Panic Disorder...

ashley_515c

I have a question for all the women out there that have dealt with panic disorder. 1 month after the birth of my daughter (who is 4 now) I began to have sever panic attacks. Couldn't leave my house or drive. Everything made me have a panic attack. It was the worse feeling in the world. 3 years after it all began I finally got it under control through medication, therapy, and family. I finally feel like I have my life in control. Well, me and the husband are talking about possibly having another baby...and the only thing that is holding me back is the fear of having panic attacks again. I don't want to put my baby in danger. I honestly believe a lot of my panic attack were caused by hormonal changes and also a lot of it was built up in my head. Has anyone else had this issue? If so, did the panic attacks come back while pregnant? I don't know what to do...

febmom4

Hello I can sympathize with you because I have an anxiety disorder and as a result some depression as well. My question would be what kind of thoughts were you having that time after you have birth? If you can remember I would suggest writing them down and talking to a therapist on how to combat those thoughts by changing the negative thoughts to more neutral thoughts. Example: I am not going to wake up when I need to for the baby to eat and then she will be in danger. A thought to combat would be : my husband is going to wake me up and I have an alarm set and i will wake up. I hope this helps. I'm trying to go the same- went off meds once I became pregnant and really trying to get things under control...

urbancountrymommy

Have you gone to a naturopathic doctor before? I have dealt with anxiety and severe panic attacks before, and it can usually be traced back to extreme stress, diet and exercise. Diet can put chemicals into your body that throw hormones out of wack, and exercise can have huge affects on hormones like dopamine, seratonin and cortisol which affect your mood and ability to process stress chemically within your body. There are many essential oils that can help with this too! I personally use Young Living essential oils and have found that Progessence Plus has been helping me with overall mood, energy, etc. Chamomile tea used to help me de-stress when the panic attacks were the worst, as well as having someone to talk to when it did strike. Hopefully those are some new resources for you! They've helped me tremendously. 

MoseyAnkles

This may sound a bit unusual, but I would check out I Ching Systems and you can talk to my friend Mary Miller about it. She and the rest of the founders of that company have over 34 years of research so she is quite knowledgeable and you can find out if it is for you. Just mention that Mo and Jeannie sent you. Also, have you heard about Thought Field Therapy (TFT)? The late Roger Callahan (a psychiatrist) developed it when he was treating a patient who got a panic attack whenever she saw a pool of water, even if it was just a sink full. Now the technique is known as "tapping", although the term usually refers to its simpler cousin Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).  TFT is way better than EFT, but it is a bit more to learn properly. This is free, whereas I Ching Systems can get a tad pricey (but Mary will help someone who legitimately cannot pay, so mention this if it describes you). 

kayteebayb

You are definitely not alone. I suffered from a panic disorder for years. When it got really bad, I ended up missing work for a week, because I couldn't come down from a severely heightened attack. I went on meds for a while to remind me what it felt like to not be in a constant state of panic, and slowly weaned myself off of it. It got better for a while, but surprisingly, pregnancy and birth made it go away. I only had two attacks when I was pregnant, and then giving birth was so empowering for me, that my will felt stronger than my urge to panic. It was kind of amazing. I haven't had many since. My point is, you won't know until you know. So, do what you can to get it under control, (there were a lot of great suggestions), but remember that sometimes it can go away as quickly as it seems to have started. 

ashley_515c

Thanks so much ladies! You have no idea how much you helped! And kaytee thanks so much too... Nice to know I'm not alone in this.