Need to stop the spiral - health anxiety

[OptimisticRealist2024]

Feel a bit stuck. Am 27 weeks pregnant and absolutely crippled with health anxiety. Mentioned to midwife at 16 weeks, she promised to refer me. Told her in full about my history of anxiety.

Didn't hear from her again. Another midwife covered my 25-week appointment.

Had a little panic two weeks ago about tiny new mole, went to GP, who said she'd refer me to perinatal mental health. Turns out that the 10 weeks between midwife and GP appointment I hadn't been on any kind of waiting list. Midwife didn't refer me. ☹️

Had consultation today with primary mental health unit. They got my GP referral and initially said next consultation would be in May. I'm due in June...they heard me panicking and booked me into a cancelled appointment at last minute.

Consultation went well. Felt lighter afterwards, specialist was angry on my behalf because of midwife, but told me health anxiety can be treated with CBT. Huge weight lifted.

Skip to dinner time. I go to open new box of pregnancy vitamins. I've been taking Pregnacare for months. Notice the ingredients list for first time while waiting for kettle to boil. Box says they contain talc. Talc can be mined with asbestos = I've been eating asbestos...and so has my baby. For months. Brain skipped to getting cancer. Furious Googling after dinner brings up nothing to reassure me. Am sat now in a puddle of misery.

So sick of spiralling. Always one step forwards, two steps back. Am I the only one? ☹️

There's health anxiety and there's healthy paranoia, looks like you have both!

Try not to let one thing trigger the other. Look at the facts, for example; you don't know that the talc has been mined with asbestos, but it might have been. Maybe make a positives and negatives list?

Who prescribed the vitamins?;can you just come off them?

@PersonallyIdBringAPicnicakaALittleSassy The vitamins were recommended to me by NHS midwife; they were included in my bounty pack. 😕 My DH says that NHS wouldn't give me anything that could give me cancer but I just can't shut my brain off.

I could stop taking them but my eating is all over the place because of the pregnancy and I can't really spare spending the extra money for the expensive vitamins at the moment - I'm saving every penny for childcare. 😔

Fair enough. Maybe smoothies could replace your vitamins?

Fair enough. Maybe smoothies could replace your vitamins?

Step away from Google. Can be mined with. Not was. Thousands and thousands of women (me included 20 odd years ago) have been taking those vitamins with no negative consequences.

Try to commit to only using the NHS website for guidance and not going down Google rabbit holes. There are people who write all sorts of stuff to sell books or products that just isn't true of backed up by scientific consensus.