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shortcake
14-08-10, 13:23
First of all thanks to Jen2503 for starting this forum as I think it is such a common problem and great to chat to other people in the same situation.:flowers:

I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant and an anxiety sufferer for the last 5 years or so. My anxiety/panic attacks stem from fear around my health, particularly my heart. Anytime I go near hospital/doc my heart races- sometimes as high as 150 and my bp usually goes up to somewhere between 130/80 - 145/90. I came off meds in Oct before ttc and have managed to stay off them but I have had a tough time of it, particularly in the 1st trimester. Thankfully all is ok with babs but worry that the stress isn't good for baby or me. I'm now worried about how I'll cope in labour, especially if my heart starts to race (very uncomfortable).

The anxiety is with me most of the day in terms of thinking about it and waiting for the next attack and I often feel like I can't fully enjoy things because of it and there are days when it gets me down. I'm off work at the moment also (on hols) and some days find it sooo hard to get motivated to get out and about.

Things I find help me: pregnancy yoga (very good), exercise (when I can motivate myself), relaxation CDs, eating properly and drinking enough water.

Anyone else that is pregnant I'd love to hear from you and maybe we can share some of our experiences :)

Genie
15-08-10, 08:43
Hi,
I'm really struggling with this too! 11 weeks pregnant with my first baby. I have other health problems (a pacemaker, and inflammatory bowel disease) and also have long-term anxiety problems. Have just found out this week that my bowel condition makes me more likely to suffer from blood clots, and the panic has hit a new level. Like you, my anxiety centres around my health - I am convinced I am going to die in pregnancy. Also like you, I find it hard to think about anything else. I also have terrible morning sickness, throwing up everyday, which really isn't helping.

This has been a tough week for me, and I'm finding it hard to keep going, so it's good to hear from someone who has made it so far along. You are doing brilliantly! You are almost there, and most of the hard work is behind you. Soon you are going to have a wonderful baby as a reward for all your efforts.

Easier to say it than to feel it though, I know!:D

jen2503
15-08-10, 15:04
First of all thanks to Jen2503 for starting this forum as I think it is such a common problem and great to chat to other people in the same situation.:flowers:

Thank you Hun,

Im just pleased this forum has come in handy.

Anxiety is such an awful thing to deal with at the best of times so it can be even harder when you you feel alone. I mayself suffer with postnatel anxiety and i had seen others that suffer with psotnatel and prenatel anxiety and pnd so im glad everyone now has somewhere to come to talk to others in the same boat.

I just want everyone to realise that you will not have this forever, there is a way out for everyone. we all have to deal with this differently in our own way and time but it wont be with us forever. we will all get through this and now we have a place to talk about it :)

xxx

shortcake
16-08-10, 17:19
Genie,

You will get there, have no doubt! This too is my 1st baby and it's such a rollercoaster of emotions anyway without having anxiety thrown into the mix! And the fact that you have health issues also, its only a natural thing to be worried about things. I really hope the morning sickness eases for you soon. It's a horrible feeling. I wasnt sick thankfully but did experience nausea for a few wks during the 1st trimester.

Take things easy and be gentle with yourself. Our bodies are amazing things and it will just take over and grow that precious little baby inside you. And let the docs worry about the other issues.!They are the professionals and they will take good care you :) Try and relax as much as you can - I know it's not easy believe me but it will help with the anxiety. And things will start improving in a couple of weeks. The 2nd trimester is easier and you'll start to feel a bit more like your old self.

I'm in the hospital tomorrow for check up. Not looking forward to it. Hope I can stay calm and my bp doesnt go up too much :blush: I just have this fear they will tell me something is wrong...even tho everything has been perfect all along! Will let you know how it goes

Talk soon :flowers:

Genie
17-08-10, 07:51
Thanks!
I have a pacemaker and went to my cardiologist yesterday: I have had 315 episodes of pulse rates over 150bpm, one of which I know was when I was just sitting down! Now that didnt help with the anxiety!!!! But my cardiologist says it is nothing to worry about, just my body getting used to growing a person! So I'm trying not to worry.

Good luck with the check up. Just remember that you are just fine, and in really good hands. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, so let me know how it goes.

Genie xx:)

shortcake
17-08-10, 22:54
My heartrate is constantly up and down, often when Im sitting down. I know it's the anxiety that causes it! I often feel like it gives a jump or skips a beat as well which then gets me more panicked! Anyway it's good reassurance that the cardiologist isnt worried about it hun. He wouldnt have said that if it wasn't true :)

Anyway was at hospital today, anxious and heart racing as usual bout 150 at least! Midwife was sooo lovely tho!She took BP and the machine started beeping at her...indicating it was high. I told her about the anxiety and it's in my file anyway. She actually recommended reiki to me. Have you ever tried this? She does it as well as being midwife. She lay her hand just over tummy and my chest and told me to take some deep breaths and imagine I was at the beach just relaxing. She then took BP 5 mins later and it had come down to 137/82 (good for me). It would be gr8 if she was on when I'm in labour! :D Was then seen by doc and she checked baby, head is down and heartrate perfect so all is A ok thankfully.
Just hope I can start to relax a bit. I would have anxiety to some extent every day, just some days worse than others. What about you?

maggiejan
17-08-10, 23:19
I had dreadful panic attacks and anxiety with my first pregnancy - it was a rollercoaster or hospital admissions as I constantly exceeded the midwives safe blood pressure parameters and they were obsessed with pre-eclampsia when the truth was that I was just **** scared of hospitals, doctors et al.

One frustrating evening at the hospital when it was beginning to look as if I was going to have to stay in overnight yet again with high BP, a midwife asked me if I wanted to try reiki - well not generally being very good at giving into relaxation techniques previously I was willing to give it a try as I so desperately wanted to go home. It was AMAZING I felt brilliant when she had finished and my BP was within normal guidelines and I was allowed home!

I would recommend anyone suffering panic and anxiety - it certainly did the trick for me during my first pregnancy and gave me the confidence to cope with the hospital environment which so unnerved me.

shortcake
19-08-10, 12:32
Thanks for the response Maggiejan. I think I will look into it as I'm so worried that I'll get really anxious during labour that it will be awful or I'll end up having to have a c-section or something.

Did you do many sessions of Reiki? Im nearly 33 weeks now so don't have long to go! :ohmy:

WFB
01-09-10, 11:37
my thanks also to Jen2503 for this place to hopefully find kind ears. I wasn't sure if i should start a new thread but don't really want to as I feel out on my own enough as it is. Am hugely anxious about being pregnant, not for health reasons (weirdly, the one thing that I'm not anxious about is the health side of being pregnant. The birth? Oh yes) and having decided on home birth the hospital related anxiety is fended off a little but I'm completely freaked out by being pregnant. I hate it. And now it's started kicking I think (20 or so weeks) and it just makes me feel sick and panic. I'm really struggling today, that's why I finally joined the forum. I know it's very juvenile (and believe me, I'm not) but I find it completely disgusting that something is growing inside me. And before you ask, we did mean to do it. I just didn't think that I would feel like this. Plus, the actual birth is getting closer all the time and I honestly don't know how I'll do it. I really don't think I can.

Genie
02-09-10, 07:31
Hi WFB,

Don't be afraid to start a new thread: you are not alone! I'm 14 weeks, and my anxiety is very much health related (you think you are juvenile - I have talked my doctor into prescribing me blood thinners on the basis of a moderately increased risk of DVT and am off this morning to learn how to inject myself with heparin!!!).

I completely get the weirdness feeling. Every scan, I am terrified I will look at the baby and freak out. I'm not looking forward to the kicking. At the 13 week scan they showed me the baby's brain - ugh! And I hate being pregnant too: I am throwing up five times a day. I think this, like the kicking, reminds us that we are committed to something. For me, it makes me feel trapped and out of control, and that's when I get those feelings that I can't do it. But, like you, I wanted this baby, and I still really do. I try to remember that it is the fear that is trapping me, not the baby, and I try not to think about it being 'inside' me: I just imagine it when it arrives.

Your feelings are normal. No-one I have spoken to didn't pull a face when I told them about the brain incident, and it's quite normal to be freaked out by the kicking. My mum told me she was glad they din't have scans when she was pregnant, as she just spent her whole pregnancy trying not to think about it. Those of us with anxiety just have to deal with the fact that our reactions can take over and lead to panic when others are able to switch off and forget. Have you tried talking to someone? I am going to start CBT in a month, and am hoping to learn some strategies to talk myself through the bad moments.

You can do this. Everything is going to be fine. And you are going to have a wonderful baby that is going to make you forget all about how difficult this has been. Feel free to private message me if you want to chat.

Genie:hugs:

WFB
02-09-10, 09:23
Genie,
You made me cry. In a really good way. Thank you :hug: It's such an huge relief to know that I'm not the only one who feels similarly. And you have a much more coherent grip on the whys of the anxiety. What you said made lots of sense, about the fear being the trap, not the baby.
Oh, and you're braver than I am- I didn't even look at the first scan! Eugh. I have another next week which is at least a week late because I refuse to go without my boyfriend.
I've started CBT too, because I don't want to teach the young'un to be this nutty and I want to be able to deal with bad days. Courtesy of being a bit of a mess yesterday, they're 'fast-tracking' me for more intensive sessions, which works for me as it seemed to be going painfully slowly.
And yes, I have various friends to whom I can let off steam, thankfully. And the boyfriend is very patient, understands that I would much rather not feel this way. So I'm lucky, I know that but when you feel as though 'everyone else' enjoys this and you're somehow defective for not doing so, it can add to the pressure. We're in this together though, eh? ;)

Genie
04-09-10, 15:39
Glad it helped a bit! I think feeling alone in this is the worst and, you're right, we are in it together.:) Also good to hear I'm not the only one doing the CBT - like you, I want to try and put myself in as best a place as possible so my child doesn't end up as anxious as me.

I do hope this scan goes better - let me know. At 20 weeks, your baby should look much more like a baby (!) which I think helps. This week, I went for a private scan to find out the gender of my baby and it helped enormously. It allows me to think about our life afterwards much more easily, and stop thinking so much about being pregnant. For the first time, I feel the anxiety as something off and on, rather than permanent, and just getting a break from it is wonderful. I know people feel different about finding out, but it's something to think about...

Hang on it there - you're doing a good job, and you're already half way there, and it is going to get easier:D

shortcake
05-09-10, 10:34
Ooooh Genie, are you gonna tell us what you're having? I'd love to know :D We havnt found out but was sooo tempted. Well only 5 weeks til we find out....aaaaghhh!!!

WFB, can totally relate to the anxiety when I first felt the kicks, such a strange feeling knowing a baby is moving about in there. The CBT will help, I'm attending counselling and find it gr8 and be gentle with yourself...it will get easier :). It's also gr8 to have this forum to talk about our fears. It's only in the last few weeks that I'm actually enjoying being pregnant. Though still quite anxious about the impending birth :scared15:

How have you got on being back at work Genie? I got on ok tho was shattered by the time I got home so only logging on now. It is a good distraction for me tho as I don't have time to think about the anxiety with 29 seven year olds to keep occupied!!!

beaniepudblue
12-09-10, 08:56
hi girlies i thought i would reply and send (((((( :hugs:))))))) im not pregnant but as you will prob see from my other reply on here im suffering with severe HA after having my son 3 months ago. Congratulations on your forthcoming little bundles of joy :) :) xxx

blackberry1972
23-09-10, 16:46
As a Father to be who suffers from Health Anxiety am I allowed to post in here?
I thought I had this thing beaten until recently when my wife and I had our 12 weeks scan which meant we had to go for extra tests (Downs Syndrome etc ) The test came back ok but I was subjected to a week of worrying and now with another scan which monitors babys heart ive started getting anxious again. I want to enjoy my wifes pregnancy and realise that as a bloke I get off very lightly so I am not burdening her with my anxiety, in fact as far as she knows i'm now anxiety free

Ninura
25-09-10, 20:19
Hello,

I have a question, does any of you take meds? I am 5 or 6 weeks pregnant, not sure...and I use to have panic attacks, now I was taking cipralex, but I stop cold turkey when I thought I was pregnant. Now I am not feeling ok, besides the pregnancy symptoms, nausea, dizziness, cramps, headache, moody, etc etc I´m with a lot of anxiety, today I had a huge panic attack, and lately I am afraid of going out of the house, I just walk near the house. I think the panic is getting worse now that I am pregnant. I dont know what to do, I read is not good if I take meds but is also not good to have panic during pregnancy. Just want to ask about your experience, if you are taking any med and if not how do you cope. 9 months is a long time, before I never go out without a xanax in my bag, it made me feel safe, but now I am so scared, because even if I have the xanax with me I cannot take it. I am in the university and this week I could not go to class, cause I am so scared, last week I went pale and my eyes red, its scary.

good luck to you all :hugs:

Genie
26-09-10, 15:34
Hi Ninura and Blackberry -

Blackberry - of course you are welcome! I know lots of the women posting here have anxiety about scans (not me, because I am obsessed by my own health, which I know sounds terrible). Why dont you start a new forum post on scans and I'm sure you'll get some replies.

Ninura - I'm 18 weeks pregnant and been struggling since about week 6, so I've been where you are. Hang in there. I am not on meds, but my doctor did say she would give them to me if things got really bad. They say it is best to wait until after 12 weeks if you can, but if it is really difficult it is better to take the meds than put yourself through stress. Perhaps your doctor can also offer you some counselling or other therapy. I have found the first trimester much harder than I expected (still having panic attacks, last major one just two days ago), so the more support you can get, the better. Everyone on here has been great, so if you are not doing well, post a message and someone will help you. :)

LittleFairy
29-11-10, 18:13
Hey, I also suffer with really bad anxiety.
Ive had it for about 3 years now, since i was 16/17 and i am now 19 weeks pregnant. I am very happy about my pregnancy and so is my partner :) Things arent so bad for us, we have our own flat and he works full time so we are okay for money etc.

The thing that is really bringing me down eveyday is my anxiety which has worsened since I fell pregnant.
I suffer with awful thoughts about me harming someone i am closest too (eg. someone in my family), i get these every day and no matter how hard i try i cannot make them go away. They make me really depressed when i get them, and i feel so ashamed and guilty for thinking this way even though i know it is not my fault and i would NEVER hurt anyone.

I am such a caring person so i dont understand why i get these horrible obsessive thoughts plagueing my mind.

I also have the worst ever phobia of sickness and diarrhea, every day i am constantly worried that i will get either or both of these. It stops me doing alot of things, such as going out and seeing people, ordering take aways or eating at restaurants incase i get food poisining or the food is contaminated with a stomach bug, when i know there is a stomach bug going around i will try and avoid going out and avoid getting into contact with people for fear of it being passed on to me.

If i feel a little bit nauseas one day i will go into panic mode because i will be worrying extremely that i am going to be sick or have diarrhea. Sometimes i will even avoid going to the toilet just incase i will have diarrhea.

I also worry about someone i am closest too becoming ill or dying, this also really stresses me out because i dont know what id do if i lost someone i love!!

Im scared these bad feelings and stress will be passed onto baby, which i really hope not cause i want him/her to be as healthy as possible.

Anyway sorry for my long story!!
x

marisa
06-01-11, 18:14
hi all,
im new to this sight but have been suffering anxiety and depression on and off for years!
im currently pregnant with my second child, i was on cipralax with both pregnanies and drs are fine with this, the only thing is since finding out i was pregnant again the depression and anxiety went into over load, i have heath anxiety and worry about any twinge ect and go into my own world of the worst out come!
i had my gallbladder taken out just before i fell pregnant and this restarted it all really! the fact i suddenly had something wrong with me and needed a operation, then the worry over recovering and dvts etc etc..
anyway i have just had my meds put up from 10mg to 15mg two weeks ago and have not noticed a difference and wondered if i should hold on or re visit dr? does anyone have experience, even if not it is just helpful saying it out load and knowing im not alone .
hope i haven't gone on to much, and have made sense!
Marisa x

clare_201086
25-01-11, 16:48
hey every1 thank you so much for this thread, i have just found out i am 6weeks pregnant with my first very much wanted baby, im 24! im so worried anxiety will harm the baby or sumthing bad will happen, i havent ate a thing all day im that anxious, i also have a huge phobia of vomiting! please pleassee keep in touch. clare xxx

NervousNellie
25-01-11, 17:14
Hi everybody!! I wish this thread had been here when I was pregnant last year!! It really would have helped me!

I just wanted to let you all know that you can do this!!! Stress and anxiety will not harm your baby! As a matter of fact, my baby boy (who is now 7 months old) is very smart and very laid back! Out of my 3 children, he has been the least demanding and the happiest! I did not suffer from anxiety with my first 2 girls and they were rather crabby, lol!!

I worried about problems with my heart too. Every time I went into the doctor's office, my blood pressure was high. But my doctor knew that I was panicking and was very good with me - he blew it off like it was no big deal. I had a c-section (my 3rd one) and it went very smoothly. I did end up with some post partum hypertension (probably due to my age - 32 - and the fact that this was my 3rd surgery), but 2 weeks of a low dose of BP meds cleared it up. I freaked when I found out about the BP problem, but I made it through and my BP returned to normal.

Getting through this means you have to trust your doctor!! If I could do it with horrific anxiety and panic attacks, then you can too! I have a beautiful baby boy! Even though it was an unplanned pregnancy, I wouldn't change a thing about it because then I wouldn't have my little man! Good luck ladies!!

Em1826
17-10-17, 11:38
Hi All,

I was so pleased to stumble across this forum and thread after googling how I was feeling.

I am currently 27 years old and have suffered on and off with Anxiety and Panic Attacks for 10 years. I have had some major highs and lows, from feeling like I could no longer cope and going onto Sertraline, to coping with only Hypnotherapy and relaxation methods. About 6 months ago, I started to wean myself off my Sertraline (under doctors supervision) and finally felt like I was getting my life back under control and I was going to be in the driver's seat.

I have recently found out I am 6 weeks pregnant and, once the initial excitement and happiness passed (myself and my husband had been trying) I soon realised that I was scared, anxious and didn't know if I was going to be able to do this.:shrug:

It has led me straight back to the anxiety and panic attacks, and now that I am not medicated, I feel they are worse than ever!! I am taking panic attacks driving to and from work, I am taking them sitting at my desk at work, and I am at the stage where I feel like I cant possibly go 9 months feeling this way!:weep:

On one hand, I geel like I would be best to go back on some form of medication to make myself feel more like myself, but on the other hand I am worried/nervous about any effects that may have on the baby....

I have a doctors appointment this afternoon to discuss this, but it feels good to even know from reading this thread that I am not the only one!

Em xxx

Miss sd
21-01-18, 19:53
Glad I found this thread. I'm 39 and been trying for a baby for 7 years. Thus is thurd round of IVF. My first round resulted in miscarriage.

Ive suffered from anxiety and panic attacks for 20 years. My panic attacks are focussed mainly around meetings at work. Also get them on trains, busy shops and at night just before i drop off.

I have come off lorazepam cold turkey and my anxiety is the worst its ever been. I'm barely sleeping. Doc has prescribed me sertraline but I'm too scared to take them. I'm so petrified of having a miscarriage.

I really need to know if anxiety and panic attacks can cause a miscarriage as ill never forgive myself.

Im 12 weeks on Thursday btw and the anxiety about the 12 week scan is building pretty significantly.

I feel like I have no quality of life at the moment. I'm worrying 24/7 and just cannot relax.