How to know when you’re ready to try despite panic attacks before?

How do you know you are ready to try again after everytime you have done this before you had many horrible panic attacks? I suffer from GAD and it is horrible. I am now at the point where I am off work and have been for almost 8 months now and I am housebound due to panic attacks. I get them after being away from home for more than two hours to the point where i am alot of the time physically ill. How do you know you're ready to try to do this again?

Hi and welcome to HW
There is no magic way to know, the cure to anxiety is exposure over and over again. It's feels uncomfortable and it's tough, but it's the only way to win this battle.
Are you in therapy?

You gotta have faith in yourself,take it one step at a time.try it little by little don't give up on yourself you can do it.when you feel like you cant try harder push yourself that extra step and don't ever doubt yourself..you can do it <3 .


Heres a quote from a movie I like Hope you like it <3 and feel better soon

Then the time come for you to be your own man/woman and take on the world…and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame…like a big shadow.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are…it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.

But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit…and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.

Now if you know what you’re worth, go out and get what you’re worth. But you have to be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers, saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody! Cowards do that, and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!

Sorry about all the questions and venting but I dont have many people to talk to that know what I am going through.:(

MyAngel85,
Hello and welcome to HW, you are among people who understand panic and anxiety here so please feel safe. I have found that the only way to beat panic is to challenge it, on your own terms. Set yourself small goals and stick with them. If you get a panic attack after two hours out of the house, try next time to stay out for two hours and five minutes. Sit through the horrible panic. I know how crappy it is, but just sit with it. Then go home and say to yourself "Ha! I beat panic by five minutes!", even if you felt awful you have challenged and won. The more you do this, with small, gentle steps the more confidence you will get.
Having said that it is also okay to have days when you just say to panic "oh stuff off I'm staying in front of the telly with some chocolate". Be gentle, but know you are in charge and that there is recovery. Many of us have been in your situation (me included) and have come out of it pretty well normal . I was unable to work on and off for many years but now I can work 12 hour shifts and come home with a smile on my face. Amazing! I don't know exactly how you feel, but I know what it is like to live in terror as to what the day will bring. Keep some hope, this can turn around.
Please let us know how you are going, we are here to support.
Meg

I am not going to pretend to know exactly how you feel, because everybody deals with anxiety/pa differently.  My advice is to find something worth challenging your fears.  I have had anxiety/pa for 1.5 years now.  I have a very good job and after several pa's I strongly thought about quitting my career (that I had worked so hard to achieve) and finding something that is much less stressful and far less paying.  Well after much thought, I decided that my children and family need me to keep my job.  For this reason I confront my fear (driving in rural area's where there is no hospital within a 100 miles) nearly every day for my family.  I also have told myself that if it is something medical and not anxiety (which I know it is anxiety) then just take me, because I am not dealing with this anymore.  It helped that I got all of my financial affairs in order in case it did take me.  But you know what I come home every night, sometimes very stressed and very tense, but I am fine, and my family is fine and they have food on the table and everything else they need.  I agree with everyone else that have talked to you on this forum.  Confront it......It is hard to do.  But it is a MUST.

CC

Thanks everyone for your tips. I ended up getting great news this morning that I see a specialist tomorrow about all of this and I am hoping after that I can have more stregnth to confront this head on. I'm really excited now because not only seeing the specialist tomorrow but this site has given me more hope and positivity about getting better!