Pregnant having panic attacks :-(

Hi Elen,

I am sorry that you are having trouble with the panic at the moment...pregnancy does have both its share of joys...and issues that we could live without!

I have heard that it can go either way during pregnancy...some women have more anxiety, and some have a repreive from symptoms.

I didn't have and anxiety issue until after my kids were born(not an effect of having kids, Lol!), so while I had my fair share of worry during pregnanct...I did not have panic at least.

What does your OB say? I hope that you have told him/her about it, and that they are being helpful in finding a way for you to cope.

If not, I would look into talking with a midwife or possibly someone who is trained in holistic medicine to get some natural and safe for pregnancy treatments.

Finally, are you able to go to therapy? It would be great if you could get back into it for some extra help during this time!

I hope that you are feeling well otherwise, and that everything is healthy with you and the baby! Do you know if you are having boy or a girl? Do you have names picked out yet?

Let us know how you are doing soon!

Talk to you soon,

S.C.

Elen,

It's so interesting how having a baby can be wonderful and terrifying at the same time. I went through the same thing when I was pregnant with my daughter. One of the things that I was told by my doctor to do was first not listen to other people about parenting advice. I didn't realize how much anxiety I was causing myself by worrying what kind of mom I would be based on what other people were telling me. I understand what you mean about taking medication. I did self hypnosis. I actually went to a hypnotherapist for my birthing classes and she worked with me one-on-one to find ways of lowering my anxieties. Maybe you could look into something like that.
It's going to be ok. If you are taking care of yourself and doing what your doctor tells you you should be just fine :)
I hope that you feel better soon. It's a really wonderful feeling holding your beautiful little angel for the first time.
Congratulations!!

-Razzbeary

Thanks for replies.
To answer a question I'm having a boy The first child, and excited and anxious about!

My work is not stressful (graphic design), and my husband is very calm. There is no stress anywhere, so I have no idea why I'm so anxious sometime. I guess that's my hormones.
My doctor told me to find therapist, that what I'm looking for (called a few already, either they are booked for a month ahead or on vacation, or can't take new patients...). I will look for more. But I wish to find something to read to calm my self down. There is a lot info on internet, but there is a lot of wrong stuff too (specially places where they want to sell you some books or audio tapes, they will scare you to BUY right away, otherwise you will get "millions of problems, heart attack and etc"...) I have books, but honestly, I want to hear from somebody that I'm ok and that's normal part of life. Somehow I need to hear it. I don't have panic and anxiety on daily basis, most of the time I'm happy and funny person, but these "bad" days I feel like it is not me. Also, somehow I feel guilty that I'm this way, I have to be in control, I have to be stronger and I can't control my own brain! I'm scared to go to subway because of fear of panic there. I can't avoid the subway, in NYC it is silly! But my fear wrapped me around that today at 5am I woke up and the first thought came to my mind that I had to go to subway. It is silly, but how can I throw this away from my mind? The harder I try to talk to my self that "everything is OK" - the more I'm getting anxious, and the next thing I know that my hand is on my neck checking my pulse, and the faster pulse goes the more I'm scared. I afraid to pass out, I afraid to die, horrible thoughts coming to my mind. On top of that I'm worried about my baby, and I know that anxiety is part of pregnancy, I'm still worried "what if , what if". And up to now I have no idea if panic attack will harm my baby (somebody says yes, some website says "no" because episodes of panic are usually short). I'm so confused what to believe and what to listen.
I'm tried antidepressants twice in my life (Effexor for a month only and Zoloft for 3 weeks) - I couldn't tolerate either of them, so I'm definitely not trying any daily basis medication while I'm pregnant. I wish to find magic pill... Probably I want too much..