Dealing With a Panic Attack During Pregnancy
Panic attacks can be seriously frightening, but perhaps never more so than during pregnancy. This is especially true because the woman is then not only afraid of hurting herself but also her unborn baby.
What Panic Attacks Are
Panic attacks produce sudden and incredibly intense feelings of fear, and can happen anywhere at any time. They can occur when one is alone, hanging out with friends or family, and even wake one from their sleep. This is perhaps the most frightening aspect of all when it comes to panic attacks, is that sufferers can not foresee one coming.
There are many signs and symptoms associated with these panic attacks, including a rapid heart rate, sweaty palms, trembling, shortness of breath, chills, nausea, abdominal cramping, dizziness, faintness, tightness in throat, and often even a feeling of impending doom or death.
Panic Attack During Pregnancy
Panic attacks are serious enough to begin with, but the issue of a panic attack during pregnancy is especially important. Half of all pregnant women experience panic attacks, which is even more reason as to why the issue of a panic attack during pregnancy is so important to understand.
Women with symptoms of anxiety may experience agoraphobia and may even progress to having full blown panic attacks while they are pregnant. This is due to a number of different factors, including the increase of hormones that is rushing through a pregnant woman's body.
The course of panic disorder can vary greatly from one pregnant woman to another, as some women may not experience an increase in anxiety at all during their pregnancy while others may have an increase in their symptoms and require an increase in their treatment, whether that refers to antidepressant or antianxiety medication or therapy.
A panic attack during pregnancy is especially common during the last few months, and this panic attack during pregnancy increase is largely due to an increased level of activity in the nonadrenergic and serotenergic systems innervating the brain which may cause increased neurotransmitter activity.
There are many forms of treatment available for pregnant women suffering from panic attacks, including self and group therapy. Antidepressant and antianxiety medications are also commonly used and these tend to produce their effect within the central nervous system by interacting with neurotransmitters and brain receptors. There are possible side effects of these medications however, which you will want to be aware of before starting on any of them.
