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Anxiety and Pregnancy

I have anxiety. Not "bills are due, work is stressful, husband works too much" anxiety.... But the anxiety where I used to wake up screaming every night because of night terrors anxiety. I have had anxiety since I was little and my mom would jokingly tell the stories of all of the public bathrooms I refused to go in when I was as young as 2 years old and the many times I had to pee in the woods because the bathroom at the mall was "too dark". Through junior high where I cried about everything and everyone thought it was just puberty. To high school where my friends teased me because I had to stop so they could drive over the bridge because I could drive over the bridge AND have my eyes closed. My terrors didn't start til college. I got naked once (luckily while home one weekend), sprained my ankle once, and even screamed while babysitting my niece over night. My parents had to find someone to stay with me when they went away and I was a junior in college. My roommate in college was a god send luckily and would gladly check my bed for bugs or assure me that her pillow was in fact not a cannon. We tried sleep studies, guided meditation, diet changes, exercise changes, vitamins and steady schedules... Nothing helped. My PCP on a yearly checkup said "let's try meds" and I decided it was time to get a good night sleep. Starting me immediately on Ativan and Celexa and weening me off of the Ativan in the first month stopped my night terrors in there place. And for the first time, my family and I noticed those little oddities of mine were gone! I was happy, carefree, and NOT TIRED! This was 5 years ago. Ive been at the same dose of Celexa for 4 years. If I forget to take it for a few days I am angry, aggitated, and yes... Have night terrors again.


I'm getting married in June and we are trying to conceive soon after. I will not be medicated throughout my pregnancy. But I also do not want to be miserable. I'm absolutely terrified. In the next year I am sitting for my boards, getting married, selling my house l, buying a new house, and trying to get pregnant. How am I supposed to come off of my Celexa? What can I do to make these effects lessen? Bikram yoga helps but I do not believe it will be the entire solution! Please help me!
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Avatar universal
Part of your problem with missing a dose of the Celexa is that it throws you into withdrawal -- these meds need to be stopped slowly and carefully, tapering off.  So before you get pregnant, stop the Celexa slowly so you don't have to rush.  So that's first.  In your descriptions of what you tried you never mention therapy -- particularly something like CBT that is done by therapists who specialize in anxiety treatment (most therapists don't actually specialize in anxiety and aren't very well informed of techniques to help).  That should have been your first stop way back when.  Nobody can guarantee you anything will work, only things to try.  There is also natural medicine, though some of that will also be out if you're trying to get pregnant.  It's a more holistic approach that combines methods and targets different body systems rather than just one, but it can also be a slower approach.  A book called Natural Highs by Hyla Cass, a psychiatrist at UCLA, can give you an idea of how it's done.  The real issue is, can you relax enough to last just 3/4 of one year?  I think you probably can, but I would just repeat, don't work on getting pregnant until you decide on your course of action and successfully quit the Celexa.  
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Avatar universal
And I REALLY apologize for the wrong use of "there" it is very late!!
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