay — who hosts the podcast, Scheananigans — talked about her decision to get treatment for OCD in an episode last July, saying, “I finally made an appointment with my doctor last week to get some kind of medication, because my anxiety, OCD, everything, I mean — it was bad since I’ve had her.”
“Obviously I had a very traumatic birth,” Shay added of Summer’s birth, which she previously said was “really scary.”
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“My blood pressure went way up,” Shay revealed on a 2021 episode of her podcast, where her guest was Summer’s “baby daddy” — and current reality TV star husband — Brock Davies.
“It was stroke level, seizure level,” she said, adding that she had undiagnosed preeclampsia — a complication that usually develops after 20 weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is characterized by high blood pressure and proteinuria (protein in the urine), which can lead to damage to the kidneys or other organs.
This developed into HELLP syndrome, which the Cleveland Clinic explains means hemolysis, elevated liver, low platelets. Although it is rarely life-threatening, it can cause “severe health complications” if left untreated.
The treatment was magnesium drip. “I was on the verge of having a stroke or a seizure if they didn’t give me this magnesium shot,” Shay said at the time, adding that it made her “very sick” and put “poor baby Summer” to sleep.
“It was a lot of fears,” she continued. “She’s coming out. I see her. It’s just, like, blue. She doesn’t scream.”
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“I’m terrified that I just gave birth to a stillborn baby,” Shay said, adding that her daughter eventually started crying and “everything was fine” since the magnesium was making her sleepy and not another medical problem.
But the whole experience – along with the miscarriage she suffered in 2020 – gave her PTSD.
During her podcast episode, she said, “the only blessing” of Scandoval — the infamous scandal in which actor Tom Sandoval cheated on Ariana Madix with actress Rachel Leviss — was that “my OCD took a back seat,” she said.
Shay added that once “[the scandal] it calmed down for me personally, ‘My OCD is like, ‘Hello! I’m still here!'”
But now, she tells PEOPLE, “I’m in a good place.”
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Source: HIS Education