View Full Version : am i just lazy or agoraphobia?
I'm worried incase I'm getting agroraphobia as the past few weeks ive noticed I cant be botherd to go anyware I used to go a walk round the local shop if I needed anything but now I only go if there is no one else at home to go or I wait till the evening and get my daughter to get wat I need as she goes the shop with her dad when he comes round to see her as they go the shop every night in his car so I wait till then if I need anything also I used to be at my gp surgery every week with every pain or ache I got and it didn't bother me walking down to the surgery but for the past few weeks ive noticed that when I do ring up the surgery to get a appointment to see them because I'm panicking over a ache or pain after they give me a appointment to go down I end up not wanting to go I don't know if its because I cant be botherd or I'm scared to walk down for some reason and I end up foning the surgery back up to see arrange a telephone consultation with my doctor instead and I don't know why I'm beginning to be like this now as its never botherd me before about going to gp surgery or the local shop as even tho I was feeling really anxiouse I still used to go.so I don't know if I'm just cant be botherd to go or I'm starting to get agoraphobia and its really worring me because I don't want to end up not wanting to go out anyware.
What did you decide to do concerning the meds?
Positive thoughts
Hi , it sounds a lot more like depression than acrophobia with anxiety and depression you lose interest in going out or doing things with acrophobia you literally can't leave the house , I got like it for brief period after a bad reaction to meds if I tried to go out I would go into and absolute panic the whole outside thing seemed to vast and overwhelming to a point where I was shaking , heart pounding and barely breathing , you need to push yourself to keep going out its not always easy but avoiding it just makes it harder , take care
Shazamataz
11-06-16, 22:25
Hi , it sounds a lot more like depression than acrophobia with anxiety and depression you lose interest in going out or doing things with acrophobia you literally can't leave the house , I got like it for brief period after a bad reaction to meds if I tried to go out I would go into and absolute panic the whole outside thing seemed to vast and overwhelming to a point where I was shaking , heart pounding and barely breathing , you need to push yourself to keep going out its not always easy but avoiding it just makes it harder , take care
I agree with what Buster said. I think there's a big difference between agoraphobia and 'can't be bothered'. If you are questioning it, you don't have agoraphobia.
Thk you for replying back to me I'm grateful for your advice you have gave me ,I know I post alot on here but I've asked to delete my account as I just feel that some people on here do not bother replying back to me because I they may think I'm not helping myself by not taking meds to help my anxiety because I struggle badly with it, I know they probly are only trying to help me but I don't think they really understand how it affects me even thought of trying them sends me into a panic its not just about side effects etc I don't want to take them full stop,I feel I'm being pressured to take them either by some people on here and my gp to take them because they feel I'm either not helping myself or I don'want to help myself but I do want to help myself and overcome or even just manage the anxiety which I do try and i know the meds may help me abit better but no one knows how fearful i get reguarding the meds so I've divided to come off here because of how some people think they are wasteing thier time with me because of the meds situation.I just want to say a big thl you to the few people on here who helped me such alot I think they know who they are so thank u so much .
Tricia, we have spoken a few times.
Hun, I don't take meds either. I have a fear of side affects and addiction.
I can not physically swallow them either; I heave.
I just won't take them like you.
I know you are upset and frustrated and scared and all that, but only leave if you want to. Like you said, there are some good people on here and although I have not been answering too many other posts lately because my mum has been so poorly, you can always pm me if you like. :hugs:
georgewing
12-06-16, 14:30
Well i think that its anxiety because i think you have a fear of walking alone and outside and this its frecvent around people with anxiety .i would sugest you to fight and confront this habit
Hi , I haven't taken anti depressants for nearly four years I have scripts for different ones at home that the doc keeps throwing at me , I take a small amount of diazepam as needed and just rough it out when it gets bad meds are not for everyone but they do help others , most people on here will try and help but the replies you get won't always be the ones you want to hear , take care and good luck if you decide not to come back , it's always here if you change your mind .
I am sorry you are leaving tricia. I could easily become a recluse person.
I don't mix to well. I am a one to one person too.
I made an effort to go to town on Friday, although I did not feel up to it.
yesterday I felt awful. Today I feel ok. that's how it goes.
Take care xxxx
MyNameIsTerry
13-06-16, 05:26
Thk you for replying back to me I'm grateful for your advice you have gave me ,I know I post alot on here but I've asked to delete my account as I just feel that some people on here do not bother replying back to me because I they may think I'm not helping myself by not taking meds to help my anxiety because I struggle badly with it, I know they probly are only trying to help me but I don't think they really understand how it affects me even thought of trying them sends me into a panic its not just about side effects etc I don't want to take them full stop,I feel I'm being pressured to take them either by some people on here and my gp to take them because they feel I'm either not helping myself or I don'want to help myself but I do want to help myself and overcome or even just manage the anxiety which I do try and i know the meds may help me abit better but no one knows how fearful i get reguarding the meds so I've divided to come off here because of how some people think they are wasteing thier time with me because of the meds situation.I just want to say a big thl you to the few people on here who helped me such alot I think they know who they are so thank u so much .
Tricia,
Taking meds is not a decision to be taken lightly. I think some people do though because they have only had good experiences with them. Those of us who have had to struggle for ages with side effects take a different approach to this. I've seen this on the HA board before and I can tell you that the Meds board is a very different place where people acknowledge that such experiences are not predictable and we need to be reasonable about what could happen. That may effect how some post, it's just inexperience.
People do mean well but when it gets to the point of someone being frustrated, they need to consider how their words will be received. Not everyone likes bluntness. However, what you perceive may not be what they intended, so I would be wary of reacting to it. Ask them about it, let them explain. If it's someone who is arsey, they can be blocked, reported, asked to leave you, etc.
It would be a great shame for anyone to leave because they feel others are getting frustrated over you not moving forward on an issue. Do you know how little I move forward? I've been at this for years now. I don't post on here about it because I don't need to, I have my support through other methods in long running support threads and PM's if needed. If I posted about the same issues that have been affecting me for years, some people may get frustrated with me too. I'm not the only one there either.
AND you don't post much at all. There are many people who post far more than you do. I believe this is your perception of it because of who you are. You are a kind & caring person and you worry about being a burden. But you are not. We choose to post, we don't have to.
Shazamataz
13-06-16, 06:27
It would be a shame to leave based on what you have said. Heaps of people aren't on meds. I currently am but am fairly anti them myself as I feel they haven't really been much help to me and past ones have done more harm than good.
It is your right to choose how you wish to confront your anxiety and to come here and feel supported and get support. You don't need to be on medication to qualify!
On a previous thread just in the last week concerning meds I posted:
Tricia,
You know what I'm going to say right? 8 years of struggling and not getting better vs. trying a med for a few months to see if they would help you? It's a very easy decision IMO.
This subject was brought up on many occasions and the advice was always overwhelmingly in favor of giving them a shot.
Looking at the post history, medical professionals as well as mental health professionals have strongly advised medication. In fact, mental health treatment was refused, at least on one noted occasion, due to the fact that the OP refused to take them.
Yes, it's a personal decision. There are many that struggle with that decision. I can think of one member in particular that refused for the longest time. She finally started taking meds and the difference in just 6-8 weeks has been remarkable to say the least! I took Zoloft for 6 months and it truly helped me with my struggle with depression. It was the "crutch" I needed until I could walk again (to coin an analogy). My sister has been on Prozac for ten years and it helps her. My daughter is on meds and they help her. I have a non-SSRI I can take when things get rough and it truly helps. I often equate psychotropic meds with meds used for physical issues and I stand by that too. Would you refuse meds for a physical ailment if they could help you or heal you? In fact, my GP has suggested I try Lyrica for my nerve pain (I posted about this several months ago). It has the added benefit of helping with the mental aspects of my struggles with cancer recovery. I've been on Gabapentin for several years and I'm seriously considering it at this point as I'm still struggling greatly with nerve pain. If it will help that as well as my attitude? Heck, why not give it a shot? What have I got to lose? I can always go back to Gabapentin.
The OP has been struggling greatly for years. What's a month or two of trying in the big picture? If it doesn't work, at least she tried. People here talk about "what ifs" in many forms and variations. IMO, the "what if's" we regret the most are the chances we never took due to fear.
I hope the paths taken in the future are healing ones.
Best wishes and as always...
Positive thoughts
MyNameIsTerry
13-06-16, 07:24
It's not a month or two. That's ONLY a best case scenario. We need to look at it from a reasonable angle.
I hope that tricia is lucky and drops on a med that works for her right away. However, I know (like many others around here) that that is simply a best case scenario and that many people have spent a much longer period of time switching from one to another enduring how they have been worsened.
I don't believe in this rose tinted view of powerful antidepressant meds. My GP does, and both times I have suffered going on them. The first time I had no idea what was happening to me and in came the Crisis Team. The next time (my GP gave me the same BS about little side effects) and I was even worse BUT I didn't seek any help with that as I knew there was no help, you just have to grit & bare it.
"What ifs" are important to understand. So, are Cognitive Distortions which talk about skewed thinking. For anyone to deny the amount of problems people have had starting these meds, or to just omit any possibility of all of that, is wrong to me and skewed.
Yes, it may be a few weeks of suffering. However, there are plenty of us around here who knows how that feels. You can't equate those side effects to treatment for a physical illness, they don't give you more of what you have already got and then some. Admittedly, many treatments are full of side effects, but not all.
I never take these meds lightly. Anyone who has been on the Meds board in the past few years would see that too. However, I need to point out to tricia that rarely do people talk about the good when compared to the bad on the internet so it will always be skewed in favour of the negative.
Medical professionals opinions on this are dubious. Over here, some GP's will throw meds at you as quick as they would tell you to take paracetamol. The refusal to treat tricia is BS in my opinion (by them), they just washed their hands and anyone who has spoken to tricia will have seen that the treatment she had prior to that was 2 very short courses of CBT and NEITHER comply with NICE guidance...and NICE also state that such intensive therapies should be offered regardless of a need for meds.
Maybe this will be triggering, and I apologise to tricia for that, but there is a fair bit of sugar coating going on and that's wrong to me whether it's us or doctors. We are entitled to understand the reality and then make our own decisions. Remember, you won't find a doctor on the planet that can predict what happens when you take these meds.
EDIT: And I just want to add that I think if meds will help tricia, she would be best trying. But this is where the NHS falls flat on it's face. It expects people to conquer their fears to start a med to help them conquer their fears. And they wonder why there is so much inertia! :doh: I believe that if tricia started therapy first, they could work on this as an exposure and support her through it. Sadly, the NHS take an unacceptable route of leaving you to it. So, how they can moan about patients not trying meds is beyond me, no wait, it just tells me how little they understand mental health (GP's that is)!
Firstly just want to say sorry to everyone for not replying back to u all and thanking u for your support as all this week I've been struggling with quite bad especially health anxiety because all week I have been getting all these symptoms both my legs and knees constantly acheing pain in groin, severe tension in my neck shoulders and pain in both upper arms and I tried to not come on here or go and see gp about it as I wanted to try and reassure myself that it was just anxiety symtoms but on Fri I started to get sharp pains in my chest and started to panick more and ended up going to the doctors . I couldn't see my usual gp I see I had to see some m try else I tried to tell her all my symtoms and show her ware the pain in my chest was and all the other pains I've been getting but she couldn't even ne bothers to look at me when I was talking to her she just kept looking at the computer screen and then just took my blood pressure and had a quck listen to my chest and said its all tension I asked her again about the pains in my chest just to be sure and she just said its just muscular pain, so I left the surgery feeling no better than before I went in I've tried telling myself that she is right and trust her judgment and try and forget the pains and aches I'm having but because I'm still having all these symptoms I keep thinking that maybe she is wrong and maybe I should go back and see someone else or leave it and maybe it is just all anxiety related and its the anxiety that is making me think this way.sorry for such along post and asking for advice as I know you all isn't doctors but I don't really have anyone to talk to about my worries and concern's ,thank you
Hi , I've had all these pains and more and each time I hold out then go to the docs , I do have some things wrong with me worn back discs but usually it's pain from being tensed up , you don't always realise you are doing it but I tend to tense up while I'm just sitting watching TV etc , I relax then five mins later I notice Ive tensed up again it wares you out and makes you ache the next day which makes you tense up even more , learning to relax your muscles is the key , hope this helps in some way , take care
Hi thk you buster you have help alot I too have disc problems in my neck and lower back so I suppose it makes sense why I get pain in my neck shoulders and arms, I've been getting upper bk pains and pains in my chest the last few days which is wprring me abit but I'm try to tell myself its just all muscular but it doesn't stop me from panicking and want to run up to doctors tho it just seems everyday i wake up with some kind of ache or pain which starts me feeling more anxiose and i cant seem to stop focusing on it the rest of the day ,i do have health anxiety as well as gad which don't help , i just wish i could learn to just exept that all these symptoms and thoughts are just anxiety but for some reason my brain wont register it if that makes sense.
I think your brain won't register it because you don't actually believe it, Tricia? Living with uncertainty is hard for people like us but we just get stuck if we don't try to move on from the thoughts and fears. I know it's easier said than done.
Thk u pulisa I think your right because I don't truly believe it and to be honest I don't know how to believe it and how to move on from the thoughts and fears and never really got the proper help to help me in the past so I wish I knew how I can do that , I'm hoping that maybe because I'm waiting for therapy from the mental health and not iapt that I had before will help me with tools etc ,I know it will be down to me to do all the work as no pill or person can do it for me only me as I know its me that is doing it all to myself and I have just got to start to learn to believe in myself instead of of letting the anxiety rule my life which is wat I'm letting it do.
I completely agree with you on this one, Tricia. At the end of the day the answer lies with us but it's hard especially when you have got to challenge decades of negative, fearful thoughts. Having this therapy will be a fresh approach for you and the therapist will support you along the way to a more positive, healthy way of thinking. It can be a very lonely business so you need as much support as you can get from those around you x
It's not a month or two. That's ONLY a best case scenario. We need to look at it from a reasonable angle.
I hope that tricia is lucky and drops on a med that works for her right away. However, I know (like many others around here) that that is simply a best case scenario and that many people have spent a much longer period of time switching from one to another enduring how they have been worsened.
I don't believe in this rose tinted view of powerful antidepressant meds. My GP does, and both times I have suffered going on them. The first time I had no idea what was happening to me and in came the Crisis Team. The next time (my GP gave me the same BS about little side effects) and I was even worse BUT I didn't seek any help with that as I knew there was no help, you just have to grit & bare it.
"What ifs" are important to understand. So, are Cognitive Distortions which talk about skewed thinking. For anyone to deny the amount of problems people have had starting these meds, or to just omit any possibility of all of that, is wrong to me and skewed.
Yes, it may be a few weeks of suffering. However, there are plenty of us around here who knows how that feels. You can't equate those side effects to treatment for a physical illness, they don't give you more of what you have already got and then some. Admittedly, many treatments are full of side effects, but not all.
I never take these meds lightly. Anyone who has been on the Meds board in the past few years would see that too. However, I need to point out to tricia that rarely do people talk about the good when compared to the bad on the internet so it will always be skewed in favour of the negative.
Medical professionals opinions on this are dubious. Over here, some GP's will throw meds at you as quick as they would tell you to take paracetamol. The refusal to treat tricia is BS in my opinion (by them), they just washed their hands and anyone who has spoken to tricia will have seen that the treatment she had prior to that was 2 very short courses of CBT and NEITHER comply with NICE guidance...and NICE also state that such intensive therapies should be offered regardless of a need for meds.
Maybe this will be triggering, and I apologise to tricia for that, but there is a fair bit of sugar coating going on and that's wrong to me whether it's us or doctors. We are entitled to understand the reality and then make our own decisions. Remember, you won't find a doctor on the planet that can predict what happens when you take these meds.
EDIT: And I just want to add that I think if meds will help tricia, she would be best trying. But this is where the NHS falls flat on it's face. It expects people to conquer their fears to start a med to help them conquer their fears. And they wonder why there is so much inertia! :doh: I believe that if tricia started therapy first, they could work on this as an exposure and support her through it. Sadly, the NHS take an unacceptable route of leaving you to it. So, how they can moan about patients not trying meds is beyond me, no wait, it just tells me how little they understand mental health (GP's that is)!
Thk you terry you always give sound advice and support when I need it and you help me lot, I am hopeing that when I start the new therapy when ever that will be they will help overcome my fears of taking antideppressants as well as helping learn to cope and manage my anxiety alot better so once again thank u terry .
---------- Post added at 13:56 ---------- Previous post was at 13:42 ----------
Thk you so much pulisa for your kindness and suport you give me x.
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