
Jun 10, 2014, 12:44 PM
|
 |
|
|
Member Since: Nov 2013
Location: NM
Posts: 349
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoogirl7
Thanks PrairieCat! Ha yes I dont think my psychiatrist and my primary doctor have ever agreed! My psychiatrist gets mad and says, if I had high blood pressure, the primary doc would treat me and he wouldn't say a word about it--but when it comes to psychological issues, he gets annoyed that primary docs try to tell us what to do. He told me they only are required to take I think one course on psychology in med school and dont always know best. My psychiatrist is about 70 yrs old and has seen it all. He told me from the start, if I want to feel better, xanax is the med that will help. I resisted at first, but he convinced me to try and sure enough, I felt a lot of relief and was able to function without fears for quite some time. I hate relying on meds but I was pretty severe and desperately wanted my life back. The regret I do have is what's happening now. If I never went on meds, life would have been agonizing, but I would have been forced to figure out how to deal with the panic disorder med-free. I did go to therapy for 4 yrs straight, but with the xanax is in my system, the work I did progressed slower. So now that I weaned off most of the xanax, I'm not as prepared to ward off the panic as I wish I were. But I cant see myself being able to have done this any other way. I asked 4 docs about xanax during pregnancy and was honestly shocked at the response! I thought they would all tell me, get off that med!! But it was the opposite. They felt it was more important for me to feel ok and calm. The only birth defect with a slight correlation to xanax was a slight increase in cleft palate, but they kept telling me no worries? I took it upon myself to wean down to 1/6 of my normal dose. That was super rough. Some times I was shocked at how ok I felt, and other times, I felt so crappy. I did it pretty gradual, but probably not gradual enough. I went 3 days with no xanax and it didnt go well. So I take a little piece in the morning which seemed to be ok. As of today though, it's gone up to now 1/3 of what my regular dose was. No one seems worried about it at all, and frankly, it still surprises me that I'm not being told xanax is a bad idea, but the baby is healthy. They are more worried about my borderline blood pressure than anything else and dont even bring up the xanax at all at my visits. Very interesting. But I think for someone like me, th husbandis will be my only pregnancy! I learned something valuable about myself I didnt know before, I am a control freak. When you're pregnant, you have zero control over what is happening with your body and very little control over your moods/mind. It's an uncomfortable situation for someone who needs a routine, structure and stability in order to feel ok and keep anxiety down. There's a lot of added stress, worry, and responsibility. While I know I have to deal with this and figure it out, it surely is the hardest thing I've had to do in a long long time!
|
Zoogirl, I wish you the very best of luck with this. You are so right about having no control during pregnancy. When I was pg with my only child, my daughter, my new husband whom I had only known for six months before marriage, constantly berated and criticized me. At that time, I had no self-defense skills whatsoever. I cried all the time. He got much worse after I gave birth, so I left him. I have never regretted that. He tried to terrorize me for about 10 years afterwards. His ego was so damaged, I guess, plus he was a very cold, cruel individual His second wife had two daughters and she also left him. She and I are friends now. I was lucky to have very supportive parents at that time, although they were on his side, not knowing the full details of my awful life with him. Gee, I didn't think I'd tell you the story of my first marriage! I had one more and left him also; very bad choice but I set myself free and have been free since then.
If I go off Xanax again, I will have to do it much, much more slowly, been on it for 15-20 years, sadly. I feel that the past doc who put me on it was quite dangerous and absolutely nuts; she didn't believe anything I told her. Ever.
Yes, you have a big challenge now. Sounds like you have a good pdoc who can help you. The only way I know how to deal with anxiety at the moment is to rest, sleep and meditate as much as I can. I need to have foot surgery because of ingrown toenails on left foot. After that I can maybe walk it (the anxiety) all off! Am a bit agoraphobic now. Plus I will try CBT. Loving friends and family can possibly help you with emotional support. Maybe you can design your own new and different types of routine, structure and stability, as it sure changes after you give birth to your child, one of the most wonderful experiences of my life(!), which I did all alone; husband deserted me during labor, couldn't handle it. It will all change, but you CAN have some control over it as you go along. Do it all YOUR way! I wish you the best of luck with this. PM me if you like. Would love to hear about your baby!
Sincerely,
PrairieCat
|