Living with Anxiety

[Quinz1986]

Hello everyone! I'm happy to have found a forum where I can openly discuss about my anxiety. I'm a 29 year old lady who has been living with anxiety since I moved to this new country from my home country. I'm not exactly sure how it all started but after a few months of me moving here I started having anxiety/panic attacks.

I was a happy lady before all of this, a lady who loves traveling, going to the beach, going out with friends but all of these has changed. Right now I can barely leave my house and my work is getting affected. Whenever I ride any kind of transportation whether public or private I have panic attacks. I feel like I'm going to pass out, my heart beats so fast, I have a hard time breathing and I feel like crying. My anxiety stemmed from me having Irritable Bowel Syndrome which I also had when I moved to the place where I'm at right now.

The reason why I have a panic attack when I'm traveling is because I have a phobia of crapping my pants and not being able to go to the bathroom. When I see traffic or when I feel like there's no bathroom nearby this is when my panic attack starts and it keeps building up and building up until I feel like I have to escape. One time while in transit and I felt my stomach was acting up I felt like jumping out of the car just to relieve myself.

However if the public transport or the vehicle that I ride in has a washroom I don't have a panic attack. When I take the train/metro and I know that the next stop is only 1 minute away I don't have panic attack because I know if ever I do feel like relieving myself I can hold it in for 1 minute.

Interestingly when I went home to my home country I didn't have any panic attack because i know that if ever i do feel like relieving myself I can always get off the road and walk to the nearest washroom. Or I can knock in people's houses and use their washroom. If only I can do that here I wouldn't have had a panic attack.

I really need help on how to deal with this. I can't live my life, if I can still call this life, constantly saying NO to people inviting me out for fear that I will have an IBS attack which causes my anxiety attack.

Please help. BTW I always have my Imodium in my bag and when I feel like I'm starting to have a panic attack I take it. I know it's bad to take this all the time but it somehow helps depending on the severity of my attack that day.:weep::weep::weep:

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya Quinz1986 and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[Quinz1986]

Thank you :):):)

[fduop]

Good morning Quinz1986 I happy to see you found this wonderful site where, like myself, you can be open and honest about what you are feeling. Just as venusbluejeans said there are many helps here for you to explore. Reading your post I totally understand the situation you are in. Like you I suffer from panic and anxiety and have for a very long time. While I have my good days and bad days, understanding what it is you are dealing with is the first step in learning to overcome panic/anxiety.

First off don't feel bad about the bathroom issue, in fact that's one of the many things my panic likes to throw in my face when traveling. Often I'll wait around the house to make sure I go to the bathroom before I leave. This at times has caused me to either be late for appointments or cancel them all together. I often say my digestive tract has a mind of it's own, but in reality it's the anxiety and stress that are causing the situation.

The best thing I can tell you Quinz1986 is, understand that most of the time panic is an unfounded reaction to a given situation. In other words when you feel a panic attack coming on ask yourself, "Is that attack justified"? Or "Am I making a normal situation worse"? By not fighting the feeling of panic and accepting that it is happening, you usually end up allowing it to ease up much more quickly.

Quinz1986, best to you on this journey. Keep using the forum to express your feelings and remember you are not alone.

[beatroon]

Hello there! I thought I would check in and say hi, and welcome. I am sure you will find a wealth of information here and lots of support from the others, many of whom have similar experiences to you.

You do mention that all of this has started since your relocation to a new country. I think this sounds very understandable. It can be hugely stressful moving somewhere new and finding your feet - as well as exciting! So, if I were you, I would be kind to yourself and not feel bad about feeling anxious - it's just your body making an adjustment.

I wonder whether finding a counsellor to talk to might help?