Advice needed please!!

[lou lou]

Hi, i'm new to this site & was hoping to get some info about panic attacks & things, mine started about 3 months ago (3 months after having my first baby) and i seem to be having PA's every single day, mainly in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep so i'm on my own, trouble is i always think the worst & assume i'm having a heart attack because i get very bad pains in my chest, i've had counless ECG's & blood tests all of which have come back normal but it still doesn't re-assure me for some reason, i feel like i'm not being taken seriously. I dont know if this is just usual for someone who suffers with PA's. My life is being completely taken over & i have no energy whatsoever.
I also have a feeling like i can't get enough air into my lungs wich bothers me constantly.
I dont really know anyone else who has PA's so i don't really have anyone to talk to so any advice would be extremely appreciated.
Many Thanks
Louise

[Cathy V]

Hi Lou, welcome to nmp and please dont worry about your anx and panics...you're in good company here now and you will get over this ok? alot of women on this forum say they have the same problems with these symptoms after having a baby, its got to have something to do with a hormone imbalance. Throughout our lives we have problems with hormones...puberty, periods, pregnancy, after pregnancy, and finally menopause. These hormones have alot to answer to yes?

Your breathing probs are a direct result of anxiety (im assuming here that you dont have any medical problems such as asthma) Breathlessness is one of the most common symptoms of anxiety. When we are anxious we produce too much adrenaline but if we are not running or fighting it has nowhere to go, so we feel the after effects of it. Another is irregular heartbeats, and many others suffer with various aches and pains all over...its such a complex thing anxiety and can make you feel like sh*t. But like i said you're not alone ok?

Small steps, keep posting and you'll get loads of help and advice.
Best wishes
Cathy xxxx

[Oceanblue]

Hi,

I suffered with PND after my first child. Panic and Anxiety seemed to overtake that feeling of depression though, it was horrible.

For me, I felt sick with worry about my newborn, I panicked when somebody else picked him up, thinking they may drop him or contaminate him with something. I was really quite ill now looking back.
I remember everyone asking me if I was ok, I had gone down to just 6 stone (I am just 5ft 1) but still, this wasn't healthy at all.

For you and from what you've described it sounds like Health Anxiety, which unfortunately I don't know anything about and I hope that somebody else here can help you with this.

I did just want to say that it's quite common to suffer with Panic/Anxiety/depression after having a child.

Keep talking, it's a big change when having kiddies and it can be very tough. Lack of sleep can cause our emotions to turn upside down too, aswell as our hormones.

We're here for you. xx:flowers:

[robert08]

Hi Lou Lou,
I havent had a baby for obvious reasons :P but i have had the same symptoms as yourself. I often feel breathless and have the occasional night where i panic as i feel im not getting enought air. So much so that i have visited my local A&E dept twice recently! After similar tests to you (ECG x2, blood tests, chest xrays x2, lung function test) all of which were normal thankfully, im still not yet convinced somethings not wrong. The doctors on both occasion suggested anxiety....After seeing my GP and asking to chat with a councellor and talking things through, i am beginning to see that all of these things started to happen after a set of circumstances including bereavment and giving up smoking. The smoking was my crutch ( only smoked two or three of an evening which i enjoyed) and it wasnt there for me when the bereavments happend. The bereavments make my health anxiety worse and i now know that this (health anxiety) is linked to my dad passing away when i was young. When i take a step back and look at these things im starting to be convinced that these are the triggers for my anxiety, and by the sound of it your pregnancy for yours. Try getting some councelling and chatting things through. Sometimes its better to chat with someone other than a friend or family as theyhave an emotional attachment. Im not 100% better by any means but this understanding of things along with regular exercise, hearts working fine :) and a course of st Johns wort, im getting there. I hope that this helps you.
Best Wishes
Robert

[lou lou]

Thankyou all for your advice, i really appreciate it, i think the councilling is goinig to be my next port of call, as it has been suggested to me now by numerous people.
My weight has plummeted even though i'm probably eating more now than ever before.
It really great to be able to talk to people on here, my family & fiance are very supportive of me & do try to help me but it's difficult for them as they have not experienced what i'm going through (i really dont know why/how my fiance is still with me never mind marrying me in 5 weeks time) i guess this is putting a bit extra pressure on me too.
I have up & down days, sometimes i concentrate on making myself better & thining positive and others i'm convinced i wont make it through the day!
Thankyou all so much again
Lou
xx

[Worried worrier!]

Hi there, although i am suffering at the moment, it is through intrusive thoughts and not health anxiety.
However, after i gave birth to my second baby i started to get very bad panic attacks.
If i had a bad headache, i would think it was a tumour or stroke.
If my chest hurt i thought i was having a heart attack and if i had leg pains i thought it was DVT!
i had all the symptoms you've descibed so i went to my gp and asked for councilling.
i had 6 months of this and it was such a relief!
I can look back and laugh at some of the thoughts i had even though i occasionally get health anxiety still but it doesn't bother me as much anymore.
I really hope it will be beneficial to you too, good luck. Thinking of you.

[milly jones]

hi hun

i used to get night time pas, not nice i know hunny

my meds ahve stopped these whilst i have therapy too

i dont have ha but sa, but effects are the same hun

take care

milly xx

[lou lou]

Thanks again for your advice, also i was wondering if anyone could help, i've heard things about Health Anxiety i was wondering if anyone couuld explain this for me, i assume it's where you panic about your own health quite a bit.
Many Thanks
Lou
xx

[Bill]

Lou Lou:hugs: ,

What causes a panic attack?........Fear and Worry. What might you be afraid of and worrying about?

I've been reading your other posts.

You say your panics started 3 months ago after having your first baby. When we have a new baby to care for, especially the first one, it brings with it " new responsibility". New responsibility creates change and therefore stress. Stress causes fear and worry which in turn can create panics.

Also though, you say you're getting married in 5 weeks time! More stress, more worry, more panic.....even if we're looking forward to it because it still means change.

When we experience panic, we also experience frightening symptoms which cause us to overlook the true causes to our panics because the symptoms cause even more worry making us think we're really ill with a physical illness because our symptoms are "physical". However, the actual cause is what's going on in our "thoughts" which are being created by what's going on in our lives.

Therefore, instead of trying to seek reassurances about our symptoms, we should be focussing on the thoughts that are creating the symptoms because once we learn how to cope with our thoughts, the symptoms will ease.

By continually focussing on symptoms, the more we worry, the more the symptoms become worse because of the additional worry we're creating for ourselves.

I feel now that you're focussing so much on your symptoms because they frighten you so much that you are actually creating them and keeping them alive but if you could "switch off" from them by instead reminding yourself that your thoughts are creating them and instead think of other things, the symptoms will stop by themselves.

Originally your panics were triggered by stress i.e. the baby and now the thought of the wedding but you then focuused on the symptoms which have made your panic worse by thinking they're more than they are but once you learn how not to focus on your symptoms by treating them as "normal" like sneezing combined with once your life settles down again after the wedding, you'll find the panics will ease.:hugs:

[lorac]

Hello lou lou

Welcome to the site I suffered very similar to you when I had my second child, pains in the chest, palpitations and I too had ECGs and many blood tests all of which came back normal. I think Bill has made some very good points in his post.

I am sure you will get lots of support and advise to help you understand what you are going through on this site.

Take care

Carol

[lou lou]

Yes thankyou so much bill (and everyone else) so much of what you said makes sense!