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Is there any success stories with Agorophobia ? struggling here

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Posted 2/6/2015 4:29 PM (GMT 0)
So I have had this thing where I haven't really left anywhere more than 15 min from home , it's driving me to such sadness , I see my freinds traveling and I can't even go out to eat if it's too far , this has been happening about 4 months now , I used to travel and go places with my family I'm just wondering if anyone ever got over their fear of leaving their house ?
I can't see me flying somewhere at all at this point , but forget flying sometimes I panic when I'm ten min away :((,
I do go to stores , tha j goodness we live really close to shopping centers do I go there but that's about it , I'm on Zoloft for a little over two weeks now , I think it's helping some , at least I'm not having daily panic attacks like I did 3 weeks ago , I still have anxiety even with Zoloft , I'm just feeling so discouraged , summer is coming up and I know I have to do stuff I got a family and sitting home or always being close to home isn't going to cut it.
But when I try to go out I feel like death physically so that's not fun either :(
Any tips on how to get over fear of leaving home ?
Posted 2/6/2015 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Rn,

You've just started your Rx as far as SSRI's go...you may only be a third of the way to reaching your theraputic levels, and fully adjusting to your med...so hang in there!

The fact that you are recovering from your panic attacks is HUGE, and a really good sign that you headed in the a good direction.

Try to be patient with yourself and the process! I am sure that you are going to see your goals of traveling beyond your current comfort zone realized!

Are you currently also doing therapy/self-help? Agoraphobia (of which yours is a mild case and very treatable) is effectively treated with exposure therapy. This can be done in a series of steps with a therapist, or on your own.

If you are interested, I can look up some books/programs for self-help...let me know.:)

Keep up the good work, and have faith....you are going to reach your goals with some time and effort!

S.C.
Posted 2/6/2015 7:29 PM (GMT 0)
My mother is agoraphobic and it's severe. All I can offer is hugs and support. Just an idea ... You could of course with therapy if you do go out ... Even a block away if you have a smart phone. Get ready to post everything you felt. And be surprised how much support you will get here everyone is wonderful. Just a thought but I am a writer I write down ( depression ) all those unpleasant things we are afraid to say. It helps me. And the other forums ( fibromyalgia ) have really helped me see that I really am not the only one on the planet to have those thoughts.in fact some are verbatim to what I was thinking. You will find a lot of support here.

Take a stick and break it. It snaps. Now take the two pieces and put them together, now it breaks but now it is harder. Now take the four pieces try to break them it is a lot harder now. Get the picture? A single stick is one person, easy to break when it's alone. But the sticks ( people ) surrounding the stick the less likely it is to break. Welcome to our Forrest :-)
Posted 2/6/2015 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
Pain, I love the things you say! Welcome to our Forest!

As for the agoraphobia, I needed a little extra help from a benzo to get over that hump and I'm pleased to say that after a miserable summer, I have just returned from a trip to Florida and already have a trip to Maui planned for next Christmas. I do still use my Xanax when I feel the fear really kick in, but I can do a lot more on my own right now!

Good luck!!
Posted 2/6/2015 8:46 PM (GMT 0)
Rn,

Like Park, I had a horrible summer. I was totally agoraphobic. Let me tell you, there is hope!! If you just keep getting out there everyday, you will overcome this. Even getting out for just a short period of time will do. It will get easier and easier (after being really hard the first couple of times). Ya just got to commit and do it.

And it sounds like the Zoloft you are on is finally starting to work!! So this is awesome. I'm sure you will be out and about very soon.
Posted 2/6/2015 9:20 PM (GMT 0)
I was agorophobic ~20 yrs ago. I was put on prozac(zoloft equal) daily and xanax as needed. I did use exposure therapy using the xanax if I needed it each time I increased the distance or time from home but I never failed to go out every day and kept myself on a routine. I have never had it again. If you see a therapist work some plan with them that you follow religiously. I am a succcess story.
Posted 2/7/2015 1:53 AM (GMT 0)
Oh yes! I forgot to add. Xanax helped me out tremendously when doing exposures.
Posted 2/7/2015 4:36 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you guys , I definetly need incouragment and I really find it here :) its really nice to hear stories similar to what I'm going through , it makes me feel like I'm not alone .

Park that's really nice that you are going on vacas , see like you had the high pulse that's my problem I get really high pulse during my attacks and i fear that I will be in the attack until I get To my safe zone , even the thought of going up the ER scares me and that doesn't even give me comfort , so its like I'm stuck here with my thoughts and fear and I try to go out it'd super hard , I hate it so much
I did CTB therapy but I didn't do much for me ,
I'm hoping that the Zoloft will prevent the panic attacks and if not prevent them all the Way than maybe lessen them , I have Xanax but I'm scared to take it more than once a week. I have klonopin I heard that its a better drug as far as addiction goes .

Palpit
How long did you stay at your house the longest during your Agorophobia years ?

Pain -
How severe is it for your mom , I think I'm pretty severe too , I mean I get out but ten min away thats it on a good day I'll go 15 min that's about it :/
Posted 2/7/2015 1:30 PM (GMT 0)
I had small kids so I had to make small trips daily to bring them to school and such. But once I was home alone I made myself go out once daily to a mall and measured the time I spent there and slowly increased it even if it was uncomfortable. Increase by minutes if you have to. I lived in a city that had many malls so I travelled after to get myself to stay out longer. Don't think this was easy. Some days I cried it was so hard. I also went out walking once a day and slowly increased my walk time and distance. Whatever your limit is now, increase it by one or two minutes every few days. But you have to attempt it every day and not get discouraged.
Posted 2/7/2015 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
RN,
For a while now I've been dealing with agoraphobia like symptoms. It got really terrible to the point where I couldn't even go to school, or work, or even out to dinner with my own mother without getting a rush of anxiety symptoms. The only place I really felt safe was my room. But, I pushed myself to go to the places that gave me anxiety and with that exposure, the "fight or flight" started to disappear. Granted, this doesn't all go away overnight-- it took time, and I still have a hard time with some places, but with each time I head out of the house it gets a little easier. Be gentle with yourself.
Posted 2/8/2015 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
Palpit
I got small kids too , and I take them to school and to bouncy houses , I'm so glad that we got so much stuff near where I live , with in 10 min there is restaurants playgrounds I take them there , but on bad days I can't even make it out to there .
See for me when once I got a panic attack and I lasted until I got home I seemed like that's the only way that I'll calm down , but when my heart is pounding 170 the whole time I'm terefied of having a heart attack and keeping my heart at that high level for a long period of time . I know there are books on panic attacks that say that the heart can beat fast for long but it still terrifies me .

Blus
Thnx , I really want to get over this and hoping the Zoloft will help some , I think being gentle is a good idea. I just want a quick fix over night , but I know it's not going to happen . I just don't wanna damage my body physically because my heart pounds so fast during anxiety that doing exposure is super super hard :((
Posted 2/8/2015 2:07 PM (GMT 0)
You are right. Exposure is super super hard. You can forgive yourself when you can't bring your kids out(I suffered that guilt too) and congratulate yourself when you can do it. As the zoloft kicks in you may feel better but don't be afraid of your xanax. Has your dr suggested a beta blocker for when you get the high
heart rate? I remember walking around the mall crying sometimes thinking how dumb this is but after a few weeks I noticed the panic was less.
Posted 2/8/2015 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
I do use a beta blocker but my bp is 90/60 regularly so I can only take small doses of the pill u dont want it to lower the bp even more . The beta blockers do help but the don't prevent panic attacks :(..
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