Can anxiety worsen when pregnant?

[Marevalo13]

I have dealt with anxiety and panic attacks since I was 13, I am now 21, but I recently went through an extremely stressful time in my life which led to me having anxiety and panic attacks 24/7 for about 2 months. Eventually I began to suffer from depersonalization which if you have experienced it you know it will make you even more anxious. At first I was terrified and thought my life was over and I was crazy but then I read so many recovery stories and decided to fight to get better. I started doing a lot better just within weeks and I thought I was back to normal but about 2 weeks ago it my depersonalization "came back" and I am super anxious again. I am pregnant so I am wondering if maybe that could make it worse. It might be a stupid question but I just wanna figure out what is triggering it. Please help, I am very scared.

[specialmom]

Yes, yes, yes and YES.  Oh my gosh.  Hormones are such a trigger for anxiety.  And pregnancy is one humongous hormonal ride.  You also have to be very watchful and your ob will work with you on this for after you deliver.  That's a triggering point in which anxiety can actually worsen for a time.  Doctors will watch out for this and you will be asked questions at your post partum appointment to discern whether or not you are suffering post partum.  It's not just depression that women get post partum but anxiety as well. And it can really hamper this exciting time in your life.  Paxiled gave you some info about this.  

I've had many friends who have suffered anxiety, depression or both.  I had anxiety here and there.  I still have anxiety that is cyclic and hormonally based.  (pain to be a woman sometimes, right?).  Non medication ways to help yourself are to exercise.  Walking, swimming, etc. are really good for just making you feel calmer.  I journal which helps me see if I have a real reason to be anxious of it is just the hormones talking.  I do my best to NOT take my hormones out on anyone that I care about.  So, I do my best to control it.  But I also apologize when they get the better of me and I've . . .you know . . .yelled at my husband or something.  LOL  

If you are having issues during pregnancy with anxiety, truly, the best thing to do is talk to your OB about it sweetie.  Here to help if I can.  

[Paxiled]

Yes, it can.  Pregnancy causes a lot of strong hormonal fluctuations and these can cause depression and anxiety even in someone who never had it before.  After delivery, I'm sure you've heard of post-partum depression, which is another hormonally caused source.  I'm sure you've had periods that threw you for a loop, another source of this.  Men can have problems with spikes or drops in testosterone.  Sexual hormone imbalances are one of the major causes of both anxiety and depression.  That doesn't mean, however, that this is what's causing your particular problems.  This is especially true given you've said you were already spiking before this happened.  You blamed it on stress, which can be a trigger, but stress doesn't affect most people this way.  You're in the age range when adult anxiety and depression most often shows up.  The mere fact of being pregnant can also be affecting you without any hormonal factor involved -- it's a pretty big thing in life.  So unfortunately, in your case, because you have a very recent history of reacting to stress in a way that shows a predilection for chronic anxiety, you'll never be able to tell if it's the hormonal fluctuations -- it's easier with people who never had the problem before becoming pregnant.  I think you're best bet, if you're not already doing so, is to see a psychologist who specializes in anxiety treatment and see if you can make some progress.  Good luck.

[Paxiled]

And listen, be easy on yourself -- you're pregnant, you're about to perform a miracle, learn something that helps you relax -- yoga, other exercise, eating better than you ever have, doing everything you love doing the most, meditate -- milk it, in other words.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Anxiety is unpredictable and can worsen when your life has never been better, so all a person can do is try to cut out anything that they think makes it occur. Sometimes you can identify what makes you anxious but sometimes you can't. Have you tried therapy?