Has anyone's HA been triggered or worsened postnatally

[poppy77]

I have always (well since my 20s) been a bit of a hypochondriac (mildly), since giving birth to my youngest child in July, my HA just spiralled.

At first, it was not so bad, but by January it reached a peak where I went to my GP in tears (and I saw about six different GPs) heaps and went up to A&E twice. I couldn't eat much or sleep and my heart was always racing. My husband eventually took me to the GP who put me on Sertraline which has helped a lot (apart from the initial two weeks which made my anxiety sky rocket and gave me sweats - which, you guessed it, triggered off more HA).

Now, two and a half months in, I do feel that I am getting calmer about health, trying to avoid googling. I have put my name down for counselling but still waiting to get to the top of the waiting list. Even though I feel a lot better in myself, I want to give myself strategies for the future to prevent the HA (or at least rationalize my thoughts and avoid catastrophising things).

The doctor thinks my recent HA is a form of postnatal anxiety. I didn't have it after the birth of my two older children but my hormones have taken a battering this time round as I had two miscarriages close together before I got pregnant with my daughter. So my hormones have been on a rollercoaster.

Anyone else feel that their HA was triggered or heightened postnatal? Did you find things resolved in time?

[Cusper]

Yes, yes and yes!!! I could have written this myself. I had a huge breakdown when I was twenty just after my best friend's mom died of cancer(she was a second mom to me). However I believe that, looking back it was growing pains. Just like having a child. IT IS SUCH A MASSIVE LIFE CHANGE! sorry I know I wrote that in all caps but it's hard enough to be a hypochondriac but then to spend your every waking/sleeping moment trying to keep another person alive... especially if you have never done it before is HUGELY stressful(especially if you have had miscarriages).

Not to mention you have absolutely no life but to be at home with a baby (no social life) when every commercial is about cancer or getting cancer or whatever else we should be afraid of. Also the exhaustion is crazy. Your hormones can sometimes take a whole year to regulate. All I know is that I have just started to relax a little and I have a 4 year old son. I had terrifying thoughts of my son growing up without a mother.

My doctor absolutely thinks I am nuts. I swear to god the first 2 years of being a mother I was at the emergency room 5 times at least- but that was because I had no one to watch my child to even get to the doctor.... I had to wait until night time to go there. Being a mom is so hard on so many levels. If you can at any point get help taking care of your child and if you have any spare money at all go and get a massage or hang out with friends without your child. Go out with people you love.

Having a child changes absolutely everything and I really think that it takes time to figure out how you are going to take care of yourself as well as your child and your family. Even my friends without health anxiety had much higher levels of anxiety after their kids were born. ESPECIALLY the first.

However that being said, the few things I did do which helped was I changed my diet. I gave up caffeine. I took a complex B vitamin (it calms the nerves) and ate really really healthy, bought a juicer. Also I made my husband take our son and insisted I get to sleep in on Sundays gave up making dinners (he had to), I get out and hang out with my non kid friends and it's all made the world of difference. It will just take time. I am telling you, you will ease in to being a mother. But I believe it is perfectly normal to have anxiety. Especially being sleep deprived is the worst thing for the body/mind.

If you ever need to talk feel free to mssg me. I hope I have helped.

---------- Post added at 23:16 ---------- Previous post was at 23:11 ----------

Sorry I just re-read your post, I thought it was your first child