1 week on medication and can’t stop focusing on my swallow- am I going crazy?? HELP

[Biancalee]

So I had a baby 2 weeks ago and started to feel obsessively anxious. I had struggled with health anxiety and gad for a few years before hand and responded well to medication. When I found out I was pregnant I weaned off. Now I have started back on and  feeling much better i increased my dosage the last 3 days and BAM! I started focusing on my swallowing and can’t stop! It’s a constant obsession and it’s making me so anxious that I will never stop. I keep telling myself it’s my anxiety but I’m worried I am going crazy and will never be normal again. Someone please give me some advice, it’s making me depressed!

[Croix]

Dear Biancalee~

I guess the first thing to get out the way is that your post does not sound crazy in the least. You have a new worrying condition and not surprisingly are reacting. This at a time of very great change and have an awful lot to deal with right now. Incidentally congratulations on the new baby.

Going of meds while you were pregnant sounds a very wise move, it does mean however when you go back on afterwards there are sometimes temporary hiccups.

No matter what the cause I'm sure the matter can be dealt with quickly. Actually you don't really say what the problem is. If you have difficulty swallowing, swallow excessively, or simply are "watching yourself all the time" when you do swallow. (I probably did not explain myself that well with the last one)

As you would be well aware having a baby makes for a huge upheaval in the body, and afterwards there is a period of adjustment, breastfeeding being just one example. It is also a time when the after-effects of pregnancy could lead to other things. Actually I'd suppose even a slightly swollen throat might make swallowing more noticeable. However from what you say anxiety may be the cause, either directly or though unexpected medication side-effects.

I'm not a doctor, just someone who has been with his partner for the journey.

If it was me I'd let a professional decide. I strongly suggest you see you doctor and set it all out and get a professional opinion. It may well be that your new meds need time to become properly effective or their dosage altered.

A new baby, particularly the first, makes for an awful big change in life, do you mind if I ask if you are on your own or have someone to help and support you?

Please let us know how you get on

Croix

[geoff]

Hello Biancalee, a warm welcome to you.

Congratulations on having your baby, but with this swallowing issue, it's something I went through many years ago, and there have been many posts lately where there is something happening which have included a problem where OCD has been involved.

It's an obsession you have and whether you have to swallow 4, 5, 6 or 10 times becomes so exhausting it's unbearable.

Sometimes like what happened to me as a young kid, I had to swallow a certain amount of times and if I was interrupted I had to start from the beginning once again, that was so exhausting I had to convince myself to do something else to replace this obsession, once my mind was settled in doing this, I told myself it's OK I'm doing something else.

OCD is difficult for people to understand, they can't follow why we have to do these habits because their reasoning is to 'just stop it' or 'why do you have to do this', but with this illness our anxiety tells our brain we can't settle until it's done.

Let me know how you are getting on.

Geoff.

[Shebs]

Hi and congratulations on your new baby! It’s an exciting and also challenging time for you.

I agree that you should talk to your doctor about it.

As we can’t mention meds here. I won’t say which ones I’m on, but I have trouble swallowing with one particular one and all of them do make your mouth dry. So maybe that’s why??

Take care x