Please help me.

[Godzilla]

I have suffered for 11 years with anxiety. Had 3 real nasty few months over the 11 years, rest of the time I have been trying to live with it which is very hard.

Well about 2 weeks ago it started to get bad again. I cant collect my daughter from school anymore as to scared to drive, cant even walk my dogs very far as to scared to be away from my home.....And now I am scared of people coming in my home.

My sensations are.....Very dizzy, confused, sometimes get these feelings like my body is full of burning hot water, aching legs.......I am so scared. I am on medication but nothing seems to be helping anymore.

What can I do as cant even get to the Dr's now as it means leaving my home. Strange thing is about 3 weeks ago I was driving about 25 miles from home, picking my daughter up everyday, driving to the woods with my dogs, going out for meals etc.......Now I am having a job even walking down my stairs.

[Annie0904]

When I got so bad that I couldn't get to the doctors, the doctor came to my home. You will need to request a home visit. So sorry you are feeling so bad at the moment but you will get better again and you have to believe that. :hugs::hugs::hugs:

[bernie1977]

As Annie says you definitely need to see your Doctor. If you explain that you can't get to surgery the Doctor will come out to see you. I'm agoraphobic and mine comes out when I request an home visit.

I can totally sympathise with how you are feeling. Maybe a change or increase in medication will help.

[Godzilla]

Thank you for such fast and kind replies.

I feel really ashamed. I am 38 years old, Male and have not done much over the past 11 years due to feeling so nervous. I cant understand why it has come back again?

[bernie1977]

I'm 38 too but female. I don't think there is any rules with this illness. I hate it.

[Laura123]

That the thing with panic and anxiety, it never ever makes any sense so give your tired mind a rest and don't keep trying to figure it out. I would agree with the others, you need to get a home visit and speak with your doctor, this is a blip, it really is only a blip and you will get better. Do you know any relaxation techniques, deep diaphragm breathing is excellent for calming the mind. Xx

[Godzilla]

Thank you all x.

Just reading the replies has given me a lift! I hate these sensations though, the dizzy feeling, almost like being on a rocky boat. Also these sensations of feeling like my entire body is burning, that scares me as I get to a point where I don't know what to do......Then it eases?

[Pipkin]

Hi there,

You've got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and, as the other posters have said, this illness isn't choosy about who it affects, gender or age. I'm 41 and male and have suffered from anxiety most of my life. You should actually be proud to have fought this for so long and still managed to bring up your daughter. That's a real achievement.

I would agree that you need to see your GP and if you can't go to him, he'll have to visit you at home. He'll have seen this situation many times before so he'll understand. Ring up your surgery and explain.

I really do urge you to get some help - don't let this illness take away any more time from you and your family. There are things that can help so don't suffer in silence.

Take care

Pip x

[Godzilla]

You should actually be proud to have fought this for so long and still managed to bring up your daughter. That's a real achievement.


Take care

Pip x

Pip what a lovely reply. You would never believe it if you saw me....6ft, 16st, bodybuilder.....Yet just reading what you put above has me in floods of tears. I am so tired of it bud, I just want to live a normal anxiety free life. My daughter means the world to me. I feel so sad that I have never been able to take her on holiday like my Dad used to do with me. My Mum and Dad so my daughters Grandparents take her away each year as I cant travel. All this medication and still I cant lead a normal life. I have not long got an inheritance......What I would do to be able to get on a plane and take my daughter on holiday. I was an anxious child at school, I remember dreading assembly's as I used to get dizzy in them and that was when I was 5 or 6.

[Annie0904]

Have you been offered any counselling? I think it may help you. You can overcome this..be positive. :hugs:

[Harley]

Please please don't feel ashamed, would you be feeling ashamed if you had any other illness. People who suffer anxiety are very strong, we have to be to get through each day experiencing the fear we do. You can and will overcome this, you are stronger than you think. You can beat the anxiety once you loose the fear of it because then it will have no hold on you. I was once like you, frightened to go out, anxious when visitors came to the house, sometimes I could not even answer the phone. There were days when I would convince myself that I could not drive anywhere, but I would get in the car just to prove myself wrong however hard it was. I too when through I a time when I thought I would never be able to travel again. But I went on to over come my anxiety and even travel to Australia all myself to be with my daughter when she was ill. I think Annie is right, counselling will help, once you start to understand how anxiety works you will become less afraid of it, and then you are half way to winning the battle. :hugs:

---------- Post added at 21:15 ---------- Previous post was at 20:47 ----------

Please dont feel ashamed, would you feel ashamed if you were suffering another illness? Laura is right, stop trying to make any sense of it and just go with it. People who suffer anxiety are very strong, we have to be to get through every day having to experience what we do and still find the strength to carry on. I was very similar to you, I had trouble going out, collecting my children from school became a nightmare. There were days when I couldnt pick up the phone to talk to anyone and the thoughts of visitors coming to the house would scare me so much. Some days the thought of getting in the car and driving filled me with fear but I would force myself to do it. I think counselling will be of a great help to you, once you understand how anxiety works and how it affects you, you will start to loose your fear of it, and then you are half way to winning the battle. You can and will overcome this with the right help and support. I too thought that I would never be able to travel and yet a few years ago I found myself getting on a flight to Australia, all by myself, to visit my daughter. Its a case of taking small steps at a time, unfortunately there is no quick fix for anxiety but with the right help and support you will overcome it.

[Pipkin]

You will get there - I promise. It's just a matter of finding the right path. I've had some terrible times but I'm so much better these days. Meds help but they're only a small part of the solution. As you know, the rest is down to us to fight it. It's so hard but you have to force yourself to do things that are incredibly difficult but it's the only way.

I spent years worrying about so many different things, most of which were trivial and came to nothing. I feel like I lost years of my life and it came to the point where I wasn't prepared to lose any more.

Take time to think back and see that you've always got through and you'll realise that you've got nothing to lose by gritting your teeth and fighting it. Don't give up - you've got so many things to enjoy.

Take care

Pip x

[Godzilla]

What lovely and supportive people we have on here.

I am going to get some counselling. I was recently left a bit of money so going to put that money towards counselling.

In the meantime do I try and fight it, say to try and lead a normal life by driving etc because I am staying in all the time as don't know what to do. I know driving makes me worse the further I go from home.

My Dad had exactly the same as me. I am now getting very anxious when my daughter is in the car as I don't want her to see me get anxious as don't want her to get this 'learnt behaviour' which I am sure is what I have.

[Harley]

Hi Godzilla, I can really sympathise with you. Try and do things in small stages. Maybe just go for a five minute drive to start. Just take little steps at a time. It is very hard when you have children to try and hide how you are feeling all of the time. I dont know how old your daughter is, but one of my daughters was ten when I was probably at my worst. I gave her the job of navigating and map reading every time we went out which kind of gave me a distraction away from how I was feeling and it made her feel very important. Pipkin is right. I lost so many years of my life and missed my children growing up. Remember, anxiety cannot hurt you. Try to carry on with the things that are important to you and life and eventually you will find that your anxiety will give up.

[Flossie11]

Hi,
I can really sympathize with you.
I too went from being my regular anxious self :) to not feeling able to leave the house in the span of about 2 weeks. It was wild how fast the anxiety can get the better of us.
Counceling in combination with meds has helped me a lot.
I've come a long way in 3 months, but still a ways to go.
Though I wouldn't wish my worst days on my worst enemy, I also have come to realize that I need to pay more attention to the things in my life that help keep the anxiety high.
I spent the first month and a half just wanting to get back to "normal"
But if I think about it now, that "normal" was obviously not working for me.
Don't be ashamed. So many people deal with what you are going through, though I know it can feel so isolating.
Small steps. Each one is a step closer to feeling better. No step is too small.