Anxiety/panic disorder please help...:-(

reneepugh

When I had my daughter two years ago, I had a tubal ligation. I have had pretty severe panic and anxiety attacks ever since. In the past 2 years I have been in and out of the ER several times wondering if I was dying or if something was really wrong. I have had mri's, ekg's, chest scans, heart cat scans....everything. My blood pressure is now high and the docs are telling me it's stress and anxiety. I just feel like crying. I have never been like this before my daughter and am frustrated and depressed. I can't go a day without having at least a mild attack. I was a great mother and now I am having a hard time feeling good enough. My kids need me to be a good mother and not just go through the motions. Please, can anyone offer advice?

mleoni092708

I'm sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. I also have anxiety and panic attacks. It's awful. Then when you feel terrible, you can't continue doing all the things you want to do, like doing extra things with the kids, or even sometimes the basic things like giving them baths and stuff. Then comes the excruciating guilt, like you're the worst mother. I do this too and it's so out of proportion to reality but that's how it feels. You are NOT a bad mother, you have an illness you are dealing with right now and things will get better. Are you on any benzos? They have helped me tremendously. So does exercise if you can manage it. I know I spend many days nauseous and it's not easy to workout like that. Do you think the fact that you had a tubal ligation is bothering you? Was this your choice or medically necessary? I would definitely look into that with a therapist that maybe this is an unresolved issue for you. I have chosen not to have any more children ( I have one) and it breaks my heart. I have bipolar and I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of them to my standards or possibly pass on the bipolar (wasnt diagnosed until after she was born). I wanted several children but life decided to give me lemons. Oh well. My advice would be to see about benzos (ativan, xanax, chlonopin) and take stock of what are your stressors/triggers and try to find ways to avoid them. My 3 year olds tantrums are a trigger of mine and I can't really avoid my child so I know you can't always get away but maybe through therapy they can help you find ways of coping. That's what I'm currently working on. (((HUGS)) Friend me if you like.

reneepugh

Thank you for replying. My doc just put me on celexa, but I am hesitant because of my bp meds giving me side effects because I just started them. I might wait a couple of weeks to let my body adjust before starting them. I do take Ativan as needed and they help a bit. I am sorry you feel like this as well. It is aweful. It is very unfortunate for my three little ones (7, 6, and 2) that I started getting these after I had them. I feel like I am cheating them out of my time when I feel bad. Hopefully I can get a handle on this. My 2 year olds tantrums are horrific right now and they set my attacks off as well. It is nice to know there are others that have this. I was starting to feel isolated with this problem. I went to counseling and am starting group therapy to try and learn how to cope with this. Thank you so much. :-)

lorro

Renee the recommended treatment for this is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - have you tried that? The symptoms you describe sound like health anxiety and panic disorder, with the panic developing later as the health anxiety has not been treated effectively. The treatment doesn't take very long (typically 8 -10 sessions) and is very effective. It's not uncommon for health anxiety to develop following a period of illness. For some problems many different aproaches can help, but for these CBT is needed as the body has mis-learned that something is dangerous when it isn't and this needs to be corrected by working directly with the body reaction, amongst other things. If you've not been diagnosed by a specialist (psychiatrist or psychotherapist) then I would get a full assessment as post traumatic stress disorder following medical procedures is not uncommon and is often misdiagnosed by general medical staff.

I have a good booklet on panic I can post a link to here if you would like me to, just let me know.

You are a still a good mother :flowerforyou: I'm sure your kids are fine, the person who is losing out is you. I hope you get the help you need soon.

linder115

I do agree that you should give therapy a try. When I was in the worst way with my anxiety/panic disorder my therapist helped me a lot. It seems like maybe the tubal is bothering you on some level and maybe you are feeling unresolved...and I know first hand that feeling "unresolved" is one of the worst feelings for anxiety.