For most people, the concept of “panic attack” is associated with an unstable mental state. Indeed, the nature of such phenomena is directly related to the psychoemotional background of the body. It is impossible to predict in advance how panic attacks during pregnancy will affect a woman and an unborn child. In one case, they can pose a threat to both mother and baby, in another, the period of gestation can be the other way around, a way to cure. Often on topic forums you can find topics where women suffering from such disorders share their fears, for example, you can often meet a similar complaint: “I am afraid of pregnancy because of panic attacks.” What are the features of the manifestation of the disease, how can it affect the process of gestation and how to deal with it?
Panic attack concept
In medicine, this process is called a sudden attack of anxiety, usually inexplicable, literally exhausting the person who was attacked. A sense of fear, turning into panic, is often accompanied by various psychosomatic symptoms, exacerbating an already painful condition. The duration of such conditions varies from several minutes to several hours.
Panic attacks during pregnancy are not uncommon. In this state, the expectant mother experiences an inexplicable feeling of fear, which is sometimes impossible to cope with. The body of a pregnant woman is subjected to a difficult test, and when panic attacks are added to poor physical well-being, existence becomes unbearable.
Among the terms defining unexplained anxiety states, one can hear the following: cardioneurosis or vegetovascular dystonia with a critical course. However, all these are just definitions of panic attacks.
Causes of autonomic disorders in pregnant women
This is not to say that a panic attack is an independent disease. Such phenomena do not occur from scratch. The nature of their origin lies not in a physical illness, but in the psycho-emotional state of a woman during pregnancy.
Provoking factors can be:
- Woman's natural concern. Anxiety about the baby’s health, fear of childbirth, fear of harming the baby (falling on his stomach, getting into an accident and other phobias). All of these fears in the aggregate can provoke an attack of severe anxiety.
- Character features of a pregnant woman. Often too emotional restless personalities become an easy target. If a woman is naturally accustomed to worry about every minor cause, then the risk of a vegetative crisis during the period of gestation increases several times.
- Changes in the hormonal background. In this case, panic attacks during pregnancy are considered as a result of a violation of the proper functioning of individual systems and organs of a woman. For example, as a symptom of a malfunction in the brain or as a result of neurosis-like conditions.
- Stress and phobias. A conflict situation, a large crowd of people, or, on the contrary, too close a confined space - all this can cause a strong attack of anxiety.
What does a woman feel during an attack?
In addition to an inexplicable and uncontrolled feeling of fear during an attack, women experience other discomforting symptoms, including:
- tachycardia (palpitations);
- chills;
- a feeling of heat (sometimes with an increase in body temperature);
- increased sweating (sudden release of cold sweat on the skin);
- hand shake;
- asphyxiation (feeling of lack of air);
- digestive disorders, expressed in constipation or diarrhea;
- bouts of nausea (sometimes with vomiting);
- frequent urination
- feeling of numbness in the limbs;
- dry mouth (inability to swallow due to sensation of a lump in the throat);
- disorientation;
- imbalance;
- dizziness;
- blood pressure differences;
- cramps in the limbs (especially before childbirth).
If a pregnant woman experiences at least some of the above symptoms, she needs the advice and help of a specialist. Pregnancy during VVD and panic attacks is carried out under the supervision of not only a gynecologist, but also a psychotherapist.
What is the danger to the fetus?
Practice shows that anxiety during pregnancy does not pose a threat to the health of the fetus. In most cases, women who suffer from panic attacks during the gestation period give birth to completely healthy children. On the contrary, a woman, on an instinctive level, is trying, despite her fears, to bear and give birth to a long-awaited child.
The so-called nesting instinct gradually replaces the anxiety state, makes the woman distract from her fears and switch to future offspring. Experts recommend not focusing on recurring attacks, so as not to provoke frequent attacks. After all, the more a woman thinks of approaching another attack, the more often anxious states manifest themselves.
And if this does not affect the baby’s health, it can affect the course of pregnancy. For example, severe panic attacks in the early stages of pregnancy can provoke spontaneous abortion, and in later ones - cause premature birth.
In addition, overstrain of a woman’s muscles during an attack can cause the uterus to become hypertonic, as a result of which the fetus begins to experience oxygen starvation (fetal hypoxia).
In the desire to get rid of another attack, the expectant mother becomes less cautious and can take a drug that is strictly contraindicated for use during pregnancy.
That is why it is so important to pay attention to your condition and seek help at the first manifestations of panic attacks.
Treatment of autonomic disorders
If the attack has already begun, dealing with it is quite difficult. The main problem is that it is impossible to reliably determine when the body will undergo another attack. However, you can learn to avoid such conditions if you establish the cause of the autonomic disorder. Treatment of panic attacks during pregnancy is possible, the main thing is to consult a specialist in time.
To begin with, you should contact your gynecologist and exclude the somatic nature of the occurrence of disorders (bodily diseases). If none are found, it is important to find a qualified psychotherapist and consult with him about your fears. The specialist will help determine the factors that trigger anxiety, and learn how to avoid them. In case of severe panic attacks during pregnancy, the psychotherapist prescribes medications (sparing the antipsychotic "Sertrolin", "Fluoxetine"), which help relieve psychological stress. Such therapy can last up to several months before a woman feels confident. Reception of drugs prescribed by a doctor should be gradually stopped no later than two months before birth.
Treatment features
It is important to understand that tranquilizers and antidepressants are contraindicated in women bearing a child. Therefore, the main direction in the treatment is to eliminate the causes of their appearance and to teach the woman what to do with panic attacks during pregnancy, which are methods of self-help to the body during an attack.
Breathing exercises
The meaning of this method is the ability to increase the duration of exhalation (inhalation should be shorter than exhalation). When performing the exercise, you will need a stopwatch. It is performed as follows:
- Sit straight and turn your shoulders.
- Take a deep five-second breath, hold your breath for another five seconds and slowly exhale. The first time exhale in duration does not exceed inhalation.
- With the next breath, it is necessary to reduce the breath holding to four seconds, and the exhalation duration to increase to six seconds.
- Further, the exercise is repeated with a uniform reduction in pause (breath holding) and an increase in the duration of exhalation.
- The duration of the final exhalation should reach ten seconds with a five-second inhalation.
Such an exercise, as well as yoga classes help relieve stress and prevent another attack of a panic attack during pregnancy.
Muscle relaxation workout
This method helps prepare the body for another attack. The essence of the method is the ability to complete relaxation. As a rule, in stressful situations, including during an attack, the muscles spontaneously tighten. To avoid the negative effects of such stress, it is necessary to teach the body to relax. This can be achieved through training based on alternating tension and muscle relaxation.
Training Features
Regular classes consist of the following exercises:
- Strain and clench all your fingers.
- Bend your wrists as much as possible (training the muscles of the forearms).
- Raise to the level of the shoulders and spread apart the arms bent at the elbows.
- Move both shoulder blades to the center of the back as much as possible, and then move them down.
- In a sitting position, raise straight legs.
- Pull the socks of the legs up and towards you, and the heels - down (without spreading the socks to the sides).
- Leaving your feet in tension, bend your toes.
Initially, each exercise should alternate with complete relaxation. Then you can combine several exercises before the next relaxation. As a result, the body gets used to the tension of all muscles, followed by sharp relaxation, accompanied by deep exhalation. It is important to learn how to breathe properly while doing exercises for tension and relaxation. Breathing should be nasal, even and without delay.
The first training will not be easy. You must constantly monitor your breathing. As you get used to it, the body will learn coordinated work, the purpose of which is to be able to completely relax without prior stress. To obtain a lasting result, it is recommended to repeat relaxing exercises several times a day.
Additional methods in complex treatment
To distract from anxious thoughts and reduce the frequency of panic attacks, experts recommend treatment methods such as:
- acupuncture (acupuncture);
- light therapy (wellness technique, which consists in exposure to the body with light waves);
- art therapy (creativity);
- aromatherapy (effects on the body with the help of odors);
- infrared radiation (healing electromagnetic radiation);
- herbal medicine (treatment using medicinal plants).
Seizure behavior
Another panic attack is the right moment to test in practice the acquired knowledge. If a woman has already learned to completely relax, then this is the first thing to try to do during an attack. In this case, it is extremely important to maintain an even calm breathing (deep breath and longer exhalation).
Judging by the reviews, in case of panic attacks, providing fresh air is no less important (open a window or go outside from a stuffy room).
If the blood pressure during the attack is low, it is advisable to lie down so that the legs are located above the level of the head. With reduced pressure, you can drink a cup of not too strong coffee or strong sweetened tea.
At high pressure it is better to drink chilled water. It is advisable to sit or lie down in a comfortable position and apply a cool compress to your forehead.
If the attack is accompanied by weakness, suffocation, slowing of the heart rhythm, sweating or a sensation of heat, you can drink twenty drops of valerian tincture.
In the case of a rapid heartbeat, it is allowed to take Corvalol (thirty drops) or Valocordin.
The main thing during a panic attack during pregnancy is not to aggravate your condition. If possible, you need to get distracted and turn your attention to something more important than your own fears.
Conclusion
According to reviews, pregnancy with panic attacks is not a contraindication. With the right approach and desire, a woman has every chance to bear and give birth to a healthy baby. To prevent the occurrence of panic attacks during pregnancy, you must adhere to the general recommendations of the doctor, observe the correct diet, stay more in the fresh air, abandon bad habits and fully focus on the unborn child.