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View Full Version : Hello. Agoraphobia and other issues.



Rilot
03-06-17, 13:07
Hi :flowers:
I just found this place and have been reading some of the articles. Quite a lot of good info here.
I'm in my mid 40s and have suffered with crippling agoraphobia for over 20 years. I'm also autistic and and fit within the Aspergers category of that condition (only recently diagnosed by the way).
My agoraphobia has taken so much from me. It wrecked a fantastic career where I earned big money. I had to quit because I just couldn't face travel any more. I now work in a school looking after IT for peanuts. At first this was great because I didn't need to travel and was always somewhere I felt safe. Now, I regret throwing my career away as I've pretty much run out of money. It has also made me worse because I have just retreated to a point where I only go to work and stay at home. I go nowhere else. I don't see friends, I don't go shopping, I don't go on holiday.
My wife understand my issues but keeps forcing me to do things that terrify me. This has put an enormous strain on our relationship. She is trying to help by exposing me to things but she keeps going too big too quickly which sets me back again.
I have a young son and it pains me that I cannot go to the park and kick a football around with him. It actually makes me nearly cry thinking about it.
I've been on a ton of meds for most of my adult life including Pregabalin and Mirtazapine but I think they just make me worse as they dull my senses and make me feel like a zombie.

I will do some reading of the forum here. Hearing about other people who are like me helps as I feel very alone a lot of the time.

venusbluejeans
03-06-17, 13:14
Hiya Rilot 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:

Anxious Betty
03-06-17, 20:04
Hi Rilot.
I'm new on here too and suffer from agoraphobia and general anxiety. I've been struggling with agoraphobia for about 10 yrs and anxiety a lot longer! I completely understand how it affects your life - I hate it with a vengeance and feel as though it's never going to go away. I am going to my GP this week to ask about Pregabalin as I can't cope with the side effects of other medication I have tried. It's all so frustrating as I know that realistically nothing really bad will happen if I travel etc, but the anxiety makes me feel so desperately ill, that I just can't deal with it. Both my children also have anxiety which makes me extremely guilty and also very sad. It's such a horrible illness.