Postnatal Anxiety??

[Lottieloveslemons]

Hi,

Forgive me if I don’t use the correct lingo I’m new on here. Il start by giving you some background info..

I’m 32 have suffered on and off for most of my life with health anxiety and have been able to manage with self help for most of it until now. Since having my baby 9 months ago I have found I obsess about one health issue and then when I have a resolve/clarification that it’s nothing sinister il move on to another. Ie. 4 months postpartum I got told to keep and eye on some moles (simply couldn’t relax knowing that I had to monitor them so had a few removed) and then went on to worry about something else and now what started out as mild dizziness turned into me thinking I have a serious illness. My doctor has said that I’m fine and what I’m experiencing is actual symptoms of postnatal anxiety/generalised anxiety. I feel dizziness and have even started to feel tingles in my hands/feet (hence me worrying it’s a serious illness) I have been checked over by numerous doctors all who have confirmed I’m ok and taken numerous blood tests/gait/balance tests etc but I just feel upset/tired my anxiety is clearly so bad it’s causing me to feel physical symptoms. I have started CBT but have a while to wait until my next appointment and just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this? It’s a really lonely place to be and so strange as I’m not anxious at all in other areas of my life. It’s worth saying that I think it’s amplified as I worry that if something bad happens to me what will happen to my baby (we’ve been experiencing a few family troubles on my partners side and it has brought a real negative energy into our lives since he has been born) and all in all made me feel very down!!

Sorry for the waffle I just didn’t want to feel so isolated. Any tips/medication recommendations welcome.

LLL x

Well the really good thing from all of this is that you've recognised that you have an issue and you've sought some professional help

Whilst you are waiting for your CBT, it might be worth talking to the PANDAS Foundation about your medication options although in my experience Sertraline helped me when I had work induced anxiety

I’m also in the midst of postnatal anxiety and OCD and insomnia. My anxiety and ocd are centred around my health too. I had my baby a month ago. Waiting to start an SSRI called escitalopram as Sertraline didn’t agree with me. Whenever I lie down or nod off I hear a popping clicking sound in my throat and I’m convinced it’s something sinister but my gp is convinced it’s my Eustachian tubes. I feel like my body burns with anxiety it’s that bad and the insomnia is making everything worse. All we can do is take life a couple of hours at a time right now, and take comfort in knowledge my that this can’t be forever, and that we can seek treatment. Your case is very similar to mine and I would say definitely ask to be referred for therapy and also explore medication - we take medication to treat our physical illnesses, and so I fully believe when it comes to mental illness if we need help in the form of a medicine we should take it. Sending lots of love and solidarity to you xxx

Ah you said you’re already doing cbt - I’m waiting to start cbt too xxx