Anxiety disorder that developed during pregnancy

[Adrough]

Hi, im new here. I just want to begin to tell my story. My anxiety started when I was pregnant with my second child. I really think it had a lot to do with hormonal changes, although I know thats not all that contributed. Anyway, I was on my way to pick up my son from my parents house when out of the blue, I felt extremely weird, feeling of doom, heart beating EXTREMELY fast, arms tingling, hot flash, and feeling like I might pass out. It scared me so bad. I pulled over as soon as I felt weird and after it happened, I just cried. I had to have my dad and sister come pick me up and though I still didnt feel right, I had calmed down while at their house and my mind was off of it. I thought it might be a panic attack but just couldn't assure myself because of the way it happened out of the blue. So I took my son and tried to drive home but the minute I pulled out on the highway, I began to feel it again, just not as intense. I had to pull over again and ride home with my dad. I was scared to stay by myself so my sister stayed with me that night. It took me a week or two before driving again. I didnt have an attack for a few months and then bam, one day walkin out to my car after work, it happened again and I was so sure something was wrong. I went to ER. They did ekg, blood tests, everything and came back normal. I was so convinced that something was wrong with me. I ended up in ER several times after that. I got referred to a cardiologist and wore a holter monitor twice and everything was great and had an ultrasound done of my heart, which was normal but even though I tried to convince myself it was probably panic attacks, in the back of my mind I was scared it was something else. I'm sorry, it's really hard to type all of this on a phone haha. I will tell the rest later.

[Jme]

Can high levels of hormones effect or cause anxiety?

[Jme]

"Adrough"
Sounds like uve been through a lot specially being prego. Did u use to get panic attacks before u had a baby. I ask cuz a lot of ppl when they first have a panic attack don't know its a panic attack. That's the last thing that they can think of. They first think of dieying or somethings wrong. And it sounds like u only get it every now and then can it be ur just under stress or over looking stuff? Did the doc tell u if panic attacks harm the baby or stuff like that? I think I might be prego too. And I get panic attacks too. But mine are mostly at night and I don't get sleep and I'm scared cuz I feel like this harms or does something to the baby. But I hope things get better for u.

[Adrough]

Well, I had had quite a few wrecks so I guess I was always kind of tense when driving, I just didn't realize it. And I think I had had panic attacks while driving before, just not as intense. Like one time when it was dark and raining, I thought I was driving into oncoming traffic and completely just stopped in the middle of the highway. I finally got up the nerve to go and made it to walgreens and had my dad come get me. This was all before the anxiety disorder started. I always had trouble in the rain, especially if it was dark. That was because I had wrecked so many times. Ones like these were only when driving and I was completely fine afterward. What happened during my pregnancy was different. It began to interfere with work and everything in my life really. It was even a struggle to go to the bathroom by myself or shower because of the fear of passing out or something awful happening. My husband worked nights and I became very afraid to be by myself so I started staying at my parents. I couldn't sleep either. I would almost be asleep or just get to sleep and then bam, I would wake up scared and with unexplainable feeling. I started being afraid to go to sleep. I ended up taking early maternity leave and felt like a bad parent because I wasnt giving my son the attention he needed. I worried about going crazy. I was scared I was gonna end up in a psychiatric ward or something. I couldnt even watch tv because if I saw something like about suicide or something, I would be afraid that I was going to do it, which was crazy because I never ever would but I would be AFRAID I would. After I had Abby, I was just hoping that it would all end. But it didnt. The night I came home from the hospital, my chest was so tight and my husband called his aunt, who was a nurse and she said to take me to the hospital because it could be a blood clot or something so I went and they did an x-ray and cat scan and all was good. I was so shocked because I really thought they would find something. The nurse said it was probably due to anxiety. I was so frustrated. I almost wanted them to find something so I would atleast know what it was and work on getting it fixed. It finally seemed to get a little better after that, through prayer and actually starting to believe it might really be anxiety. I was even driving a little. I was still staying at my parents though and not sleeping as good as I should be. One day, I decided to drive home and it happened again and I guess my confidence just went down after that. I got very depressed. I didnt do much during the day because, not only was I afraid to, but I was so worried about catching up my sleep, which I couldn't anyway. I had another really bad attack one night and a couple days afterward had back pain and chest soreness which I thought was something else. I started googling and came across anxiety zone and was reading some threads about this and was like "wow, other people are going through the exact same thing. It really is just anxiety". I was always afraid to go on meds but I finally hit rock bottom and just wanted my life back so my parents finally convinced me to go on them. I was put on generic for zoloft. I was also prescribed clonazepam to take before I go to bed. This helped so much. I was finally able to sleep. Sorry, im gonna have to take another break here. We only have internet on our phones so its very difficult to do this on a phone. I will be sure to finish later tonight or tomorrow. :)

[Adrough]

Nevermind, it is. Haha, I just wrote a really long reply and it didn't post :( Darnet.

[Adrough]

I will write it again later, sorry :(

[Adrough]

Alright, trying this again. I was always pretty anxious driving because of all the wrecks I had had, especially at night or if it was raining. I just didn't realize it. I did have a minor panic attack here and there but only when driving. What happened during my pregnancy was different. It began to interfere with my work and really everything in my life. I ended up going on an early maternity leave. It became a challenge to just go to the bathroom alone or take a shower because I was afraid I would pass out or something bad would happen. My husband worked nights so I began to stay with my parents because I was scared of being alone. I was barely sleeping because every time I got to sleep or was almost asleep, I would wake with this unexplainable feeling. I couldn't even watch tv because if I saw something like about suicide or something like that, I would become afraid I would do it, which is ridiculous because I never ever would but I would be AFRAID I would. I was scared I was gonna end up in a psychiatric ward. I felt like an awful parent because my days consisted of sitting around trying to catch my sleep up, which never happened. I also sat around because I was afraid to do anything else. After having Abby, I hoped it would all go away but it didn't. The night I came home from the hospital, I ended up in the ER. They did an x-ray and cat scan and all was good. I was so frustrated. I almost wanted them to find something just so I would know what it was and could fix it. My parents finally convinced me to go on medication. I was put on generic for zoloft and given clonazepam to take before bed and finally was able to sleep, along with prayer. I am currently not working. I ended up quitting after I had my daughter. I am so much better than I used to be. I have started to drive again and stay home by myself again and even though I have my little anxious moments every once in a while, I have my life back.

[Adrough]

Ok, I guess my original did post. Sorry for putting alot of the info on here twice.

[Jme]

Well it sounds like ur doing good. And I'm gald u are cuz having a baby or toddler is a lot. And not getting enough sleep u cannot function right. But know that u are on meds u sound like u are ok with ur anxiety so that is good.

[Adrough]

Yes, so much better. I just thought posting this could be some encouragement :)

[Jme]

It is a help I've been trying to get prego again but I'm really scared cuz of my anxiety and insomnia. I feel like it will hurt the baby