Postpartum anxiety or not?

[New mommy]

I am hoping to receive a little reassurance. About two and half months ago, 3 months after my daughter was born, I developed a pain behind my eye that hasn't gone away. Since then I have been to the doctor's numerous times convinced it was a brain tumor. He told me it was anxiety and placed me on Zoloft. Also to rule out a sinus infection I had a ct scan of my head and sinuses, which came back normal.

I am convinced now that it is a pituitary tumor that wouldn't have shown up on the ct scan. I am scare to death and haven't been able to shake these feelings. I have had other aches and pains that I am attributing to them being from cancer that has spread. For instance, I keep looking at all of my freckles and moles thinking that one of them is melanoma and this has spread to other areas of my body, including the pituitary. I've also had back pain and chest pain, thinking it is breast cancer, lung or bone cancer.

Not a second goes by in my day when I'm not thinking that I have cancer, and every time I look at my beautiful daughter I think that I'm not going to see her grow up.

I have been on the Zoloft now for almost two months, almost three weeks ago I was bumped up from 100 mg to 150 mg. If it was really anxiety, shouldn't I be feeling the effects from the Zoloft already? I was on the medication before for anxiety and it helped then, I just don't know why it is not working now...except that maybe it's not just anxiety and that it really is something bad.

I spend my day reading these forums and take some comfort in knowing that other people out there share my worries and that maybe it is all in my head.

Thank you for reading.

[daintydi]

Oh BLESS
Go back to your doctor, and tell him you made need to change meds. In the meantime, enjoy your beautiful new baby!
Take Care x

[snowgoose]

Hi New mom :)....congrats on your bonny baby .
I cant speak about the meds because I dont know ....but I do know about anxiety .
You have had CT scan and all normal .....pituitary tumour is so rare and you have not the symptoms really honest :hugs:
This is awful for you I realise ..............really do . But I do believe pain behind your eye is caused by tense muscles in your shoulders and neck . A nerve runs up a pathway at back of neck ........shows itself behind eye .on to temple and then causes pain on top of your head. it takes ages for it to go away . I was so worried about mine .
try hot packs and gentle exercises to your neck ...soak in deep bath .
See your doctor ...........you need some support .
this health anxiety is hell I know ........and new baby and hormones to boot .
You are fine ......just your tired mind spooking you love

snow xxx:bighug1:

and one for baby :hugs:

[New mommy]

Thank you Snowgoose and Daintydi for your replies. It helps to know there are people who will listen.

I will talk to my doctor about switching meds, although the Zoloft worked before, so why wouldn't it work this time?

Snowgoose, how long did it take for your eye pain to go away? That's reassuring to think that the pain could be from tension.

Thanks :)

[Aillie]

Hi new mommy

Just wanted to quickly pop on and say that I too am a new mummy, and that my health anxiety has also been triggered recently.y son was born in august and was unwell for the first part of his life. He made a full recovery following an operation and continues to be closely monitored.

What seems to have happened is I transferred all the worry about baby onto myself, that as he was ok ( I previously was sure he was not going to be ok) then I started to worry about my own health and like you my worry is cancer. Firstly, I had a smear test which came back inadequate followed by a " borderline" change result. During this time I had real fears of cervical cancer, I started hVing pelvic pains etc which only made my anxiety worse.

When I received confirmation a few weeks later that I would likely be ok ( thanks to a negative hpv test, i was delighted. However, the next few days saw me transferring this worry to the breast. I have had previous ( legitimate) concerns with left breast two years ago due to pain and a small lump. I received an ultrasound , mammo and biopsy. All clear. Now back to worrying about this again and last night even had a vivid dream I was diagnosed with this cancer.

I don't have much advice to give other than to ask you to go back to your dr and tell him how you feel. Just wanted to let you know that others have similar worries and your not alone.

Take care xx

[LizeeeH]

hello:D

Like you I Look at moles, feel, prod and basically freak out daily that I may have cancer....its horrid! I agree with everyone else that you need a different medication because this one isnt working!!!! and a ct scan would have shown anything nasty so please dont worry and enjoy your knew bundle of joy:yesyes::yesyes:

[beth0277]

Congrats on your new baby! My son is 21 months old but my health anxiety started after he was born, so I can relate. I think it is quite common for those of us who struggle because of the changes and the hormones and all that.

[New mommy]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. Although I wouldn't wish this anxiety on anyone, it is nice to know we are not alone. Especially the new moms out there, knowing that it is normal to feel so anxious at this time, is very reassuring

Aillie, I'm so sorry to hear your son didn't get off to a good start. I'm so glad to hear he is doing better now. I really hope your fears about your own health are put to rest soon. It is so difficult to turn off mind off of worrying, but I'm sure your worries are just that, anxiety and nothing more.

I just got back from seeing my doctor. He wrote me a prescription for another anxiety medication. I really hope this one works! I am so lucky to have him as a doctor, he is so patient and spent almost an hour with me, checking all my freckles and moles, feeling my lymph nodes, pressing on my abdomen, etc. He also gave me a requisition for blood work just to make sure my blood counts are all normal.

I am feeling a bit better now after my appointment.

[Anacbn]

Hello new mum,
I can totaly relate to you. After my daughter was born I first worried about her, then my husband, then myself and everything went out of control. I also had all cancers possible, all heart diseases, every disease you can imagine(no joke).
Enjoy ure baby because this first moments are so precious and do not come back. I got much better with exercises and cbt really helped. Never google you symptoms, will just make you worry more(st some point my hubby put a password on the comp and would just let me go if he was around).Hope you can get better soon, HA is very scary and can rule your life. Contact me on here if you want to talk to someone. I took a long time to find out that postnatal anxiety existed and is different from postnatal depression. I wish I could have known sooner. Calm, courage and firmness...

[Aillie]

Hi ,

Thankyou my son is doing well at the moment and continues to be followed up by the hospital.
Also, if you feel you need to talk don't hesitate to contact me. Ironically, I'm a mental health nurse so know a lot about these problems.

Would be better if I would practice what u preach :D

---------- Post added at 12:46 ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 ----------

Or rather that should read practice what I preach hehe