Fear of meetings - would meds help?

[BarryT]

It started at work when a boss used to humiliate and ridicule me in open meetings. It got so bad I eventually took redundancy. At the same time there was a bad family breakdown and social services got involved. I had to go to child at risk meeting with professionals and used to get so worked up thinking about them every waking second, sometimes I just couldnt go.
Now all meetings have this affect.
It has effectively stopped me working. I had the opportunity of a 'chat' with someone Ive never met over some work this week and also bottled it. It is just the thought that I might start panicking in the situation.
Ive taken no medication so far but have been researching the internet about use of stuff like xanax as I know doc wont prescribe it in a million years.
Has anyone found any meds that help?

[Christoff]

Hi Barry. Sorry to hear about your situation.
Your symptoms are very similar to problems I was also having at work. I couldn't deal with meetings at work and used every excuse I could to get out of them. After years of avoiding them and not doing anything to help myself I ended up getting paid off. The same fear then came out when I was trying for new jobs and just couldn't face interviews. I think it's the fear of making a fool of myself in front of people and it turns into a vicous circle.
Anyway, I was told to try Citalopram and although I have now come off it, it did help. I was using 20mg tablets daily. It didn't fix everything for me but it definitely took the edge off and helped me deal with things. A close friend of mine started having similar problems and I suggested Citalopram to him. He is still taking 20mg tablets and they seem to have sorted him out completely. Maybe it affects people different ways or maybe he just caught it early enough.
I'm looking into trying to get CBT through NHS at the minute but the docs and mental health system over here (NI) is appalling so it's not easy.
I'm hoping to retrain in the next couple of years to a different career as the sort of work I was in just doesn't suit me anymore.
If you want to message me or anything work away and maybe we can bounce ideas off each other :)

[youcanmakeit]

I have also suffered with a fear of meetings for the past 5 or so years. I work in a big office with hundreds of people and I often have to go to meetings, from just one on one to 20 or so people.

It's a horrible thing to live with and when you are in a job that involves meetings it can be really difficult.

When it first started my doctor put me on some kind of beta blockers, I think the idea was that it would reduce my heart rate and calm me down. To be honest I am not sure they had that much of an effect.

I can't suggest any other medication as I have not taken anything else myself, but would be interested to know if you find anything that helps.

I had CBT for another issue and found that did help with that, so that maybe an option.