Anxiety and ocd

[heather27uk]

Hiya I'm 26 years old and nearly 6 years ago when my son was 6 months old i had a ruptured ovarian cyst and internal bleeding I also caught MRSA so healing took a lot longer than usual since then I started to suffer with anxiety, depression and ocd which kind of took over my life I was given anti depressants but always have a problem takin tablets in any case so doctor sent me for group counselling which helped for a short while then a few yrs later I fell pregnant and had some health problems during which set the anxiety bk off and had a bad time during labour and the birth , after my 2nd son was born the ocd and anxiety returned cleaning excessively all the time nd had rto do things in certain orders and when he was jus under one yr old I fell pregnant with my daughter and also had more health issues at 37.5 wks I was induced due to high bp and 3 days later she was born not long after I started feeling very anxious and would sit and cry a lot at simple things and soon the ocd also came bk now my daughter is 11 month old and I've been referred bk to counselling and cbt I am really struggling to cope with these issues everything I do is very repetitive like washing my hands before bed 6 times, kids toys need to be in a certain order cleaning door handles and stair banisters I also am very anxious if I get the slightest unwell feeling I think the worsy and start to feel dizzy, sick and short of breath and the breathing thing scares me to death thinkin I got some serious illness or dying. Another problem is between my pregnancies certain foods made me ill inc fish, beef,, gravy and veg so even now I still stay away from them foods now I'm restricted on what I eat incase i get ill . I just wanna be best mum I can be and these issues r rly taking over my life anyone else suffer similar things ? Ty for ur time reading x

[princess01]

Hi there

I too suffer from anxiety-more in the form of Health Anxiety-and it definitely got a lot, lot worse since having my two boys. I think mainly because I realise just how much they need me and so I am always thinking: 'But what if something happened to me'?

Plus I think the general pressures of being a Mummy don't always help; it is indeed a 24/7 job! My counsellor has finally helped me to see that we often put unrealistic expectations upon ourselves as parents and since this realisation I have taken some simple steps which have really helped-things like making sure I have 'me' time, maybe going out with friends a bit more of an evening occasionally etc.

it also sounds that you had a pretty rough time with your pregnancies which really can't have helped things; seems like you have gone through some pretty scary times and these experiences can make things a lot worse in my opinion. I for one hated being pregnant most of the time; just convinced (after several miscarriages) that something awful was going to happen to my baby. happily it didn't but one I guess the focus of my anxieties has switched to something else.

Hope this helps? Xx

[heather27uk]

It does help thanks for replying . Had blood clots in womb in both my pregnancies so was quite dangerous for baby and my daughter never kicked much at all which made my anxiety worse . I also think cos my dad and nephew died when I was in my teens made things worse as I've got older , the anxiety and ocd gets me down n I get rly stressed out a lot I worry bout the slightest things . I'm due to start counselling tomorrow and doctor has referred me to cognitive behavioral therapy so hoping these will really help. I don't get time for me time at all, I have been married for 7 years and the anxiety is really comin between us he hates how i worry n is not supportive at all . Hopefully during therapy things will be better and move on with life. Ty for replying nice to know I'm not the only one suffering x

[grahampb]

Hi Heather,

Your situation is one that I have not experienced. Obviously being a man I never experience that things woman do through pregnancy and birth. One thing we do have in common is how isolated we feel when feeling like this. Its like no one understands. The therapy will hep you begin to rebuild your life. Learning to relax is a big thing. Iv got a fantastic book and CD at home! Its called the MIndful way through depression. Although we can be anxious without being depressed this book offers some good tops on relaxation and when you read it you will see how well the guy hits the nail on the head with some of our thought patterns. It makes you realise your not alone. Im not saying this book works for every one but it will work for some people. It is very cheap on Amazon! I think I will put on its main blog!

[heather27uk]

Thanks for reading ill look into gettin that I feel very alone all the time n hate being alone as I get very anxious I jus worry bout everything all the time . N got 3 kids but my two eldest have bad behaviour n my hubby don't really help out much with them