Agoraphobia is sneaking up on me :(

[Ambers]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and wanted to find out more about how this 'Anxiety' can be tamed.

15 years ago I had a anesthestic to put me to sleep for an operation - however only my body went to sleep - I couldn't move to tell them I was still awake. Thankfully I went into some sort of shock which my vital signs all went and I woke up with tubes in my throat and wired up to all sorts of machines. I am glad to be here today.

Over the years slowly, I started to panic over things - such as I gave up driving on a motorway, stopped using lifts, started to hate heights and wouldn't use any cubicles that didn't have gaps or windows. I thought I could just avoid these things and I would be ok.

Recently had a health scare and from nowhere I really started to panic and I the last week I have a major (embarressing) attack on the train to work and in a car park. At present I will not leave the house in case it happens again and I just feel really on edge and sick all the time.

I am a strong person (or I thought I was) and I want to fight this - but it feels so out of my control. I have named my anxiety 'George' because I thought if it had a name I could either fight it or befriend it.

Doctor has in the last few weeks put me on Flueoxine (made me much worse) and now Sertraline - I feel no better and I am on my 5th day of this med. But this will be in conjuction with sort some of theraphy.

Right - my husband has taken my son out swimming so I am going to attempt to walk to the local village for a bottle of water - wish me luck

Ambers

[margaret jones]

Hi Ambers welcome to nmp you will find lots of help and information on this fab site and make lots of friends .

Re your Agrophobia you are wise to try and sort it with the help of your GP and people on NMP .

Take Care Maggie xxxx

[Ambers]

Thanks for the welcome...

I did it! I took 'George' for a walk to my local village shop. At times I felt a little whoozy and I had a knot in my tummy but I did it. A little step in the big wide world - next stop is driving!

[Reggie256]

Hi Ambers,

Like you alot of people on the forum, including myself, hate going out, the 'fear of fear' is a major symptom of our disorder.
I would say, just try and do what you feel capable of doing. Talk to your husband about whats going on, I found this very hard as being a man, having to explain that although we had set out to go to Morrisons, I couldnt actually go in to the shop with her that day....It even sounds stupid to me now typing it...but it is very real and luckily I have a partner who accepts it, even if she doent fully understand it.
Next i would say try to go out as often as possible, even just walking round the village, dont get stuck in the rut of staying in, that can be quite crippling, if thats the right word.
If you feel dodgy when your out, follow on from your 'naming' and find somewhere to just sit and 'examine' the feelings, I found this quite helpful as when you realise that they CAN go away at anytime, they didnt seem as scary!
I'm not too sure abut your meds as I only know the ones Im on, but mine made me worse for about a month but remember you do pull out of it, and if your not happy, go back to your GP, make them earn that 70k a year!

Hang in there!

[Dahlia]

Hi Ambers

You're doing exactly the right thing to beat it - attempting to do things. It's all about small steps, building up confidence and not beating yourself up about it. The sertraline may not kick in for up to 6 weeks, so don't be surprised that you don't feel any different yet.

Dahlia

[Ambers]

I need to find some coping techniques for train ride to work.... will start a new thread. Thank you all for your advice and support - good to find this place.