Is anyone else’s anxiety through the roof?

[TeaCupYorkieMum]

I am 29 weeks pregnant and over the past few weeks my anxiety has reached record levels.

My brain immediately jumps to the worst case scenario, I live in daily fear of my husband dying (he’s perfectly healthy). I have horrendous dreams about nuclear bombs, terrorism, all the awful things. I seem to have lost the ability to rationalise when the awful thoughts creep up on me. My husband was half an hour late home from his football match, so I thought something must have happened to him and he must be in a heap waiting on an ambulance, so I drove down to the football pitch in a complete panic. He was obviously fine and was chatting to the new person who has joined their team.
Did anyone else experience this during pregnancy or do I need legit help?

my goodness I am unable to relate to that at all
My attitude is everything is ok until it is not
When it is not I will deal with it and get through
Wish you well

I have had this in post partum and it can be deliberating so I feel for you. Definitely tell your midwife and seek help sooner rather than later.

Hi OP. I've experienced this level of anxiety and obsessive thinking before and my GP prescribed medication, which changed my life at the time.

Please do call your GP or midwife and ask for help with this. Both my pregnancies did pretty horrible things to my mental health (more severe depression than anxiety) and it was such a difficult time. You need the right professional support, and deserve it! Sending lots of love to you and your baby 💜

I totally understand it, but even though it seems overwhelming you have to try and help yourself.

Try something like headspace and try and get a regular daily practice of following one of their guided meditations going, even if it’s five minutes and youre freaking out. Also make sure you are going for at least a fifteen minute walk outside in nature - park, coast, greenway, whatever - every single way as that is so helpful in resetting. I often think one of the contributors to modern anxiety is that we are ‘meant’ as living creatures to be living in nature but of course all of our modern lives are so separate from that (and no one wants to go and live under a wet tree just to be calm).

Switch off any news sources, get a good long ‘dull’ audiobook on in the background, dickens or similar, listen to the shipping forecast, knit a basic scarf (knitting is SO relaxing, because it gives you something tactile for your hands to do!), listen to some choral Christmas music in the background, find a prenatal yoga practice (Nadia narain is amazing, I had prenatal hormonal FURY and she really helped!) or pilates. Find a YouTube video of yoga breathing exercises.

Basically remove as many stimuli as possible and get back to basics, nature and nurture, something for your hands to do.

So much sympathy!

Please speak to your midwife - she may be able to suggest some strategies.

Worst case, there are meds that can be safely taken in pregnancy.

All the best x

Thank you, it feels better to know it’s not just me!

Thank you, I’m going to talk to my midwife in a few days <3

Thanks for all your useful and easy to implement tips. I totally agree on the fact that we now live different lives from what our bodies actually need, a stint in nature always makes me feel better. I’ve now signed up to pregnancy yoga starting on Monday. ❤

I’m not quite sure what outcome you wanted when posting this. Baffling.

Yes I can completely relate! My anxiety was bad up to 12 weeks, it eased a little but by 30 weeks I was having really awful nightmares and my brain took me to the worse case scenario for absolutely everything (similar to how you describe). My midwife referred me to a specialist team who have been amazing at supporting me. I was bad for a few weeks postpartum but I feel much better now. Please speak up and get some help.