Anxiety

[kirstieskitchen]

Hi All,

I am wondering if you can help me.

I found out last week I am pregnant, bit of a shock as I have been taking cerrazette. No I know why WeightWatchers wasn't working :) But the shock has turned into a very happy shock for us both.

We have a dating scan on Monday, and I have been referred to a consultant as since my first child, I have been sufffering from high blood pressure.

A few years ago my daughter (now 4) and I were victims of domestic violence at the hands of her father. We have now been 'free' 2 years, have various court orders in place to keep us safe, he has no contact.

We are now in a stable happy relationship.

I have been taking Citalopram for about 2 years, well until Friday when I saw my GP.

My question to you all is, can any of your recommend any natural pregnancy safe ways of dealing with anxiety mainly - I am so much better than I was a year and 2 years ago, but would like some advice on how to keep it under check.

Thanks in advance,

New to Mumsnet - Kirstie

Have you had therapy? I think it's called it's called cognitive therapy. It's normally an option you should get instead of tablets

Welcome and congratulations!!

It sounds like this was a very happy surprise indeed.

Can I ask why you stopped the citalopram?

As for natural remedies, Bach essence is ok for on the spot needs but I've yet to find anything else that works.

Hope that helps

Hello there Kirstie.

I had quite bad anxiety issues for a couple of years and was on Sertraline for a year, which really helped. I did come off it a good few months before getting knocked up but I was still worried about anxiety attacks returning during pregnancy, as now and then they did happen.

One thing that I've noticed, which may help reassure you a bit, is that since becoming pregnant I just don't feel at all anxious. I have read that the progesterone in your system has a "feelgood" effect, and it certainly seems to be true. In fact even though I was puking my guts up regularly in the first 10 weeks and was grumpy because of that, it was a very superficial grumpiness - nothing like the profound existential terror that I often used to feel when I had anxiety problems. So I hope you'll find the same thing.

But, as it's very important to have a safety net in case of an attack, I can recommend one major natural, drug-free remedy for anxiety - yoga and meditation are just the best. Look up "guided meditation" on youtube and try a few videos. You lie back and listen to the soothing, hypnotic voice of some kind person who has provided a free video, and just focus on breathing deeply and relaxing every muscle in your body. You should look at some reviews online for yoga for relaxation and maybe buy a video of your own. When I was coming off Sertraline, I used youtube videos to calm myself down whenever things got too much. It really works. Regular meditation can work wonders for people.

A gentle yoga class is a bit more expensive but well worth it, after the meditation that they usually do at the end, everybody looks so happy and spaced out. I used to go to a class where a lot of the people were pensioners, and they'd get so relaxed you'd hear little parps all over the class as people accidentally farted out their negative energy

Camomile tea is also good. I've heard that bananas, milk and turkey produce tryptophan in your body, which makes you feel relaxed and happy. Getting outdoors into nature is something I've always found profoundly therapeutic. Breathing exercises can be great. Massage, too, can help a lot - perhaps you could get your partner to give you a hand, foot, head or back massage when you feel that creeping anxiety coming on? Sometimes I just massage my own temples, forehead, scalp, eye sockets and the bridge of my nose if I need to de-stress - it's not quite as lovely as having someone else do it, but it does seem to help.

Anyway, hope this is useful

Sara

I asked my MW directly and she got me an assessment from a perinatal psych (who obviously knows what meds etc' are OK/not OK in pregnancy). Every NHS trust will have one.
Well worth asking!

Hi Kirstie

Congratulations!

I was on fluoxetine long term for anxiety before falling pregnant. Went cold turkey but ended up very anxious and the perinatal psych team put me on sertraline. It's been very helpful and kept my anxiety under control.

I am now 37 weeks and have had to stop taking it at 36 weeks so it doesn't effect delivery but I'm feeling good and will be back on it after the baby is born as it's ok to use during breast feeding.

Ask to see the perinatal psych team as the previous poster has said. They will be able to recommend treatment.

CBT for anxiety and depression has been a lifesaver for me. There are so many great self help books and even getselfhelp.co.uk do really good worksheets and pdfs that you can print off. Involves a bit of work but I always feel like the work is worth the relief from anxiety.

Really sorry to hear what you've been through but huge congratulations. New chapter In your life, hopefully the past won't spoil it for you xxxx

I'd like to second the CBT suggestions. It's definitely very effective. I had it for an eating disorder and my brother had it for anxiety (I'm from a hopelessly neurotic family), helped us both immensely.