Anxiety and pregnancy, I need some coping mechanisms, can anyone help?

[Hermya321]

Hello,

Ever since I got pregnant I've been suffering from increased anxiety which has resulted in me being signed off work.

A basic run down of whats been happening, I've been really anxious about things that normally I wouldn't have worried about at all. This built up over a number of weeks, I suffered from lack of sleep as I was tossing and turning all night, I would break down in tears at work, I lost all interest in anything and retreated into myself. I started having physical symptons as well, stomach cramps and migraines. You know the sort.

It came to a head a few weeks ago, I went into work and had a panic attack in the toilets and carried on as normal for the day (well as much as I could) and then the day after I had one before work and then got signed off of work.

I am due to go back next week unless I go back to the Docs. I'm in two minds about this, I do want to go back to work and I have seen a counseller so I know sort of whats going on in my head. The more I go on the more I feel that it is related to pregnancy more than anything else. There is no particular reason that I should be feeling like this.

So really what I'm asking is does anybody have any coping strategies that they could share. Sort of things that I can do so as not to have anymore panic attacks.

Thanks

Hi Hermya321

Sorry you are struggling so much with anxiety. It really is an awful thing to go through. And in pregnancy you feel particularly vulnerable as you are very limited in what you can take to help you in terms of medication.

Can you say a little bit more about what triggers your panic? Is it a generalised sense of anxiety, or is it surrounding specific issues? When you said you had a panic attack at work and ran into the toilets, what was happening at the time it started?

In what way is your anxiety related to the pregnancy i.e. are you worried about having the baby, or about being pregnant? When you lie awake at night what is going through your mind?

There are a lot of non-medication things you can do to help yourself.

• buy a relaxation CD such as this one

There are loads on amazon if this one doesn't take your fancy

• practise deep breathing
• do successive muscle relaxing where you start at your feet, consciously clenching and relaxing all your muscles slowly and deliberately, working your way all the way up to the head.

• work on your faulty thought processes by doing some CBT. You can do some free online CBT here

Hope this helps, take care.
x

It seemed to be focusing on work related tasks which I have been doing for ages without a problem but I kept thinking I was going to get into trouble for doing something wrong when there was no reason why I should do.

Recently it's been more pregnancy, like I worry if LO is ok in there etc. I worry about if I'm eating right and if I'm doing things right. I have also felt the occasional flutter and I know in the early days these can be hard to spot. I didn't feel any for a bit and I started getting really worked up about it. LO then prodded me as if to say 'Get a grip, I'm still here.'

So I think it's more a generalised sense of panic at the moment.

Thank you for the links though, I'll check them out today.

Hi, just want to say I know how you feel, get very anxious myself and sleep vert badly. Personally I have been referred to perenantal mental health services, and they are sending someone out to see me at home soon. I was very conflicted about accepting this help but there's no shame in it.

I have also been having hypnotherapy, which again I was pretty skeptical about but its really helped me. Its expensive but I just go once a month and they gave me a cd to listen to every night which relaxes you and makes you feel more in control.

Hope thats any help. All the best.

Hi there. Sorry you're feeling this way. I suffer with anxiety and it became much much worse when I was pregnant. My GP sent me on a free CBT course which was one evening a week which did help me. I know these things differ from one area to the next but it's worth asking about. Apart from getting good coping strategies, one of the best things I got from it was just being with a load of other people who were suffering in the same way. There was no pressure to share what your anxiety was about but it made me realise that I was not alone, if that doesn't sound too corny. You should deffo get some help before the baby comes along. Good luck

Thank you all!!

I've gone back to work and have started seeing a counseller as well. You are right, you do feel so much better when someone else tells you that they've felt the same way.

I'm going to look into the hypnotherepy as well as I would like to get on top on this before LO comes along.

So far so good at the moment, hopefully I'll continue getting better in little steps.