anxiety disorders and decisions about pregnancy

[little wren]

Has anyone had experience of pregnancy whilst suffering anxiety disorders? I don't know about others but my life has been on hold 'whilst Ive waited and tried to get better'. It doesn't work that way - all that's happened is now I have no more time left to wait. My psychiatrists said NOT to wait any longer.

I was just wondering if anybody had any experience of this? If they actually had any help throughout the pregnancy and assessment of ability to cope afterwards? Have women here had counselling about the effects of remaining childless due to their illness?
little wren x

[Pinktel]

Had all 3 of my kids with varying levels of anxiety disorders :wacko:

[holly1]

Hi Little Wren
I have GAD and I am in a similar position. I'm 35 and I know that a lot of my present anxiety /panic is down to a fear of leaving it to late to have children. However at the same time I don't want to head into a pregnancy without feeling mentally strong enough to cope with anything that may come my way.
To me it seems to be a spiralling situation which is only getting worse with time. I can totally empathise with your situation and would be interested to see if anyone has any advice or experiences to share. :unsure:

[bab]

I had and still do have anxiety. Had 2 pregnancies. one without medication and one with. feel free to pm me xx

[little wren]

Thanks pinktel, holly and bab :)

Holly - yes the thing is we never know how long it will be until we feel ok again. Years go by and recovery is so slow that time does run away.
Not many people responded to this thread (so far). I am going to ask the psychiatrist next meeting exactly what help is available. If there is any positive and helpful information I can put it up here if you like.

babs thanks pm'd you...

pinktel thanks :hugs: you kind of know the situation I am in from my other thread - its a predicament!

little wren x

[Lissa101]

I'm 31 and my GP told me not to consider having children until I get over this. It may be that I have GAD forever, in which case I'll just have to cope as I'm not letting it dictate to me whether I can have a family or not. I'm terrified of having PND and having to take care of a little baby at the same time. I feel guilty about the dog on days when I feel bad. He still gets his big walks but I feel bad about being miserable and not playing with him :) x

[nicola1980]

Hi I've been told by my psychiatrist that if i get pregnant which i do want too quite soon then i will have to take medication through out my pregnancy, i suffered post natal depression after my first defiantly don't want a repeat of that! X x

[little wren]

Lissa - I think that is a great attitude to have about not letting anxiety dictate - I see Ive been doing that for so long now. I am tired of putting my life on hold anymore. There are no guarantees that one day I will be 'well'.

Nicola - I wouldn't dream of going through a pregnancy (particularly a first one) without medication. If only I'd known I was going to get ill in my 30s I would have done it all in my 20s!