Postpartum Anxiety/shortness of Breath

Yes it is most likely panic attacks-they will go away with time. Sometimes it helps to talk to a counselor and see what the dr. says about maybe some hormones? The best thing is focus on your baby and just go with the flow from what you do to take care of her. Practice some yoga too-even when you hold the baby yo can practice breathing with listening to her-then you both are in sync with each other. good luck Mom and it really is ok and will go away (generally not as fast as we want). Try to nap when she naps that helps too-and if it is only then well ok that works too. Get a good diet while at it.

Hi S.,

After my son was born, I did have some post partum anxiety. And it did cause shortness of breath, but I knew it was from the anxiety because I have experienced it before. I don't have too much time to go into it, but I know the post partum was awful and I never thought I would get out of it. The very best advice I can give you from personal experience is to go on a lot of walks, especially ones that are somewhere more in nature, like parks, hills etc. I was very lucky to have some really pretty places to walk. I like hiking so I would put my baby in a baby bjorn and walk some small hills. I found that the more time I spent walking and just getting out of the house, the less anxiety I felt. And therefore less, "shortness of breath". I know it's hard at this stage, but you have to do things for yourself, even if it means lugging around your baby. It's great for the both of you. It goes away after a short amount of time, but you can make it more bearable by getting outdoors and doing things for yourself. I wish you the best of luck and tell you that when people say, they grow so fast, it is true so truley enjoy this stage even if you have some anxiety. If you need any more suggestions or just someone to talk to, you can send me message.

M.

I had shortness of breath with my anxiety- I was told it is very normal! Try to get on some medication for anxiety and depression. It will help. Also, yoga really helps open up your lungs and is good for relaxation too- It helped me, maybe it will help you? Hope you feel better. Hang in there!

Molly

The best resource I have found for dealing with anxiety and panic is the book Hope And Help For Your Nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes.

He teaches you how to respond when you start feeling the anxiety...shortness of breath, racing heart, churning stomach, sweaty hands...whatever form your anxiety manifests itself.

Basically the cliff notes version...facing that you are having anxiety and not to run away from it...accept that you will have these spells and it is okay they can not hurt you...try and "float" through them like floating on water although I envision myself with beautiful butterfly type wings hovering over the feelings...then just let time pass and wait them out, the feelings will pass and with more time you should stop having them at all...

Hope this helps...I spent years trying to find a "medical" cause for my anxiety, but it was just a fear of the symptoms of anxiety...the more you fight it the worse it can get...the more you relax and accept it as something to deal with for a while the sooner it will go away. HUGS!!!

Sometimes that does happen. Your body is still adjusting to not having the baby inside of you. Just give it some time and you will heal. If it's still there after a year then you need to go to a specialist to find out why it's happening.

Wow-I am so glad you posted this! I am going through the exact same thing. This is my fourth child and I have had shortness of breath starting at 2 months postpartum. I have been studying up on what is going on with me. I was scared because I didn't know what was goin on and my doctor (OB) wasn't much help. He wrote me a script for prozac which I DID NOT want to take and told him, but he handed it to me anyways. I didn't take it, but we had to go on a trip to Florida during all this and I was so anxious about the trip that I didn't want to go. Well, my mother in law talked me into going and we flew there and while we were there my anxiety got bad and I took the prozac cuz I didn't know what else to do. The prozac made it WORSE! I felt wired!! I took it for 6 days and ended up with insomnia the last 2 days. I felt terrible!! I stopped taking it once I got home from Florida and my mother took my 3 other children while I kept the baby and I slept as much as I could and BOY DO I FEEL SOOOO MUCH BETTER! It does get better and now that I know what it is I am working with myself to calm myself and remind myself that its okay and that it will pass. I feel so much better but if it starts back up when the kids come home I will know what I need to do. You are soo not alone! We just need to learn how to calm ourselves and take a deep breath and walking does help.. short walks. Family support is very important too! Thanks for posting!! It feels so good to know I am not alone!! :) Best wishes to you that it will soon pass!!

I didn't have shortness of breath, but felt that my ribcage was restricted, like a weight or something. I had a hard time getting deep breaths, and often if I laid on my back or side I'd have a panic attack, when standing wasn't a problem. Turns out that it was restricted. The ribs were stuck and didn't move normally when I breathed in and out. My husband is an Osteopathic Physician and spent a year just doing manipulation (of joints and muscles - similar to a chiropractor, but not as severe!!!) and is very good. He was able to get the ribcage to release and it made a HUGE difference. I'm sure it got that way with the pregnancy putting lots of pressure on my ribcage. My baby is nearly a year old and still if I get rib restriction again it can trigger my heart racing and feeling a bit panicky (even though my PPD has passed), so I try to get it treated quickly.

I'd recommend finding an Osteopathic Physician who practices Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment - OMT (many don't because they have no interest or were not taught much about it in medical school) and get checked out. If you can't find anyone in your area, then check with a chiropractor, but I don't recommend them first because they're really into high velocity treatments, lots of machines to diagnose and treat (things like small hammer pounding your vertebrae back into place...) instead of their hands, and sometimes some of them hurt people. So if you need to use one, do a lot of checking around to find a good one, they do exist.

I know this is no fun, and I hope you can get it resolved. PPD is no picnic, and neither is anxiety. Best wishes!

I have had bouts with anxiety and shortness of breath over the years...both pre-kids and postpartum. I am typically a very optimitstic person so I never wanted to believe this. Once a doc gave me every test in the book to confirm that I did not have anything wrong with my lungs. I believed. She prescribed me Atavan, which I took twice and never took again. The best thing to counteract the anxiety/shortness of breath for me are four things:
1) Yoga and/or stretching - all of my muscles get tense in my back and that makes the breathing worse
2) Frequent walks outside - relieves the stress with a little sunshine, plus get those muscles moving
3) Massage - We can't really afford massages as often now with two kids and one on the way. So, my hubby and I have an alternating massage deal. We take turns massaging one another's back so we end up each getting a 20 minute massage a couple of times a week.
4) Chiropractic - find a good, therapeutic chiro. I have one that I recommend to everyone, located in Flat Rock (I drive from Plymouth). He is fabulous. I don't go often, but when it gets bad...he is my answer.

Good luck. Just remember to always try to take time for yourself, and get some good rest when you can.