Question:
I am writing on behalf of my sister in law who is currently 18 weeks
pregnant.
Since finding out she was pregnant she has started to experience very
bad anxiety and panic attacks.
The feelings she is currently experiencing are not what you might call
your general worries. As the baby grows inside her she is feeling more
and more claustrophobic. She can't breathe, panics. She feels as if
the baby is suffocating her. She feels that she is loosing control of
her body the bigger the baby gets.
Have you or anyone you know experienced these same type of
feelings/anxieties?
This is beginning to make her feel ill. She doesn't believe she can
cope even though she has a very supportive husband.
Answer:
I'm a male so I can't relate to what your sister-in-law is feeling LOL.
Sometimes when I over-eat I feel kind of breathless and on occasion
would get a panic attack. But this is NOT what your sister-in-law is
going through, and I feel sorry that she is feeling these awful
thoughts. I do hope that her gynocologist and maybe a psychiatrist can
help her with some type of medication to calm her nervous system without
harming the baby. And I hope that she has the full support and
understanding from her boyfriend/husband and female friends who have
gone through pregnancy before. Let her know, or send her this email if
you like as you suggested, that the miracle that is transpiring in her
body is worth all the morning sickness and even the labor pains when the
baby is due to be delivered. But these strangulation feelings must be
dealt with for her and for the baby's sake because this fear she is
feeling is detrimental to HER and to HER CHILD! I fully trust that she
is letting her doctor know what she is feeling, and I am sure that there
is therapy available to her from professionals and friends alike. Maybe
Margroove , who is a doctor, can advise your sister-in-law as to what
drugs can be taken to calm the nervous system during pregnancy. I wish
her well, and keep reminding her that all of these feelings shall pass,
and her new-born child will be the ULTIMATE gift that anyone could ever
receive. The JOY she will experience for bringing a child into her life
is beyond words. A BIG HUG for her, and for you for trying to help her.
I know the feeling! I am currently almost 39 weeks pregnant with my first
baby and the exact same thing started happening to me. Before I became
pregnant I had some problems with panic attacks, and was on Paxil CR and
Klonopin. I also get migraines and was on a med to prevent migraines as
well. I stopped ALL meds when I became pregnant and was ok, until about 8
weeks. I'm sure I was completely weaned off the Paxil and wasn't
experiencing more attacks due to the withdrawal of it etc, but I started
having exactly the symptoms you describe- not general worries, but
claustrophobic, suffocating feelings, and feeling like I couldn't breathe,
like the baby was pressing on my diaphragm and taking my breath away. I went
back on the Paxil CR 37.5 mg, and wasn't too happy about that, but my
doctors would not approve Klonopin and I didn't want to take any chances.
That worked ok until about 35 weeks when I started having more feelings like
I can't breathe, and would jerk awake at night gasping for breath, already
in a fullblown panic attack, feeling faint with rapid heartbeat and
claustrophobia etc. I wasn't happy about this either but they ended up
increasing my Paxil to Paxil CR 50mg! I have never had that high of a dose
before but felt like I couldn't take another panic attack while pregnant- at
least if not pregnant I could take Klonopin, which always stops the problem
for me. 1 Klonopin at bedtime (1mg) prevents panic attacks at night for me.
I have been so desparate to stop a panic attack in progress before that I
have actually CHEWED up a Klonopin to get it to work faster (it does- I feel
it that way within about 10 minutes-- my attacks usually leave me feeling
quite edgy for up to an hour, so that does make a difference, even though a
lot of panic attacks last just a few minutes).
But for pregnancy all they could for me was Paxil or another
anti-depressant. That, and I had to do breathing exercises to try to calm
down, and rule out other causes-- we did find that one cause of me feeling
like I can't breathe is actually that when my ankles were swelling, my
THROAT was swelling too and constricting my airways! They also thought I
have pregnancy-induced sleep apnea- I was tested in a sleep clinic before
pregnancy and was found NOT to have apnea, but severe insomnia. But they
think with the swelling and pregnancy water-weight, I might be experiencing
some tighter airways. Plus I am short, and so the baby DOES press on my
diaphragm.
The best thing is to find a doctor who will take it seriously, but there is
not much in the way of medication they will be willing to give during
pregnancy, I did not want to go back on the Paxil because Klonopin alone is
the only thing that really works for my panic attacks, but Paxil DOES reduce
the frequency, although I still get them. It's better than nothing. I have
made it , when I did not know how I was going to make it through the
pregnancy panicking. The Paxil helps but also so does making doctors aware
of the problem and getting them to eliminate some possible things such as
asthma, sleep apnea, swelling, or even allergies-- it could be that
allergies or anything that makes you not breathe as well could be a factor.
I am MUCH less likely to have anxiety when my nose is not stuffy and I don't
have a lot of phlegm in my throat from allergies. Also thingslike
eliminating caffeine, and relaxation and breathing techniques can help.
Your SIL is not alone in this! Also the anxiety could be hormonal. For me it
just happens to seem to be a mix of preexisting tendency of panic attacks,
and not breathing as freely as when I am not pregnant. So for me, using
allergy meds safe for pregnancy to keep my airways as open as possible and
even using a dose of sudafed if I get really stuffy, as well as staying on
an anti-depressant to prevent some of the anxiety, really has helped. Good
luck, I know how hard it is and how bad it feels. I thought I was losing my
mind. My heart would beat so fast it was so out of control, and I would just
gasp for breath and not be able to stop feeling like I was suffocating.
