can anyone help???

[leah23]

hi I am suppose to be going to my mam's house this afternoon,I havent been there in over 2yrs or more now,I was going to go last week but didnt,I did try but changed my mind at last min as traffic was busy,didnt push myself enough! it is only over the hill,probably take about 5mins but seems miles +miles away to me as I havent been this far from home in 2yrs+ so I get really nervous/anxious. I was wondering what everyone does to help them get through this kind of situation,what different thingsyou do or you use to help keep your mind off the panic feelings? like I take a bottle of water with me whenever I go out as I find I always get a dry mouth and drinking the water seems to help me keep a little more focused,helps me to kind of get a bit better control of my breathing when starting to have panic/anxiety attack. I would be grateful for anyone who can help me with different techniques I could try that they found helped them through a situation. thank you leah x

[anxious]

Hi,
didnt' want to read and run. No advice really as its not someting i tend to suffer with (health anx here) but will it help thinking of how good it will make you feel when you do it.
.
Good luck xx

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects

[candie]

Hiya,when youre in the car try as best you can to go with your feelings,the more you try to fight the worse it'll be and remember its only a panic attack because YOU put the panic there.The attack is just a range of bodily sensations and that is all.It only starts to feel out of control when you panic because you feel that way!! The car journey is only 5 mins and im sure youve been through longer periods of panic than that in the past.Please try to go and then at least youve tried and when youve got there(and you know you'll get there) you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment.Let us know what happens and if you need to offload anything feel free to pm me.Chin up,Candie xxxxxxxx:D

[ruthb1]

hi,

try and think positive and think i will get there and then when you are in the car try not to think about the negatives just on the positives.

i dont really suffer from that i have health anxiety, but i know it must be reallt frightening, but remember that you are taking the first step, and by doing this today you are well on your way, i will want to see a success story on here later so keep us updated.


take care


ruth

[belle]

Ahh..i can relate to this one.
Being agoraphobic and having panic attacks i've come up against this problem many times.
How far can you go alone at the moment?
I know this isn't going to help for today, but what i have been doing is gradually going a little bit further in my car, NOT everyday, cause its NOT everyday when i feel well enough to do it and if i was to try when i was have a very bad day, i know it'd end badly.
Today for example i got 1.4 miles from my house - and this is a MAJOR accomplishment :) I needed to go to the chemist and that is the closest one!!!!
I would LOVE to know what to do when you hit that panic wall mid-driving....the feelings the flood over you are sometimes too much to cope with and generally leave me no alternative other than turn round. It IS a defeatist attitude, but i don't know what else to do.
Sarah.

[PITITA]

Hi,

It might not make a lot of sense to you, but what always helps me is that when I feel the panic attack starting and it always scare me I just turn it around by actually waiting for it and wanting to have it, like I really concentrate hard to make sure I do have it and at the end it never happens. It could be just something that only works for me, but I thought its worth sharing it as it might just help someone else.

"Our thinking creates problems that the same type of thinking will not solve" Albert Einstein

[Paddington]

COUNT!!Yep,counting SLOWLY AND METHODICALLY and naming things in yourcar.It works!Concentrate on your counting[breathing never worked for me,well not ordinary breathing or i wouldnt be here lol]over and over again ..1234...1234...1234..or as i said,name things in your car[this works anywhere by the way!]this uses a different partof the brain so taking your mind off[literally]your panic giving your body time to settle down.You have to REALLY count tho,not count and still look for symptoms thru the corner of your eye!!!!I do this and i do it when i am out too in the shops or anything.My sis ter told me about it and i didnt believe her but i had a stinker of apanic one day in town and it saved my life ,iwas ready to thro myself over the barriers i could not stand the terror ,i remembered what she had said and stearted to count 1...10 1..10..over and over and the panic subsided and went away .Try it hun please let us know how you get on.You will feel amillion dollars on your achievment .i know, as i took my daughter to work this morning in the fog!!!Only a mile away but who's counting?OH I FORGOT WE ARE!!!!!lOVE MARY ROSE.XXXXXXXXXXX

we are all in the same boat and can guide each other ashore

[monty]

I am a long term panic attack and agoraphobia sufferer so know just how you feel. Don't be too hard on yourself- although I do the same thing! I find travelling in the car difficult (I'm old enough to take lessons now but don't think it would be a good idea- panicking in the driving seat must be terrible!). Have you tried distraction with your favourite music- something sing along to would be best.

Hope things are ok. Let us know how you got on.

Lucy :)

[net]

mary rose has a good suggestion i learned this last week from my therapist and it does work

music keeps me calm in the car

my therapsit also told me to put a red dot on my dashboard and everytime i look at it to mentally examine myself to see how anxious i am
and if i can to pull over and write down how anxious i am and what symptoms i have cos that focuses your brain on something other than having the panic once calm again i can carry on

netty


the dreams of the future are better than the history of the past

[leah23]

Hi everyone. thank you all very much for your replies,I am really grateful. I didnt get to my mam's yesterday as my mam decided to go out. my mam has my little girl& my niece every friday and she normally takes them to her house,so I didnt tell her what I had planned on doing as I wanted to surprise her,if I got there cause I would be the last person she expected to walk through her door,would be nice to see her reaction! as the weather was nice here yesterday for a change,instead of heavy rain,she made plans to meet her friend&daughter for the afternoon. however I didnt stay in all afternoon me&my partner went out for a drive,also went abit further,out about 20-25mins so I was still pleased that I did do abit more of a step by going bit further. wont be putting my mam's off will be trying again through the week,hoping that it will rain so she wont be making any plans!:) thank you again I really appreciate everyones replies. take care leah x

[yorkylover]

Well done Leah on going a bit further in the car.[Yeah!];):);)

Ellen XX

[peach]

when i feel paniky like that in the car, i make myself cry. for some reason, it calms me down, and instead of being so scared, i become sad instead and after a few mins of that, i seem to become ok again....i dont know if this would work for others.....but it works well for me....odd remedy i know... i also do it at hom now, when i feel the dizziness coming on, or when i feel ill, i just try to start to cry.... and my feelings change.