Anyone else have Anxiety/panic during their pregnancy

[mamaof6]

I have been diagnosed with GAD and panic disorder. Ive had it for about 15-16 years now. It tends to rear its ugly head alot more during my pregnancies. Im guessing due to hormones. For the last couple days I have had heart palps (nothing new) and a little shortness of breath. Nothing extremem, and from all Ive read, its normal during pregnancy. WHICH I KNOW but still let it get me all worked up and into a horrible anxiety attack. This morning was hte worst Ive had in a LONG time! I thought I was going to die, got lightheaded and freaking out. ya know, after alll these years of going through this sh*t and still here alive you'd think I could deal with them better instead of letting it go as far as it does. I ended up (God forgive me) having to take 1/2 of a .25 (lowest dose) of xanax before i totally lost it. It was out of date but I really felt like i was losing my mind. I have calmed down alot but Im now scared to go out to the store for fear of freakin out again. BTW that is the dose I would take before pregnancy if I got really bad. I HATE taking pills and it is a last resort (hence being out of date) but i was ready to call 911. Ive lost count over hte yrs how many times ive been to the ER with this **** adn been hooked up to heart monitors for hours, EKG's, etc. I do have appropriate sinus tachy, which they said would never hurt me. To just cut back on smoking and caffeine, which I did at the time and WALAH! it went away (heart palps). I guess Im just venting and Im curious if anyone else has went through this. Im going to ask my doc for some meds to take as I want to enjoy this last pregnancy. Thanks girls!

[bluegenie2003]

For inappropriate Sinus Tachy (IST), they can put you on beta or calcium blockers, but I didnt' tolerate them well as they lower your blood pressure as well, and a symptom of IST is low BP (mine rarely goes over 100/65).  I've had two catheter ablations, and and pacemaker put in as a result of the first ablation.  Don't worry though, IST is very different from Appropriate Sinus Tachy....with IST my heart rate can shoot up to about 180-200 just because I sat up, or walked across the room.  It responds "inappropriately" to stimulus.   I had a nuclear stress test last week, and the x-ray machine "rejected" my heart rate cause it was skipping so many beats and was in such an arrhythmia.

[gma718]

I suffered from severe anxiety and panic during and after my pregnancys..I feel for you as they are actually so debilitating....I am currently on celexa 20 mg a day...I didnt take anything during pregnancy because I didnt know what I was dealing with...talk to your doctor..dont suffer....I am sure there is something you can take and will feel better soon..Good Luck...Gia

[spade22]

I have agoraphobia w/ panic attacks (which can be severe at times and can occur MULTIPLE times in a short period of time) and recently gave birth to my daughter who is now 5.5 months old.  Visterol can be taken for panic attacks during pregnancy and is relatively safe.  PM me if you would like to talk more about this topic.

[mamaof6]

Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement. I feel beter now, really tired, but better. Usually after I have a horrible attack, I feel exhausted, wiped out. I dont want to take neds, really, but if this is how my whole pregnancy is going to go, Ill take'em! Jame0223, which med made you feel better, like you were expecting the attacks, buthtey didnt come on? Was that the Lexapro? If thats the one which makes you feel much better, I will call my doc and ask about it. Like I said, I do feel better, but I was supposed to go to the store, but now a little scared that I may get "short of breath" or palps again. As for now, they are gone :)  But the sad thing with this disorder, is you wait for the "next" time! Ughh! So I gave my b/f the grocery list adn he is going to go for me :) He is so supportive and helpful when I go through this cr*p. Well thanks again ladies for the help! I truly appreciate it!

[Jame0223]

I also have GAD and panic attacks. Have for all my life but didn't get diagnosed until about 2004. I hate it so much. I have been on Zoloft and Lexapro...I know that Lexapro is okay to take during pregnancy. When I was pregnant I wasn't on any meds at all and I actually experienced less anxiety because I felt like I had a baby to worry about. I hate how you know you're fine, but your body is telling you otherwise..and it just gets worse. I don't know how many people have told me "just think of something else" well DOY! If I could do that I would! Even if you start thinking about something else its always in your mind! If you are wondering about meds I would look into Lexapro before Zoloft...I had a hard time with Zoloft..its strong and the side effects made me afraid to take them! Its one of those things that make it worse before it makes you better...but I would say about a week and a half into taking it the side effects go away and you just...don't get anxious! Its weird...you expect yourself to get scared...but you just don't...Its truly a life saver! Your quality of life raises dramatically...and even though you will eventually give birth, think about staying on the meds afterwards too...because just like everything else when you stop taking the meds the anxiety will come back...I haven't taken anything in over 6 months but am thinking about it because I am sick of hating myself over this problem again! Its depressing and I am sick of not doing anything because of my fear. I am generally a very scared person lol. Everything has the possibility of starting an attack for me. Used to be that someone would say the word death around me and I would have one. Its tough to deal with...and I only got to 8weeks with my pregnancy before I miscarried so I will bet that if I get preggo anytime soon I will have attack after attack...I suggest looking into meds. You'll enjoy life more!

[LittleMissBeatz]

I thought I was having panic/anxiety attacks but it turns out that my SVT has resurfaced UGH yuck I know how you feel and I wish that my doc would put me on meds instead of making me wait to see if I have another episode..

[Kels123]

I was diagnosed with anxiety/panic attacks in 2003. I was on a heavy dosage of xanax and klonopin plus lexapro. I have been trying to wean off of all the pills for when I do become pregnant...however, God works in mysterious ways because low and behold I'm pregnant now. I am down to .5mg tab of Klonopin once a week or longer if I can handle it. The doctors said that if it out weighs the benefit of the child than taking a pill once a week is okay. It ***** because i feel soooo bad for the baby. I don't want to hurt it at all, but they said my last pregnancy ended in miscarriage because I had such bad withdrawls when I tried to get off all the meds. So my doctor now said its okay that I take one pill a week. I know how yucky panic attacks are, and luckily mine have gone down in the last 5 years. Good luck and take care!

[hmaine]

I've known several women who have decided to go on anxiety meds (not xanax but something like lexapro- I can't remember right now which are deemed less worrisome for pregnancy but you can look it up) while pregnant and some doctors really believe that the risk of being on a anti-anxiety med is really minimal compared with what the Mom might have to go through without it. It really helped them!

Have you tried relaxation exercises ? Progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, meditation, etc. Really helpful if you do them regularly.

Hope your day gets better. :)

[mamaof6]

They told me I had Appropriate. They assured me it would not harm me or kill me. Thats the last thing I asked before I left, Will it kill me? They said absolutley not. But its still scary :/  What do they do for Inappr. sinus tachy?

[bluegenie2003]

Just a quick question...do you have appropriate sinus tachycardia, or INappropriate sinus tachycardia?  Just wondering, because I've had inappropriate sinus tachycardia for several years.  A lot of what you just described sounds like my symptoms, although I don't get the anxiety as much with it...