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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Please read my anxiety is peaking

4 replies

anxietytakingover · 14/09/2022 10:08

I'm 36+2 and am struggling with my anxiety.
I have done throughout this pregnancy and at 24 weeks I was put on 50mg sertraline, for ages I felt so much better and because of this felt I didn't need any help from the perinatal mental health team.
About 30 weeks I felt the intrusive thoughts creeping back in, I told my gp who refused to up my dose until I'd had the baby. He said it's normal to feel anxious in pregnancy and basically told me to meditate.
Fast forward to now and I'm convinced something is going to happen to the baby. These thoughts are starting to consume me and are really upsetting me. I feel like I'm going to jinx things... it sounds so so stupid but little things like I got myself a new coat and the thought actually went through my head that if I wore it I was going to jinx something. I mean wtf!

I'm starting to get paranoid and it's all to do with the baby and worrying something is going to happen like she will be poorly or worse.

I've requested a different gp call me today and hopefully he will up my dose. But now I'm worrying about taking a higher dose... please can anyone reassure me a higher dose is okay and won't have an affect on the baby? I'm also thinking because I'm close to term it's not wise highering the dose.

I have made the hospital aware of what's going on and I should get contact of a mental health midwife by the end of the week. Thanks for reading

OP posts:
Skippy90 · 14/09/2022 13:09

I don't have any advice but I do have anxiety so know how debilitating it can be. I really hope the other GP listens to you properly and helps you find a solution. If upping the dose isn't an option, then hopefully they will advise on what other options there might be - a mental health midwife sounds like a great start. Could some talking therapy help? It's worked wonders for me and if going private isn't an option maybe the GP can fast-track a referral. I really hope you find something that works for you so you can enjoy the remainder of your pregnancy. All the best!

Yesthatismychildsigh · 14/09/2022 13:30

anxietytakingover · 14/09/2022 10:08

I'm 36+2 and am struggling with my anxiety.
I have done throughout this pregnancy and at 24 weeks I was put on 50mg sertraline, for ages I felt so much better and because of this felt I didn't need any help from the perinatal mental health team.
About 30 weeks I felt the intrusive thoughts creeping back in, I told my gp who refused to up my dose until I'd had the baby. He said it's normal to feel anxious in pregnancy and basically told me to meditate.
Fast forward to now and I'm convinced something is going to happen to the baby. These thoughts are starting to consume me and are really upsetting me. I feel like I'm going to jinx things... it sounds so so stupid but little things like I got myself a new coat and the thought actually went through my head that if I wore it I was going to jinx something. I mean wtf!

I'm starting to get paranoid and it's all to do with the baby and worrying something is going to happen like she will be poorly or worse.

I've requested a different gp call me today and hopefully he will up my dose. But now I'm worrying about taking a higher dose... please can anyone reassure me a higher dose is okay and won't have an affect on the baby? I'm also thinking because I'm close to term it's not wise highering the dose.

I have made the hospital aware of what's going on and I should get contact of a mental health midwife by the end of the week. Thanks for reading

I had that. He’s now a six foot rugby playing police sergeant, so please try not to believe your thoughts. I will say keep an eye on your mood after the baby is born, too, and TALK. Don’t be keeping everything in. Your lovely baby will be here soon, I’m sending you a hug.

Skylark1990 · 14/09/2022 14:10

Hey op, sorry you are going through this. I sometimes suffer from anxiety and intrusive thoughts so can empathize. Intrusive thoughts can actually be a form of OCD, and it's important to get the right soet of therapy. Sitting with the thought rather than trying to reason against it is often better in the case of pcs intrusive thoughts as otherwise it can become a loop. When you speak to the mental health midwife just make sure she's aware of everything going on for you.

The overwhelming probability is that everything is going to be absolutely fine with you and baby ❤️ having a baby is a huge leap of faith and I think one of life's most clear examples of the fact we can't control everything. This can be really hard to deal with, especially for anxious types. Just do what you can eg. Ensure you know what kind of birth you want and why, that you have good support for breastfeeding if you want to do that and know as much as you can, that you have a good support network around you for when you have a newborn and as others have said make sure you talk talk talk, don't bottle stuff in, anxiety and blues are common after birth but just be conscious of whether it becomes anything worse.

I can't help on the medication front but I'm sure the GP will be able to advise whether a higher dose is safe in pregnancy. I have friends who have taken it all through pregnancy x

Original poster
anxietytakingover · 14/09/2022 16:03

Thank you for replying to me ladies.

I have spoken to a different gp and they have agreed to up my dose to 100mg. But I'm scared to do it Blush can't win. I did contact the hospital this morning so I'm going to wait until the mental health midwife has given me the go ahead.

I do have ocd and up until about 20 weeks I was terrible, kept checking my boobs to check they were still hurting etc but they did calm down but instead it's now about movements. I've lost count of the amount of times I've been in. I have GD which also set my anxiety off again.
It's these intrusive thoughts though they're really horrible and I wish they would just go away.

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