Hi, it's really common to have anxiety post diagnosis. About a month after my diagnosis, my anxiety was through the roof and I started having panic attacks. I sought counseling which really helped me. I would also practice meditation, particularly a body scan meditation which just helped me stay in the moment and refocus my thoughts.

http://www.csh.umn.edu/wsh/prod/groups/ahc/@pub/@ahc/@csh/@wsh/documents/content/ahc_content_229748.pdf


Remember with PEs, once you're diagnosed and on treatment, your risk for more PEs is very low. It's unusual to clot while on anticoagulants, assuming you're on lovenox or something. The risks are really related to not getting diagnosed in time.

I so sympathize with you! I have health anxiety and a preexisting anxiety disorder so when I got my PE in July, with no real obvious causes, I had a huge problem with anxiety. I was CONVINCED I wouldn't survive until Christmas. Some days I'm still certain I won't be around to watch my 4 y/o grow up. What's extra crappy for you is there isnt much medication for anxiety that is safe to take during pregnancy. All I can say is I understand. Give yourself time. Maybe see a therapist if you don't already or schedule a few extra sessions if you do. It can be really helpful to discuss your fears with someone who will be caring but logical. Time has been the best for me. Each day I survive feels like a little victory and my anxiety lessens. Most days, I feel downright normal now, or at least as normal as I ever get. Hang in there. I know it's so hard to process this!

Hi there,
I was also diagnosed with a PE during pregnancy (10 weeks in) and dealt with anxiety afterwards. This forum really helped me, and whenever I felt afraid of dying suddenly I would remind myself that I was on blood thinners so the possibility of another clot was very low if not impossible. I started to feel a lot better a couple of months after the PE and had a great pregnancy from then on, and delivered a healthy baby boy. I'm now pregnant again and on blood thinners and things are going well. I know the sudden death part of PEs is pretty scary but you've gotten through the worst of it and are now diagnosed and being treated and are in good hands. Anxiety is normal though and it's good to talk, maybe through talk therapy as another poster suggested. I saw a therapist and that also really helped.

What everyone else said. I had depression/anxiety too. I took to Google and found as much as I possibly could and found comparisons of our depression/anxiety to be at the level of soldiers suffering PTSD (I'm *not* trying to minimize those who serve their country, so please don't assume I mean that), so what you're experiencing is completely normal.

Thank you all for your kind comments and words. Even the two weeks between when I posted and now I feel less anxiety...although it is still always there somewhere throughout the day! I am going to see a counselor which is helping too. And reading through the posts on this forum has really helped in terms of information and getting some facts straight. It seems so strange that the doctors say: "hey you had a life-threatening blood clot but you're good now" then release you onto the street without even a pamphlet. There were just so many questions I had which I was still too in shock to even think of. And it doesn't help when you tell people what happened and they're like "Oh my God. people DIE from those." "Uh...yeah...I know!" and then proceed to regale you with stories of people they know who dropped dead!

I hope one day I will feel back to my normal self. Especially with a new baby coming. It has been really hard getting people (esp my boyfriend) to understand so it is nice to be here with people who do.

Dchild, I was wondering if I could message you about pregnancy on blood thinners as it would be great to talk to someone who already went through it and wasn't too scared to do it again!