Pregnancy/health/food anxiety

[Northernsoul90]

Hi all, I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this thread is other than to maybe find support in others who have been feeling similar. I'm currently 20 weeks pg with a much wanted baby girl (suffered a miscarriage with first pregnancy last year) and so far things have been going great other than awful sickness from 6-16 weeks! My problem is I suffer from anxiety which I have had for years and feel it has really ramped up in pregnancy. I am currently on 50mg sertraline, I'm reluctant to up my dose but am waiting for GP to call me back today as I'm hoping to be offered some kind of counselling.

Every time my anxiety eases I find something else to worry about and steal away my joy in being pregnant. I was terrified of mc in first trimester, terrified of combined screening results at 12 weeks, terrified of being on SSRIs when pregnant and have self diagnosed with UTIs, liver problems, gestational diabetes amongst other things to date. I was a wreck before my 20 week scan. My latest worry, which I have let consume me all weekend, is that I ate at a restaurant on Friday night and noticed that the lamb kofte I was eating looked slightly pink in places. This has resulted in me obsessing over toxoplasmosis for the past 2 days to the point I've felt physically ill. Has anyone else done things they shouldn't have when pregnant and then beaten themselves up about it? I don't know what to do moving forward, I called my midwife and she didn't seem concerned at all about the lamb... I know in reality the problem is my anxiety not what I have eaten but I just can't shake the thoughts. Has anyone got any tips for dealing with pregnancy/health anxiety? Thank you

Have you asked to be referred to a mental health midwifery service?

@Elouera No I haven't yet but I will do today when the GP calls!

Hi, I definitely wouldn’t rule out increasing your dose. I’m on 150mg sertraline for health and generalised anxiety disorder (have been since before pg) and the difference it’s made to my life is amazing. I know exactly what you mean by your mind just jumping to the next thing to worry about all the time, medication is the only thing that stopped that for me and it has totally changed my life. All the healthcare professionals I spoke to were totally supportive of my decision to stay on my medication during pregnancy “happy mum, happy baby” after all! Pregnancy would have been a very triggering experience to go through with health anxiety and I know I wouldn’t have coped well without my medication. I would ask for a referral to perinatal mental health — your midwife or gp can refer you and they can talk through your options. Good luck 🥰

@Northernsoul90 a tip from me, and it's probably a really obvious one, is to stay away from Google! If I'm worried about something (during pregnancy and before) I would take to Google and end up down a huge rabbit hole and make myself feel much much worse. Also when I've been feeling a bit anxious during pregnancy I find it actually helps to put myself on a mumsnet ban for a few days x

Thanks all, @Tryingandhoping2020 thats good to know re the sertraline. I'm still waiting on GP to call so am going to ask to be referred to mental health team and see what they say. Hopefully I can get something sorted out, the constant guilt and worry is driving me crazy! Xx

@MintGreenLife I need to take this advice and stay away from Google! I fall into the same trap every time I have a worry and it makes everything so much worse. If I hadn't started Googling 'pink lamb' on Friday the thought of food poisoning/toxo would have never entered my mind and now I can't stop thinking about it! Xx

I was put on sertraline when my dc1 was born (pnd very clear from just a couple of weeks) and remained on them through my pg with dc2 & 3, and afterwards. All my do are grown up teenagers now and we're fine being in utero and breastfed while I took it. I was a much better mum for it!

@Northernsoul90 If it makes you feel any better I did the same Thursday evening - I had a few bites of a sausage that looked slightly pink inside, I stopped eating it and put the rest in the bin, but that didn't stop me googling the next day. I try to minimise how much I do this as can cause me to spend hours worrying. I managed to spend just 20 mins searching online and then put it to the back of my mind, but I'd be better off just not doing the googling at all! x

@MintGreenLife It does make me feel better to know I'm not the only one who panics! I'm telling myself no more google from now on!

I've spoken to the GP but it was totally useless to be honest, he said to stop worrying about the toxo as if was highly unlikely that I would have caught it from eating some meat which I thought was a bit pink (basically agreed with me that I was being irrational) and told me he would send me a link to mind matters. I asked about antenatal mental health services and he didn't seem to know what this was! He was also reluctant to change my sertraline dose and kept asking if I had seen a midwife yet which I told him I had as I'm almost 21 weeks. It wasn't my usual GP I spoke to, I think it was the junior doctor. I'm seeing the midwife next Tuesday so I'm going to speak to her about it and hopefully she can refer me, failing that I might contact the hospital as I am under a consultant there.

@Northernsoul90

Just to let you know I've sent you a PM sharing my similar experience and happy to chat if it helps!

@Northernsoul90 GPs are such a mixed bag, sounds like you got one of the useless ones who just hands you a leaflet and tries to push you off onto someone else. Hopefully you’ll have more luck with your midwife — don’t be afraid to make demands if it comes to that, you have to be a bit bolshy sometimes or you get swept up in the system sadly

Thank you for your replies! I got your message @Svensk10 have replied 😊.

@Tryingandhoping2020 I know it really is a mixed bag, I'm a bit disappointed really and feel like he just didn't understand what I was saying. I will see how it goes next week! Fingers crossed 🤞🏼