26 weeks pregnant and really not feeling good at all.

[Stormwhale]

I'm not in a good place today and wondered if anyone can relate or had any advice.

I'm really struggling. I have EDS, which means I'm usually on medication. I'm currently coming off of amitryptaline and cocodamol (very very slowly) so the baby will not be born addicted. My sleep has gone to shit, I'm in a lot of pain and I feel all over the place emotionally. I feel weird, jittery, restless and anxious. I have been fainting too which is making me scared to go out by myself or alone with dd. It seems to be caused by low blood pressure, so the midwife has just said to drink lots, eat little and often and be very careful. It's all making me so anxious though.

It feels like there is ages left of this pregnancy and I'm not sure how to cope with feeling this way for so long.

I love my baby to bits and I can't wait to meet him, but I really don't feel good myself. It doesn't help that the sickness has been coming back in the evenings too. I have been really tearful and not my normal self at all. I have an older dd and I'm absolutely tearing myself apart with guilt if I don't get it right with her, if I'm not patient enough or too critical where I feel shit.

Sorry this is such a self indulgent post, but I don't want to put all this on my friends and family. I usually just pretend all is fine and I'm great.

Hi @Stormwhale, I'm sorry you're struggling. I can't relate to how you're feeling at the moment, but you definitely should not be keeping this all to yourself. I understand it's hard to admit that everything isn't fine, but I'm sure you're family/friends wouldn't want you to be suffering in silence, and would much rather help you in any way they can.
I also think you should speak to your midwife about how you're feeling and ask for some extra support, whether that's additional appointments or mental health support as you shouldn't be going through this alone.
You're doing the best you can for your dd and baby to be, but you being healthy and able to cope is so important for them as well as you, so please speak to someone about it.

Hiya. Sorry to hear you're feeling like that. I'm 27 weeks and have also felt restless and jittery in my body for the past couple of weeks. Find it hard to relax or switch off. Tbh I wondered if it was hormonal.

I would def mention it to your midwife or GP. No point bottling it all up. If you're anything like me you'll put yourself under pressure to be 'perfect' and it just goes against us in this situation.

Hey OP,

Another one feeling restless and jittery here. It's basically ruined this pregnancy for me m.

I don't know much about your condition but I can tell you the things I've been using for my insomnia and restless leg:

Magnesium oil spray (start slowly as it can itch)
Potassium, so lots of bananas
I was borderline anaemic, so have been taking iron and found that's helped a lot - I would suggest Floradix

Insomnia wise I tried antihistamines suggested by my GP- I found it made me actually feel worse but it works for some people. They do help with sickness as well.

Your withdrawal from the medications, are you being supported through this?

I got referred to a perinatal psychiatrist who's speciality is medication during pregnancy - I would really suggest asking for this if you can. She's given me medication that the GP wouldn't prescribe and talked me through the studies showing they're safe.

Big hug x

Thank you for the replies. I'm feeling a little more settled this evening. I spoke to dh this morning about how I'm feeling and he has been really lovely and supportive.

I honestly think the restless jittery feeling is down to my mental state rather than something physical or withdrawal from the tablets. It goes away if I'm distracted, but comes back when I think about it.

I am under a consultant due to my health problems and am under a specialist midwife. I'm seeing her next week so I'll talk it all through with her then.

I think with my friends, I don't want to be that person constantly moaning. The eds is shit and on bad days I just hide away really rather than let everyone see that I feel so shit. With this pregnancy, I have made lighthearted comments about things that have gone wrong, but not really spoken about how it's affecting me emotionally. Maybe you are right and I need to start. No one wants to be the Debbie downer all the time though!