advice please!..anxiety & pregnancy

[js26]

hello ....I suffered with anxiety for a while now,the past couple of years have been the worse. I have been on prozac, but for the last 7/8 months havnt been on anything -except the odd beta-blocker. When i was pregnant with my daughter ( 8 years ago ) i didnt have anxiety at all really.....Now I would love to have another child but I am REALLY worried about the effects that anxiety can have on an un-born child also the effects on me. The things i suffer with most is churning stomach and most recently I can literally hear my heart beating!!...Oh and lets not forget the negative thoughts!!. I know that the thoughts dont hurt me or wouldnt hurt an un-born baby .... but its thinking these thought that causes the heart rate to go up etc etc. so i would love to hear from anyone who is either trying to get pregnant / is pregnant / or has had a baby whilst suffering from anxiety with the symptons i have described. thanks for reading, jayne xxx

[shoegal]

Hi Jayne,

I've not had a baby yet so I can't speak from experience. But I have also been thinking about having a baby and I spoke to my Doctor about it only last week. She said that some people choose to take anti-depressants during pregnancy but that Doctors don't recommend it. She said there is no evidence to suggest it causes any major defects that they know of, BUT she also said it is deemed unethical to do research on pregnant women and therefore there have not been any studies on the effects of anti-depressants on unborn babies. So basically she told me to stop taking the anti-depressant I am on, and also to take follic acid every day for 3 months before I conceive (everyone is supposed to do that). SHE SAID VALIUM (DIAZEPAM ETC) IS A DEFINATE NO AS IT WOULD HARM THE BABY. I asked what would happen if I was worse during pregnancy than before, and she said it was unlikely because feel-good hormones are released when you are pregnant!

So basically I can't take any anxiety meds if I want to have a baby. I would also be interested to hear how pregnancy affected anybody who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks?

Love and hugs from shoegal xxx

[PUGLETMUM]

hi, im also thinking of trying again. i was on prozac for 2 years when i got pregnant with my daughter(age 9) and i came off it immediately(ohyeah also took propranolol). anyway although i worried during pregnancy i had no anxiety as i experience it now. i tryed to take prozac again when she was 10 months as i reacted very badly to stopping breastfeeding - i was like 'oh my god what do i do now'! i had put everything on hold for 10 months and now i wasnt needed anymore, and this is when my probs began.

anyway i developed agoraphobia over the following years,really only tackling it onmy own this year. however 2 yearsish ago we did convince ourselves we could have another one despite my anx, and i got pregnant, and i did feellovely for the couple of weeks i was pregnant until it cameaway naturally

ihave seen ppl say on here that they are pregnant and their anxiety is sky high, but personally i do think you get the pregnancy happy hormones, you might feel a bit soppy and wimpy but im not sure you would feel'terrible'with anxiety, but i dont know because i didnt.

its a very subjective subject the same as everything,some ppl love it and some ppl hate it, one thing that you can guarantee though is that YOU are not in control for the nine months and through labour, your body just does its own thing i think if you struggle with colds and being ill you have to know its no bed of roses - i had big sore boobs, felt sick for 6 weeks, was soooo tired i felt ill just with that, had awful heartburn and obviously was big and heavy,but apart from that i had 100% fine pregnancy, im sure lots of others didnt have it as easy? but i would be prepared for what was to come and i think that can help. me and my therapist have discussed this adn she says its just about keeping the nagative thoguhts in check, but also you just have to surrender to fate with this one, what will be will be

[js26]

thanx for your replys...i think i know deep down that i would be able to cope with being pregnant again...its just whether my symptons would affect a un-born baby...a pounding heart cannot be good for it surely!!! ... if any wants to pm me or add me to msn..then please do...a problem shared and all that...lol.......

[tea'na]

hey js26, was drawn to your message, felt i had to reply. Have had anxiety symtoms for years now and the only time i was truly free from it,was whilst pregnant and breastfeeding. Think i was so consummed with my babies, i didnt have time or energy for anything eles. Sometimes anxiety like being a hamster on a wheel, u just go round and round, maybe sumthing that not about us and our feelings could distract us enough to stop running. just a thought, hope u get well soon x