Hi,
I am 30 years old and never experienced panic or anxiety until about 6 months ago. I'm not really sure where this comes from for me. I do have some health issues which shouldn't be as big a deal as they are for me. I have arthritis, and a terrible stiffness in my lower back, as well as TMJ. I think my panic usually comes because i focus on the fact that i might be like this forever. I actually am not sure coming to these boards is such a healthy thing for me either. The other thing is that i suppose panic could be genetic...as my mom's sister has taken valium for years and years for panic attacks, and i just found out my cousin suffers from them and is taking xanax. I find i fight this really hard and I am embarrassed to talk to my doctor about it because i want to be viewed as a strong together kind of person. So mentally i have this battle with myself also. I hesitate to write that part because i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings at all...but i am in the same boat as everyone else here, whether i want to fight with myself about it or not! lol!
Anyway I just found out that i'm pregnant and stopped taking all of my medicine. For the last 4 days I have panic attacks every day. I'm starting to "panic" over that! lol! It could be a very long year! Is there anything safe that a doc will let you take while you are pregnant? I've been trying some natural things from the health food store and i really wanted them to work badly but really they are not.
Thankfully I had both of my Children during the time that I was panic free.
I know that Xanax shouldn't be taken while you're pregnant.
But then again I've heard of Doctors who still allow women to take it while pregnant, I guess they feel the benefit to the Mother outweights any risks.
Like I said, I really don't know because I was panic free when I had my kids.
I really think that if the panic is that bad you're going to have to break down and talk to your Doctor about it.
He really, truly won't think any less of you.
He's there to help you, so just talk to him and see if there is something he feels would be safe for you to take.
Good luck with your baby.
What meds were you taking that you stopped taking? As far as trying to be a strong person and "deal" with your anxiety, I have read that it is usually the really strong that get hit with anxiety/panic usually because we want to be on top of or control many things some of which we simply cant.
The great debate is still out as to whether panic is chemical imbalance or learned behavior.
For instance it isnt necessarily that some of your family has anxiety so you do to, you could have subconsiously picked up on anxious behavior throughout the years.
Some doctors are strict about what a soon to be mother should be on and some allow you to take almost anything, it depends on how bad your anxiety is and how often it occurs.
Realistically we all know the safety of the baby is important, but so are you. You need to treat yourself right, do what you need to do, and if you decide you need meds to get through this than make sure it is a firm descision, so you dont plague yourself with doubts or concerns.
Somewhere on the net there is a whole documentary type thing were a pregnant woman taking xanax and another med kept everyone posted throughout her entire pregnancy. At the end was a healthy, chubby baby boy. But some feel it is not safe at all.
I reccomend you start at wwwanxietycoach.com and hit the panic agrophobia connection to the left. Read all of the sections. I actually printed them out and reread them. God Bless
I definitely am a person who wants to be in control. This is kind of funny but i remember one of the worst parts about my other prenancy was feeling like the doctors were "controlling" my life. I hate that! It makes me feel suffocated! lol!
I am sure my regular doctor probably already views me as kind of unbalanced! lol! He is truly a blessing though. I wish everyone could have this doc. I have had him spend his entire lunch with me before, he jokes, and talks to you like you are a human being. i really appreciate him on so many levels.
As far as the meds go. A couple of years ago i started taking Serafam (sp?)for PMS. It works great by the way. That progressed to my regular doc putting me on paxil for several months because i told him i am in general an uptight person. I'm not depressed but things do make me tense. I really didn't think the paxil did much for me. He did Lexapro for a couple of months and again i didn't notice much difference. This was all before i felt the panic. About 4 months ago when i first told him i was experiencing a lot of anxiety and panic he put me on Effexor and also Xanax as needed. I thought the Xanax did wonderfully but when the 30 tablets he gave me were gone i didn't ever ask for anymore. Again the mental game i play with myself. About 4 weeks into the Effexor i started twitching uncontrollably and after researching on the net i found that Effexor could do that, also after reading i was scared to death of the withdrawal it said you could experience. So i discontinued that and told my doc i really just wanted to go back on the Serafim like i had in the beginning. I've done it for a couple of months and quit taking it when i found i was pregnant. I actually still did have some panic attacks while on the Serafem (which has the same active ingredient as prozac) which I never did tell my doctor. Now I'm having about 3 panic attacks per day. I actually had one last night that lasted about 4 hours. Basically i've portrayed to my doctor that i'm doing great! lol! What is my problem???
Do the rest of you panic while having a panic attack about having panic attacks? Does that make sense? lol! Because i do that.
Yes, I do that to. Right now my meds I started on are helping majorly though. Prozac,klonopin. I have had that also, panic attacks that are vicious, sometimes ending up in ER phsychiatric with a heart rate of 180 bpm or a little over. Sometimes my husband would make me go because I would become suicidal after days of it not ending. This all with insomnia. I am sorry if I **** anybody off by saying this. I love babies I have three of them and I am pro life. But you are no less important than the baby. Children are precious and DO need to be protected, BUT, who has to raise them, who is there biggest influence, THATS RIGHT_-YOU. I think you need to tell the doctor what is going on. I got pregnant about six months ago and dropped my meds, I misscarried and had to go in for a d& c. But don't worry that will not happen to you at all, no matter how much you panic. Number one what I stopped really fast was tranquilizers which is not reccomended to stop fast but not generally reccommended for pregnancy. Also another key part is my husband had just had a cancer operation for testicular cancer right before he got me pregnant. But what is important is waying risk to the child. Studies are showing if your heart rate goes up, so does babies. But this doesnt necessarily mean that it will hurt the baby at all. You need to let your doctor know what is going on so they can decide if what your body is going through during the attacks can eventually effect the child a little. In this case meds might be best. This is what I reccomend with the duration and amount of attacks your having. What do you feel about how I feel?
[This message has been edited by DawnMarie1978 (edited 10-25-2003).]
Anything you can take for panic when pregnant? 
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