anxiety/insomnia 1st trimester

[doitorelsa]

I am not anxious about the pg (unusually). It is DC2, 8+ 4. I was very worried first time round but this time just want to reach 12 weeks and hopefully feel better. I am emetophobic and though I haven't been sick I feel nauseaus (sp) most of the time and just hate it. It is worst when I am tired so I lay awake from 1am paniking about not sleeping and feeling the adrenilin pumping round me. I fear waking up feeling sick and am just counting the days. How can I enjoy my pg now and calm down, it can't be doing my baby any good? I was on anti-depressives pre-ttc

I found pregnancy amd having children made my emetophobia a bit better. I was lucky not be actually be sick during my pg even though i felt like I would I managed to stop myslef somehow, through concentration.
Having a bad day today though as inlaws have all come down with a tummy bug and I have to see them tommorrow at a christening. Seriously considering not going but its my nephew so should really. Hope you feel better soon. If it helps I stopped feeling sick right about where you are now, and it stopped as quickly as it started.

hey,

Just wanted to say I'm emetophobic too. I'm nearly 26 weeks pg and I can safely say I think this is the hardest thing I've put myself through. I've had a very difficult pg for various reasons but the phobia has just magnified and made everything else so hard to deal with. I know some people say pg makes them more chilled out and less anxious - lucky them! For me I have become an anxious wreck and have been signed off pretty much all of my pregnancy so far (and GP wants to sign me off to mat leave now).

I can't really offer you many pearls of wisdom, I'm sure you're doing all the eating little and often etc etc. Just wanted to say you're not alone, and if you got through it before, you can do it again. Mention to your mw your anxieties and worries - mine realised how bad my anxiety is and is now monitoring me with extra appointments to see how I'm doing. I counted the days (and hours, and minutes) in my first trimester too. It helped just to feel like I had got one day closer to the magic 12 weeks (which wern't so magic for me). Try try to rest and if you wake up in the night paniked about feeling sick, the worst thing to do is to keep worrying and stay awake, as tiredness makes it worse! I used meditation podcasts on my ipod when I woke up at night (and still do) to calm me down and help me drift back to sleep and am convinced I managed to stop panic attacks by doing this. It's really tough, but, at nearly 9 weeks you may be past or nearly past the worst bit.

Thanks both of you so much. It is awful isn't it, i always really wanted 3 but said to DH today I don't think I could go through this again, let alone with 2 dcs to look after! I am so comforted by you both saying it might go soon, last time it did stop at 12 weeks (almost exactly which probabaly shows some of it is pure anxiety and psychosomatic (sp). I am about to email work to say I can't attend a 2 day workshop in a few weeks so will probably feel better once I have done that (I am a remote worker so don't see my employers much!). I have been fretting about it!I am trying to eat every few hours, porridge or whatever i can to keep it at bay. hateful, hateful feeling isn't it?

It is horrible - I remember I had 2 weeks of being able to eat nothing but jam sandwiches and crisps, and half the time used to sit in front of food crying as I so wanted to eat it and knew it'd make me feel better but just couldn't face it. Whenever I worried about something that I knew I would have to do (like your workshop) I stressed myself out and made myself worse. Seriously - there were 3 months where I only got out of the house for hospital appointments as I felt so sick all the time. I'm much better now compared to then, but still can't really do much or I feel sick. I get really really down about it as I haven't felt normal now for over 5 months, but I just keep hoping that it'll be worth it in the end/at least it won't last forever. This phobia makes things so difficult though - I'm already getting worried about how I'll cope when my child is sick and I have to look after/deal with them - I don't know how I'll do it.

Anyway, I digress - I'm sure once you've sent that email to work you'll feel a bit better - as soon as I knew I didn't have to worry about work I felt a bit better.

Thanks Angels, I know you are right about feeling better once you get out of doing something. Is your DP understanding? Mine is luckily, would be so hard if not. Ja sandwhiches sounds like a good idea, hmmm. Have you been on any drugs before, anti-d's or anti-anxiety? Sometimes I think I should just be on some permanently as I have been on and off them so often for anxiety in the last 10 years

When you have your lovely DC you will cope with any sickness, you just will. Wanting to look after and comfort him or her will outweigh any feelings of your own fears, even if it is hard.

Another emotophobe here...

My ms (although I was never sick - have only been sick once in 34 years) contributed to being diagnosed with antenatal depression at 20 weeks, so please mention your anxieties to your GP or midwife when you see them. If you feel you would benefit from being back on anti-ds I believe there are some which are pg-safe.

Also, it might interest you to know I saw my consultant last week, panicking about being sick in labour, and she was great - said it would be on my notes that I could have IV antiemetics on arrival and every 8 hours - and they would prescribe some tablets for me to have at home in case I felt sick in early labour. Just knowing this help is available has made me feel 100% better about the birth (even if I don't use it).

I second the motion for self-hypnosis or meditation CDs/Mp3s. Helps loads!

Thabks Paige, very helpful. i am going to look at said cds now x

thanks I mean, of course

its a suprisingly common phobia. I must say you get used the the kids getting sick because it happens so often. Still makes for a worrying week when it does happen.

doitorelsa I've been on anti emetics (cyclizine) since week 5 for pg n*. I'm not taking any anti d/a meds now but in the past have taken seroxat, prozac and another that I foget the name of with pg brain! Tbh before getting pg my anxiety etc was at quite a good level for me, it just seems pg has made it rise to epic propotions!

My DH doesn't really understand my phobia at al if I'm honest. He is as good as he can be given he doesn't understand. He was sick for the first time since I've known him when I was about 8 weeks pg and I went into a complete panic about it (he gave himself food posioning the silly billy!). I will need to sit down and really explain to him how I feel about it and how it impacts my life soon though as I know I will panic giving birth incase I'm sick and will need him to request anti emetics for me incase I'm not able.

Angels interesting that pg has made your anxiety worse, me too. I remember reading somewhere (on here) that someone said for each pg thay have had, increased anxiety was the first symptom they had, so must be all to do with our physiology and chemistry. That thought makes me feel better, to think it is purely physical symptoms, not mental health issues again.

I hope your DH appreciates how you feel once you've spoken - it makes such a difference I think, as it is one less pressure on you to worry about. I really hope things improve for you soon - I know they will actually as each day we are all nearer to feeling better