Anxiety in early pregnancy

[littlefox90]

Hi I'm 5w 3 days. I've previously had servere anxiety but have been on citaplopram 20mg for about 6 months. The last few mornings I have woken up with anxiety. I'm just looking for reassurance that it's the hormones, and suprise of a sudden life change. I probably make my anxiety a bit worse as I then feel anxious about being anxious as I'm scared it will get as bad as before. I'm normally feeling better by the afternoon. Anyone else been in this boat?

@littlefox90 just giving this a bump for you! Sorry you're struggling. I don't personally have experience of this however, just wanted to say that pregnancy and anticipating being a Mum is a massive life change and tends to make lots of women a bit anxious/uncertain etc even when they don't have a clinical history of anxiety! I know it certainly did me. I'm sure it probably is your hormones etc as you adjust to your news! Definitely mention it at your booking appointment though. If you are struggling they can link you up with perinatal MH support services and they tend to be really good (I had some support after recurring losses last year). Wishing you all the best 😊💕

I suffer and still
Do with chronic anxiety and I'm 19 weeks now since I was 4
Weeks it's been bad When you have your booking appointment with your midwife advise them of this and if you think it's affecting your daily life and your pregnancy ask to be referred to perinatal mental health team. I've only just been referred to them now but wish I had asked sooner they are good at what they do and can help with anxiety In pregnancy.
Your not alone💞

Thank you. I'll asked when I see them 🙂 I hope they are helping for you and that you feel better soon

Thank you that's very reassuring ❤️

I don't usually struggle with anxiety but felt it a lot between 6-10 weeks especially. It's a really emotional time as you adjust to a big life change coming up, plus as you said hormones are all over the place. I imagine this is even more so the case if you have had anxiety before becoming pregnant. So I think it's pretty normal but definitely echo other's advice to discuss with your midwife and seek some support. Hope your anxiety settles down as your pregnancy progresses.

Thank you, I'm really unhappy at the moment. Feel constantly agitated and nervous, can't sleep properly and feel very alone. It makes me wonder if I can even do this 😢

Sorry to hear you're feeling like this. I struggled with sleep a lot too which doesn't help. You can absolutely do this, these feelings won't last although I know it's hard to believe that in the moment. What I found helpful was to make a list of soothing things/activities when I was feeling calmer, to refer back to. Do you have a partner who you can talk to about how you are feeling? Or friends? I told a close friend early on about my pregnancy because of the anxiety I was feeling and she was also pregnant but further along so this really helped me feel like, this is normal and it's not just me!

Also depending when you are due to see midwife maybe worth trying to see your GP if they are the one currently prescribing your citalopram?

Thank you. I'm going to call my GP tomorrow and I'm lucky to have good people around me but I can't shift this feeling of impending doom. I just don't feel like I am mentally strong enough to do this 😕

Definitely call your GP - but just to add. When I got pregnant my resting heart rate jumped about 15 beats per minute around week 5, it stayed high for a couple of weeks I guess due to hormones and extra blood circulation. This really made me feel on edge and anxious just because when an increase in my heart rate makes me feel that way! So it's possible there are physical reasons you can feel this, alongside any pregnancy nerves/anxiety.

I didn't think of that. I think because of the shock of it all plus the previous anxiety my brain just skips straight to trying to find the cause with thoughts ect. It's a really difficult cycle to break. I'm contacting my GP tomorrow as I can't fill out an e consult today with it being bank holiday

I’ve struggled with anxiety in the past and it’s definitely come back a bit in early pregnancy (currently 9 weeks). For me I suspect there are a lot of factors that have contributed towards it… anxiety from past losses, pregnancy insomnia, exhaustion, combo of low blood pressure and heart rate increase causing palpitations, hormones all over the place, and on top of all that knowing that life is about to change massively!

Pregnancy can be A LOT and I think anxiety in pregnancy is something that can surprise people, because it can feel like it’s meant to just be a happy time. Be kind to yourself. I hope you get good support from your GP and agree with other posters to speak to your midwife about it at your booking appointment.

Just a little update. I've spoken to my GP who reffered me to perinatal mental health and they rang me today and said I can have a face to face appointment within 3 weeks. I have my partner here and older daughter but my main support is my mum who has to go abroad for 2 weeks on Saturday. That's freaking me out a lot as I keep thinking it's going to be worse without her. We all live together so she's a huge part of my life and I hate being on my own at the moment.

I'm also feeling conscious that I might start getting on peoples nerves. I'm worried that without my mum here my mood will be consentrated onto my partner and he'll get fed up with me.

Also my biggest fear at the moment is loosing people, I can help the thoughts of what if something happens to my mum? how would I cope in the future without her? Why do I have to live with this life long condition of generalised anxiety disorder? Will it get better so it never comes back? Will I feel like this forever or the next 8 months of pregnancy? Is it going to get worse after the baby is born? Will I cope?

Sorry for the long reply everyone.