Any OCD Mums? or mums with axiety disorders?

[Noelle610]

I have anxiety and some OCD - mostly obsessive thinking. I have a really hard time sleeping, even when LO is and I tend to obsess about her sleeping. It drives me mad! I find when I can accept that I'm just going to be tired for a bit, I feel better, emotionally and physically.

hey hun i am one for obbsesive thinking too at night i am worsed. is there nothing that helps u? xx

Do you mean like you panic that she won't sleep before it's even happened? Because I do that all the time. I can't sleep because I'll be waiting for her to wake up. My OH continually tells me off for trying to predict what's going to happen and pre-emptively worrying about it. x

i do that about waiting for her to wake up she has just started sleeping through but now no matter what she rolls onto her tummy and i see in my head her squashing her nose and not being able to breath so i check the monitor as i have a video monitor constantly through the night . it annoys my husband as im always rolling around taken the monitor of charge checking then asking him to put it back on charge as its on his side. as mothers we all worry but when u add axiety or ocd it can be torturers and thts what people dont get xx

do u have a video monitor? there expensive but they might have them cheaper second hand online tht might ease ur panic xx

I've thought about that! It's also been suggested to me that I just turn the monitor off so I can't hear every single movement. My little girls sleeps right across the hall from me and I could keep both doors ajar.

It is so much harder with anxiety/OCD... "normal" people just don't get it!

 

[Elljo3]

Is hard tho as ya mind just thinks what it wants to,then panic sets in.

 

[socitycourty]

I've got it too, I had anxiety/OCD/panic disorder before baby and now it's worse. Surprisingly I felt good when I was pregnant but then my labor and EMCS really messed me up and then once we came home I was a nervous wreck. I can't let her sleep on her own because first of all she won' sleep and second I would be too worried. I am constantly obsessing over her health, sterilizing her bottles, worrying about her formula, etc.

I have flashbacks of my labor and c section. I also worry about having another baby as the whole experience has been really hard.

My LO was also not doing too well in the hospital she had really bad jaundice and had to stay awhole extra day after I was discharged.

It has been really hard. Also I have not had a good night's sleep in over 4 months and yet I can't leave her with anyone because she cries too much and I can't stand the thought although I'd love just an hour to myself. I also worry that whoever is watching her won't mix her formula correctly and all kinds of things.

Also we lost with breastfeeding so that was another thing that made me sad, anxious, stressed out. It has been really hard.

 

[mamaduke]

Not a diagnosed anxiety disorder, but I've had weird anxiety issues since LO has been born. I can remember in the first couple months driving and feeling trapped with high anxiety - fearing everything around me. I have the ability though to look at situations from the outside though and was able to remind myself that life's too short to let it be ruled by fears. That helped me get through a lot of my anxiety. But I still have some - which I think lingers from things like life insurance and guardianship not being taken care of yet. That and there are nights where my anxiety will get me in my sleep - DH has been known to come to bed after me and find me looking for LO (usually looking under his side of the bed), even though LO sleeps in his own room in his crib. I can only hope the anxiety settles down a bit more over time.

 

[Noelle610]

I've got it too, I had anxiety/OCD/panic disorder before baby and now it's worse. Surprisingly I felt good when I was pregnant but then my labor and EMCS really messed me up and then once we came home I was a nervous wreck. I can't let her sleep on her own because first of all she won' sleep and second I would be too worried. I am constantly obsessing over her health, sterilizing her bottles, worrying about her formula, etc.

I have flashbacks of my labor and c section. I also worry about having another baby as the whole experience has been really hard.

My LO was also not doing too well in the hospital she had really bad jaundice and had to stay awhole extra day after I was discharged.

It has been really hard. Also I have not had a good night's sleep in over 4 months and yet I can't leave her with anyone because she cries too much and I can't stand the thought although I'd love just an hour to myself. I also worry that whoever is watching her won't mix her formula correctly and all kinds of things.

Also we lost with breastfeeding so that was another thing that made me sad, anxious, stressed out. It has been really hard.

I too had a labor that I found traumatizing and it didn't help.

I think sleep deprivation makes anxiety worse, so it's a vicious cycle.

 

[tinkerbelle93]

hi there i have quite bad OCD, I'm on medication which definitely tones it down a little bit and I'm on the waiting list for cbt so I'm looking forward to that, hopefully it will help a lot!

I've always had OCD tendancies from a young age, they got worse and when i was pregnant got very intense and worsened even more when I had the baby, i've since read that something can trigger it to get worse pre and postnatally.

I really want to improve things having a baby, a job and a degree to study is hard enough, adding OCD into the mix makes things a heck of a lot more stressful! However, i do feel it's improving slowly. Before I had Oliver I never went to the doctor or really told anyone properly about it and i've made an effort to try and tackle it this year by taking medication, reading self-help books and hopefully cbt will vastly improve it as well oliver gave me the confidence to go and talk to someone so I'm thankful to him for that. Feel free to message me anytime.

xx

hey hun. my ocd has phases of being really bad but i have always refused medication because obvously for me i have a control issue and i feel pills wud make me not in control of my mind after i had my daughter my hv said i should go on meds because my axiety was through the roof but refused againn.. also i have had cbt when i was 15 but i didnt fully commit they made me take a peice of paper home write down every ritual how it effects me what happens if i dont do it blabla i just cudnt do it then .. i hope it works for u hun.

and wow ur doing so well hun i couldnt go uni i cant studdy to save my life lol and aww im so glad having a baby helped u hun i would like to stay intouch because i find it hard to explain to anyone how i am feeling my worries seems so stupid once i say them allowed lol .

how does the meds make u feel? do u feel different xx

hi there, it sounds as though your OCD is similar to mine, i have anxious thoughts that i have to control with a lot of rituals and routines etc. that really get in the way of my life.

i was a bit unsure about going on medication but they've really helped. I take citalopram, one tablet a day, and my doctor was saying how those types of antidepressants are really good for people with OCD. I still feel pretty much the same but they just take a bit of an edge off my OCD symptoms, making life just that tiny bit easier and I feel slightly more at ease.

I would definitely go back to your doctor to discuss things. i also recommend the book 'brain lock' which is a self-help OCD book which teaches you CBT and ways to control your symptoms and make living with OCD easier. It works around the 'four steps' method (google 'four steps' method which gives a little sequence to go through to help you control urges and thoughts etc.) and gives a lot of tips and advice. Hope I've helped. xx

 

[Elljo3]

I was on citalopram but have been changed to sertraline now. I find that it helps you too get on with everyday things. Don't get me wrong i still check things etc but I don't do them more than a few times now.

Really glad that I'm not the only one going through these things

 

[topsy]

Right there with all of you.
I have trouble sleeping at night and I can swear I hear my son crying and he's sound asleep.

I'm too protective of him and for the last few weeks I've refused everyone who asks to watch him or take him for a night. I need him home with me.

Same here! I always think I hear Charlotte crying when in fact she's sound asleep.

I also feel insecure about anyone watching my girl... it makes it hard to get much-needed alone time.

This is me too, I have anxiety, I am on sleeping tablets as part of my PND, I go to sleep but cant get back to sleep after the first feed - he still wakes up 3 plus times a night. I always think i hear LO crying when I am in the bath, and shout down to DH to make sure LO is ok, or when I have the radio on.

Take care girls xxxx

 

[WantsALittle1]

Me!

Generally I am okay with my anxiety at the moment. When I was younger it was a lot worse but actually, I think having a baby has given me a routine and stability that forces me to sort myself out a bit.

but I do worry a lot in the night. I regularly can't sleep and have to wake my OH to get some reassurance about stupid things that in the day seem so ridiculous. For example, I am not worried about it now but in the night I have a fear that I will be carrying Joni in her Moby sling, fall into the river, and not be able to get her out of the sling so she'll drown even though I'm managing to keep afloat. It's so stupid because the closest I ever get to a river is crossing a bridge on a bus. Another one is that I'll have her in the sling and be vacuuming and accidentally vacuum her eyeball out! Sounds so stupid but at 11pm I can be in tears panicking that I'll do it!!

I worry too that she will grow up to be anxious because my mum is an anxious person as well. But, I think that like you, I do make a conscious effort with Joni not to be so scared about things. I worry an awful lot, for example going out of the house and speaking to people, but I take Joni out every day and we go to places like story time at the library, and I just have a mantra of "suck it up" which seems to work. I hope she can escape it!

xxx

I have so much sympathy for these sorts of fears, and I too worry that my LO will have my anxiety disorders because I have them. I will do everything I can to protect her from them, as my mom was unable to protect me from hers and I feel it's given me a really rough go at life. What's helped me is to realize that there is no extra protective benefit of worrying. Worrying literally does NOTHING to make things better--it does quite the opposite, paralyzing us from making good choices.

When I have an OCD moment (e.g taking my daughter to the food court and worrying that she'll come down with a flu the next day from all the sick people who might be there), I remind myself that it's good decisions (not taking her back to the food court) and not panic attacks (obsessing about what she might have caught and how it will turn out) that will save her life. The same thing goes for your river fear and vacuum fear... Instead of fearing rivers, I'd practice getting my baby in and out of the wrap quickly so that if the worst case scenario ever happened, I'd be prepared. As for the vacuum thing, I'd put her in her bassinet when vacuuming so she's up off the floor and away from the vacuum hose.

Hope this helps--it's all that has kept me sane over the years!

xo

 

[WantsALittle1]

I've got it too, I had anxiety/OCD/panic disorder before baby and now it's worse. Surprisingly I felt good when I was pregnant but then my labor and EMCS really messed me up and then once we came home I was a nervous wreck. I can't let her sleep on her own because first of all she won' sleep and second I would be too worried. I am constantly obsessing over her health, sterilizing her bottles, worrying about her formula, etc.

I have flashbacks of my labor and c section. I also worry about having another baby as the whole experience has been really hard.

My LO was also not doing too well in the hospital she had really bad jaundice and had to stay awhole extra day after I was discharged.

It has been really hard. Also I have not had a good night's sleep in over 4 months and yet I can't leave her with anyone because she cries too much and I can't stand the thought although I'd love just an hour to myself. I also worry that whoever is watching her won't mix her formula correctly and all kinds of things.

Also we lost with breastfeeding so that was another thing that made me sad, anxious, stressed out. It has been really hard.

Totally sympathize with this post--especially the flashbacks of the emergency C-section, worry about anyone else handling her, and the worry over her sleeping. I'm right there with ya!

xo

 

[Chloe.E]

hi there i have quite bad OCD, I'm on medication which definitely tones it down a little bit and I'm on the waiting list for cbt so I'm looking forward to that, hopefully it will help a lot!

I've always had OCD tendancies from a young age, they got worse and when i was pregnant got very intense and worsened even more when I had the baby, i've since read that something can trigger it to get worse pre and postnatally.

I really want to improve things having a baby, a job and a degree to study is hard enough, adding OCD into the mix makes things a heck of a lot more stressful! However, i do feel it's improving slowly. Before I had Oliver I never went to the doctor or really told anyone properly about it and i've made an effort to try and tackle it this year by taking medication, reading self-help books and hopefully cbt will vastly improve it as well oliver gave me the confidence to go and talk to someone so I'm thankful to him for that. Feel free to message me anytime.

xx

I've been doing CBT for nearly 2 years now, and not going to lie, it hasn't helped me at all. I do it for depression, anxiety and slight aggraphobia. The most it's done is help ever so slightly with depression, not enough that I'd say is worth it. The thing that has helped me the most is being pregnant, as I want to be the best I can for my little boy and for him not to turn out like me. Although it is different for different people and I wish you the best of luck with it! xx

 

[Mummy2bexxx]

I have suffered from OCD and anxiety since I was little and recently have suffered from pnd with both LOs. I am determined not to pass on my anxiety issues to my daughters but have been finding things tough recentlyBig hugs to everyone x

 

[youngwife20]

Elljo3- I am sooooo sorry for the loss of your mum hun that must of been awful! oh gosh aalot of my ocd revolves around my mum dieing i cant even think of how hard it must be for you. i am so glad its not effecting your son. with your daughter do you think she will grow out of the date thing? xx i hope u get ur one on ones sessions sorted soon keep us posted on that xx

 

[youngwife20]

I have anxiety and some OCD - mostly obsessive thinking. I have a really hard time sleeping, even when LO is and I tend to obsess about her sleeping. It drives me mad! I find when I can accept that I'm just going to be tired for a bit, I feel better, emotionally and physically.

hey hun i am one for obbsesive thinking too at night i am worsed. is there nothing that helps u? xx

Do you mean like you panic that she won't sleep before it's even happened? Because I do that all the time. I can't sleep because I'll be waiting for her to wake up. My OH continually tells me off for trying to predict what's going to happen and pre-emptively worrying about it. x

i do that about waiting for her to wake up she has just started sleeping through but now no matter what she rolls onto her tummy and i see in my head her squashing her nose and not being able to breath so i check the monitor as i have a video monitor constantly through the night . it annoys my husband as im always rolling around taken the monitor of charge checking then asking him to put it back on charge as its on his side. as mothers we all worry but when u add axiety or ocd it can be torturers and thts what people dont get xx

do u have a video monitor? there expensive but they might have them cheaper second hand online tht might ease ur panic xx

I've thought about that! It's also been suggested to me that I just turn the monitor off so I can't hear every single movement. My little girls sleeps right across the hall from me and I could keep both doors ajar.

It is so much harder with anxiety/OCD... "normal" people just don't get it!

i completly agree with u hunni , i think im glad i made this thread because maybe we could help each other think of solutions to help certiann things to do with ocd be easier. maybe we can try different things and let each other know how it goes. i couldnt turn the sound of on the monitor that would mess with my head big time lol id then be standing near her door to check shes okay ( which i used to do when i lived with my mum and i still do it now when i stay over i stand near the door every time i get up to pee to check shes breathing and still alive.. im so weird! x

 

[youngwife20]

I've got it too, I had anxiety/OCD/panic disorder before baby and now it's worse. Surprisingly I felt good when I was pregnant but then my labor and EMCS really messed me up and then once we came home I was a nervous wreck. I can't let her sleep on her own because first of all she won' sleep and second I would be too worried. I am constantly obsessing over her health, sterilizing her bottles, worrying about her formula, etc.

I have flashbacks of my labor and c section. I also worry about having another baby as the whole experience has been really hard.

My LO was also not doing too well in the hospital she had really bad jaundice and had to stay awhole extra day after I was discharged.

It has been really hard. Also I have not had a good night's sleep in over 4 months and yet I can't leave her with anyone because she cries too much and I can't stand the thought although I'd love just an hour to myself. I also worry that whoever is watching her won't mix her formula correctly and all kinds of things.

Also we lost with breastfeeding so that was another thing that made me sad, anxious, stressed out. It has been really hard.

Firstly big hugs to you hun xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx i completly understand what your going through and thank you so much for sharing this with us. i had an emc too and my gosh that is just awful when ur completly out of control it messes u up hun. have you talked to someone about your labour experiance. because you need to find peace with it. i hated my labour and i couldnt get over the sence of loss with not having a normal delivery i spoke to my health visitor about it and strangely after getting all the tears out i felt alot better. im sorry it didnt go to plan hun. and i know about the whole breastfeeding not working out. due to my ocd the stress and mental pain i put myself under was torturous. my daughter stopped latching due to tounge tie also in hospital she was in nicu and nil by mouth so i had to pump to bring my milk in. people just told me not to bother and to wquit but i couldnt. i pumped excluisvly with a manuel pump and hand expressed for 6 months because of the preasure i put myself under i would have been so depressed if i failed. i couldnt do it and now i have finanly stoped i wish i could have stopped sooner. hun u did the best you could and u tried your best. u did amazing. and maybe about mixing the formula.

solution time:

Buy a dispenser that comes with different compartments.
https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?img...Hn18UM6BBOyY0QWMg4HACQ&ved=0CGoQ9QEwBw&dur=41

Okay so for example you your baby drinks 7 ounces. you put the right amount of formula in each compartment . so all somoene has to do is just pour it in.

to put your mind at rest you could write a list of how you want the formula to be prepared. and how you want it made. maybe if you have a partner and your not so comfy with him making it try it with him and be in the next room and see how you manage? then if your okay when say someone you trust is round ask them to make it infront of you with your list infront of them till your satified with how there making it then maybe let them do it while your in the next room? xx u need a break and if you atleast r able to get a second to ur self its better than nothing xx

and anything at all your worried about make sure you dont keep it in because thats just the worse thing to do xx

 

[youngwife20]

Any ladies that wana talk privatly or anything feel free to message me xxx

 

[youngwife20]

Not a diagnosed anxiety disorder, but I've had weird anxiety issues since LO has been born. I can remember in the first couple months driving and feeling trapped with high anxiety - fearing everything around me. I have the ability though to look at situations from the outside though and was able to remind myself that life's too short to let it be ruled by fears. That helped me get through a lot of my anxiety. But I still have some - which I think lingers from things like life insurance and guardianship not being taken care of yet. That and there are nights where my anxiety will get me in my sleep - DH has been known to come to bed after me and find me looking for LO (usually looking under his side of the bed), even though LO sleeps in his own room in his crib. I can only hope the anxiety settles down a bit more over time.

Whats guardian ship and shit havent sorted out life insurance or nothing like that and wow hun that sounds realy upsetting for you do you explain it to your partner and what does he think? does he manage to calm you down. what sets of your axiety do you think hun . wheather diagnosed or not its just as upseting and hard to deal with xx

 

[Housewife83]

OCD on medication here!

I also worry about the effect on my LO. However I try to take each day one step at a time. I make sure that I'm looking after my own health as much as I can.

When I'm having an OCD moment I talk to my OH about it. He helps me to get over it. I also apply the things that I learnt in CBT.

I think being aware of the problem is the best way to handle it.

Thanks for starting this thread, I think it's a good idea for us all to support each other.

 

[youngwife20]

hi there i have quite bad OCD, I'm on medication which definitely tones it down a little bit and I'm on the waiting list for cbt so I'm looking forward to that, hopefully it will help a lot!

I've always had OCD tendancies from a young age, they got worse and when i was pregnant got very intense and worsened even more when I had the baby, i've since read that something can trigger it to get worse pre and postnatally.

I really want to improve things having a baby, a job and a degree to study is hard enough, adding OCD into the mix makes things a heck of a lot more stressful! However, i do feel it's improving slowly. Before I had Oliver I never went to the doctor or really told anyone properly about it and i've made an effort to try and tackle it this year by taking medication, reading self-help books and hopefully cbt will vastly improve it as well oliver gave me the confidence to go and talk to someone so I'm thankful to him for that. Feel free to message me anytime.

xx

hey hun. my ocd has phases of being really bad but i have always refused medication because obvously for me i have a control issue and i feel pills wud make me not in control of my mind after i had my daughter my hv said i should go on meds because my axiety was through the roof but refused againn.. also i have had cbt when i was 15 but i didnt fully commit they made me take a peice of paper home write down every ritual how it effects me what happens if i dont do it blabla i just cudnt do it then .. i hope it works for u hun.

and wow ur doing so well hun i couldnt go uni i cant studdy to save my life lol and aww im so glad having a baby helped u hun i would like to stay intouch because i find it hard to explain to anyone how i am feeling my worries seems so stupid once i say them allowed lol .

how does the meds make u feel? do u feel different xx

hi there, it sounds as though your OCD is similar to mine, i have anxious thoughts that i have to control with a lot of rituals and routines etc. that really get in the way of my life.

i was a bit unsure about going on medication but they've really helped. I take citalopram, one tablet a day, and my doctor was saying how those types of antidepressants are really good for people with OCD. I still feel pretty much the same but they just take a bit of an edge off my OCD symptoms, making life just that tiny bit easier and I feel slightly more at ease.

I would definitely go back to your doctor to discuss things. i also recommend the book 'brain lock' which is a self-help OCD book which teaches you CBT and ways to control your symptoms and make living with OCD easier. It works around the 'four steps' method (google 'four steps' method which gives a little sequence to go through to help you control urges and thoughts etc.) and gives a lot of tips and advice. Hope I've helped. xx

ohhh thank you thank you thank you thank you!! very much i will google it and you really have helped. i havent really spoke to anyone taking meds for ocd so i didnt really know much about it a few months ago i found it really hard it seemed like i was in a black hole. my axiety was just so bad and i would just cry all the time because i felt so trapped. me and my husband have had arguments because i can be soo anoying with my ocd. there is one ocd thought i have had that i have only shared with one person so i wont say it on here but it was just so bad and i cried loads about it. and i couldnt snap out of it. but when i found out i was pregnant again it seemed to calm down abit. maybe when i have had this baby i would consider taking something but it would have to be after i was done breastfeeding. i think this cbt would help though thank u again hun xx

 

[youngwife20]

I was on citalopram but have been changed to sertraline now. I find that it helps you too get on with everyday things. Don't get me wrong i still check things etc but I don't do them more than a few times now.

Really glad that I'm not the only one going through these things

What made them need to swap it if you dont mind me asking. and i am also glad! as if i would explain my ocd to people they just think im being akwards and unessesery