Pregnant and Panic Disorder

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

Anyone having panic attacks or came into the pregnancy with them? I had them for over a year, they stopped toward the end of my first trimester and now in my third trimester, they're creeping up on me suddenly. I was told in a previous post I wrote about my non stress test to try relaxation techniques. What have you tried and how has it helped if any? Thanks in advance.

kelley72 · October 2013

no, so sorry you are experiencing that. Does deep breathing, closing your eyes and visualization techniques help? I hope you have a smooth end to your pregnancy

mlamping · October 2013

I been having panic attacks my whole pregnancy! I am 24 weeks now and I am seeing a therapist for help. I do practice breathing techniques. It helps me. I hope you feel better soon and get some relive. I also found my triggers and most of the time know what will make me have an attack.

Good luck.

Guennie · October 2013

I see your time stamp was 2:30am...are they coming randomly throughout the day or are you waking up with them in the night?

I'm sorry you are dealing with this, I have struggled with depression and anxiety at times in my life and have had occasional panic attacks when my stress level got too high. I am lucky I don't get them on a regular basis but I have a friend who does.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to get some counseling as well as talk to your doctor. They can help you find the right answers and see what works for you. It is usually a combination of different therapies that works the best when dealing with severe panic disorders.

For myself, I find that when I feel my anxiety level getting higher there are things I can do to try to come back down so it doesn't continue to escalate. Breathing techniques can really help. I will call and talk to a close friend or family member to get my feelings out so they don't stay bottled up and continue to build. I will listen to some good music that calms me or makes me happy. If I find it's happening a lot at night I will take something to help me relax and sleep.

I think one of the most important things to remember is not to isolate yourself. That makes it so much worse. Reach out to people you are close to. Spend time with good friends. Having a good support system can help tremendously.

I hope this helps a little, I know it's hard! Hugs!!

DTNZ4Ever · October 2013

I have had them in the past. But luckily mine seem to go away when I am pregnant. They were really bad last year at this time and I ended up going to therapy. I use a journal it has a number of columns. The columns are situation (what was I doing when I felt panic or anxiety), feeling (what did my body feel like), thought (what were my thoughts in that moment), Intensity of the feeling (scale of 1-10), Evidence supporting thought (so what if any is their supporting my thoughts), Evidence contradicting thought (typically my thoughts are totally irrational so this helps me get fact based), Intensity of the feeling (scale of 1-10), and finally Alternative thought (so changing my thought from irrational to rational). It took a few weeks of doing this everytime I felt panic or anxiety and talking to my DH about my thoughts helped as well instead of just being in my head. Try this or go see someone. Panic attacks are easily treated through therapy.

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I do close my eyes and take deep breaths. Sometimes I think that I'm making them worse when I ball up into a fetal position.

kelley72 said:
no, so sorry you are experiencing that. Does deep breathing, closing your eyes and visualization techniques help? I hope you have a smooth end to your pregnancy

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I have yet to figure out my triggers. I can be just laying down and they just come. I wasn't able to drive for a long time but I can now. I need to go back to my therapist.

mlamping said:
I been having panic attacks my whole pregnancy! I am 24 weeks now and I am seeing a therapist for help. I do practice breathing techniques. It helps me. I hope you feel better soon and get some relive. I also found my triggers and most of the time know what will make me have an attack.

Good luck.

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I usually wake up about midnight or a little after and can't go back to sleep until about 4 AM. I haven't had any during that time frame. I do have them when I'm going to bed or of course going to my appointments. Or sometimes they just come out of the blue during the latter part of the day.

I thought I had beat this disorder when I stopped having attacks at the end of my first trimester. I was seeing a therapist, but I was so ill during my first trimester that I couldn't go anymore. Before I became pregnant, I had them everyday and it was the worst. I thought I was dying or having a heart attack. My whole left side would ache and go numb.

I do listen to music, and I pray myself to sleep if it's during bedtime. If it's during the day, I'll do the same thing or go sit on the porch or find something to do. I've also done breathing techniques but I have to do it just when it starts and I'm not already losing it. I do talk to my 87 year old grandma a lot. She seems to calm me down. I'm going to have to go back to counseling though. I was told that I also have PTSD.

Guennie said:
I see your time stamp was 2:30am...are they coming randomly throughout the day or are you waking up with them in the night?

I'm sorry you are dealing with this, I have struggled with depression and anxiety at times in my life and have had occasional panic attacks when my stress level got too high. I am lucky I don't get them on a regular basis but I have a friend who does.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to get some counseling as well as talk to your doctor. They can help you find the right answers and see what works for you. It is usually a combination of different therapies that works the best when dealing with severe panic disorders.

For myself, I find that when I feel my anxiety level getting higher there are things I can do to try to come back down so it doesn't continue to escalate. Breathing techniques can really help. I will call and talk to a close friend or family member to get my feelings out so they don't stay bottled up and continue to build. I will listen to some good music that calms me or makes me happy. If I find it's happening a lot at night I will take something to help me relax and sleep.

I think one of the most important things to remember is not to isolate yourself. That makes it so much worse. Reach out to people you are close to. Spend time with good friends. Having a good support system can help tremendously.

I hope this helps a little, I know it's hard! Hugs!!

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I'm going to have to try out that journal again. I just wrote down how I was feeling. It wasn't broken done like yours. Perhaps this would truly help me some.

DTNZ4Ever said:
I have had them in the past. But luckily mine seem to go away when I am pregnant. They were really bad last year at this time and I ended up going to therapy. I use a journal it has a number of columns. The columns are situation (what was I doing when I felt panic or anxiety), feeling (what did my body feel like), thought (what were my thoughts in that moment), Intensity of the feeling (scale of 1-10), Evidence supporting thought (so what if any is their supporting my thoughts), Evidence contradicting thought (typically my thoughts are totally irrational so this helps me get fact based), Intensity of the feeling (scale of 1-10), and finally Alternative thought (so changing my thought from irrational to rational). It took a few weeks of doing this everytime I felt panic or anxiety and talking to my DH about my thoughts helped as well instead of just being in my head. Try this or go see someone. Panic attacks are easily treated through therapy.

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

By the way, thanks ladies for your input.

ELF4321 · October 2013

I had them occasionally for years, and then developed severe panic attacks post-partum. One thing that helped for me was to cool myself off physically. It was summer, so I could stand in front of the a/c, but you might also try an ice pack or cold washcloth on your forehead or the back of your neck.

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I've actually tried this a couple of times. I guess that coldness was getting to me. I will try again.
Panic attacks are the worse.

ELF4321 said:
I had them occasionally for years, and then developed severe panic attacks post-partum. One thing that helped for me was to cool myself off physically. It was summer, so I could stand in front of the a/c, but you might also try an ice pack or cold washcloth on your forehead or the back of your neck.

MarylandWed · October 2013

Before pregnancy yes, but not with pregnancy for some reason. I'm on a very low dose of Zoloft. Doctor says if you need it, take it.

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I was on celexa before I got pregnant. I took it one time and it gave me the worse side effects so I never took it again. Then I took Ativan as needed, which seemed to help more. It was milder for me. Well I stopped taking it in hopes I would be able to do without.

MarylandWed said:
Before pregnancy yes, but not with pregnancy for some reason. I'm on a very low dose of Zoloft. Doctor says if you need it, take it.

DezignedByFaith · October 2013

I'm going to check into that. How does the needle pricks feel?

MaiTaiBeth said:
I've been pretty anxious since I found out I am having twins. It's a lot more high risk. I actually had my first panic attack soon after I found out. I had my first acupuncture today and I feel amazing. I actually feel calm and ok. I have had acupuncture before and this time was the best. Try it out, but see if you can get a reference or one that specializes in pregnancy.

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