Hi, I'm Sean, and I think I have agoraphobia. I looked it up and have most of the symptoms. Feels like an illness. Weak, dizzyness, fear of leavin the home, and I hate it when it gets night time too. Also upset stomach and the shakes. Even in my home I feel this. Is it normal to feel these symptoms in your "safety" area. I have pills to calm me, Lorazepam they gave me. On Tuesday, I'm flying across country to Idaho (I live in Massachusetts) and I don't know what to do. If Im this bad right now, I have no idea what it'll be like ridin in a car, no less a plane 3 times Tuesday. I feel trapped. This all hit last week. One day I was ridin in the front passenger seat & all of the sudden, this feeling came over me of dizzy/out of place kinda feeling..so much so I braced myself holding on to the door. My wife immediately took me home & I havent riden in a car since. Ever since that day, the feeling is becoming stronger & I'm becoming more nervous and weaker. I suppose its because of the plane ride, but I've flown planes many of times, every year since I was 14. (I'm 37 now). I don't like flying but I never got this nervous, just a lil nervous. Why is this happening now? Agoraphobic symptoms have bad timing.
I'm hating what I have...
- Thread starter Sean73
- Start date
agoraphobickatie
Well-known member
that's how it hit me, too.. completely out of nowhere! i was in the store one day and felt the need to get the hell out of there and i didn't go anywhere for months after that... that was a little over a year ago and i've made great progress since then! exposure therapy has really worked for me. forcing myself to do things i'm really afraid of. i kept positive thoughts in my head, telling myself that it was all in my head and nothing bad was really going to happen.. eventually, after going out of the house often, i'd realize that, and i'd start feeling more and more comfortable. now i'm out driving alone again and even hanging out with my friends and going to public places with them.
as far as the plane thing goes... just know that your panic won't last forever. accept that you're scared, you're nervous, you're anxious and that you feel like total crap. when i feel anxious and panicky when i'm out, i kind of just say "yeah, okay.. i feel like sh!t right now, but soon enough it'll all be over" and eventually, my mind is somewhere else completely when i realize that i don't even remember when i started to feel better..
best wishes to you!
as far as the plane thing goes... just know that your panic won't last forever. accept that you're scared, you're nervous, you're anxious and that you feel like total crap. when i feel anxious and panicky when i'm out, i kind of just say "yeah, okay.. i feel like sh!t right now, but soon enough it'll all be over" and eventually, my mind is somewhere else completely when i realize that i don't even remember when i started to feel better..
best wishes to you!
Thank you. I'm thinking of getting help after my 2 week vacation is over. I read about that exposure therapy doing wonders. I fight the feelings, or try to. If I start feeling very out of it, my breathing normally usually calms me down. Even if my heart races, I concentrate on breathing slowly tellin myself I'm still alive & well & it's just that annoying anxiety. But the dizzyness and other symptoms involving the head I can do without. lol I quit coffee because of this. I was on a pot a day, first drinking regular coffee with a lot of sugar in each mug. Then I was shakin too much, I lowered my coffee to 1/2 caffeine, still the same amount of sugar. But then that even got to me & I quit. Whatever I have does NOT like caffeine. I made a mistake & drunk a cup of Dr Pepper last night at around 8. That wasn't good. But I closed my eyes & breathed slowly & fell asleep and didnt need a pill. But this morning when I woke up, it sorta said, "HA HA, didnt get rid of me!" But I feel a lil better now.
But this weakness I hate. I take care of a 5 yr old during the day & everything was good & I could do anything, even chase the kids. But after it hit, my body got in a weakened state & I can barely get active. Is that normal for anxiety?
But this weakness I hate. I take care of a 5 yr old during the day & everything was good & I could do anything, even chase the kids. But after it hit, my body got in a weakened state & I can barely get active. Is that normal for anxiety?
agoraphobickatie
Well-known member
caffeine is definitely no good! haha.. that's great that you eased up on it! i have too and it's also helped me a lot... the breathing thing is great! i have a tattoo on my wrist that says "breathe" just for that reason! i take a deep breath through my nose, hold it for 7 seconds or so and then let it out slowly through my mouth and concentrate on only that! concentrate on the sound it makes when i exhale and all...
i'm not totally sure about the weakness thing... it could definitely be your new lack of caffeine, ya know? and i know depression really slows us down as well, anxiety takes a lot out of you and you could be feeling depressed just because of your anxiety.. one of the first things my therapist told me was that there are two main things that can really help with your anxiety. sleep and exercise. she said it's important to have a solid sleep schedule and to get the right amount of rest. and exercise is great because it gets so much of the anxiety and tense feelings out of you, makes you fill your day more so that when you lay down to go to bed, you can fall asleep without the anxiety keeping you up.
you sound like you're being really brave and doing what you can to progress, that's awesome! don't give up no matter how much you hate it or feel that you've fallen back. remember that your anxiety attacks cannot last forever. it's simply impossible to have a panic attack forever. know that what your feeling will pass and try your best to focus on anything else!
i'm not totally sure about the weakness thing... it could definitely be your new lack of caffeine, ya know? and i know depression really slows us down as well, anxiety takes a lot out of you and you could be feeling depressed just because of your anxiety.. one of the first things my therapist told me was that there are two main things that can really help with your anxiety. sleep and exercise. she said it's important to have a solid sleep schedule and to get the right amount of rest. and exercise is great because it gets so much of the anxiety and tense feelings out of you, makes you fill your day more so that when you lay down to go to bed, you can fall asleep without the anxiety keeping you up.
you sound like you're being really brave and doing what you can to progress, that's awesome! don't give up no matter how much you hate it or feel that you've fallen back. remember that your anxiety attacks cannot last forever. it's simply impossible to have a panic attack forever. know that what your feeling will pass and try your best to focus on anything else!
ty. I was born with Moebius Syndrome, which is a facial nerve disorder, and with that I was born without hands, so I adapt to things well. This latest thing is a biggy though. Life is full of obstacles. I've learned early on in life that nothing's gunna improve until you do something about it. So, off to destroy another obstacle...
I was born with Moebius Syndrome, which is a facial nerve disorder, and with that I was born without hands, so I adapt to things well. This latest thing is a biggy though. Life is full of obstacles. I've learned early on in life that nothing's gunna improve until you do something about it. So, off to destroy another obstacle...
agoraphobickatie
Well-known member
ty.
you're awesome! i'm the same way, i had to learn pretty early on that you can't change the cards you're dealt, all you can do is work through it.. you have a great attitude, i wish more people could be so positive and brave!
Well my family & I went to the movies today. I knew I had to do some of that exposure therapy, specially when Im leavin on a plane Tuesday. So the drive was 15 minutes. And each minute, the drive got worse. In the beginning, it was o.k., told myself this will be fine. Towards the end of the drive.."Uh, we almost there?" So, I made the drive, and when I got on my feet, I felt wobbly & lightheaded. But I made it to the door, went in & quickly sat down in the movie theater. Everything was ok until the lights went out & the trailers were showing. The sound even made me shake a little. So, for bout 30 minutes, my shaking increased. My wife tried to calm me down, & I wasnt thinkin anythin bad, my body just started to shake. Then she gave me 1/2 pill of Lorazepam. I chilled a bit, but start to shook a lil later. Then she gave me the other 1/2. After that I felt better. Ugh hate this thing.