is this anxiety ??

hi, this is my first post. just wondering if anyone else has experienced the weird feelings I have had of late. for some time i've had a fear of going into anywhere without a window. i have left dept stores when going up the escalator and the upper floors are windowless, warm, stuffy and crowded. I also have a problem with public toilets that have sealed doors top and bottom, or are underground, without windows etc. my most recent experience i had pins and needles down both arms and an overwhelming sense of fear at needing to get out as soon as possible. afterwards I felt shaky and tired. i have not always had these feelings but I find i'm looking for ways out and windows wherever I go!! I have had a kind of "claustrophobia" for as long as I can remember like fear of lifts small rooms etc but I feel this is getting ridiculous. I have loved going to music gigs since a young age and would always rush to the front but the last few times I have consciously stayed at the side near an exit or at the back. one or two times I have attempted to be at the front or near to and had a panic attack and had to retreat to the side. I am on medication for anxiety by the way and have been for around 4 years now. any advice is very much welcomed, thanx.

Hi nikki and welcome!

From what you described it sounds as if you have deveolped a phobia of enclosed places, similar to claustrophobia. Phobias are in the anxiety spectrum...so it is not unusual to have these together.

Do you see a therapist currently? If so, this would be something to discuss and work on with him/her.

If not, there are many self-help books for phobias. You could purchase or borrow one and learn some techniques for dealing with this issue.;)

Keep posting with us as well. We are a group of people with common struggles, who support each other and care!

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy Cat

hi and thanx for all the replies! much appreciated. im not currently seeing a therapist but have in the past and not found them to be any use to be honest. but that was mainly kind of bereavement counselling after losing my mum. i have an underactive thyroid, been on levothyroxine for at least 8 yrs, i had a parathyroid removed in january this year. im on blood pressure medication and the anxiety stuff and i have not felt as ill in my life! not physically so much except i always feel tired, but lack of concentration, the panicking and stuff are i feel getting worse. last time i saw my g.p well i think he has run out of things to say! there is loads more to the background but i didnt want to get it all out on the table first post..i think it all sounds so dramatic. but the experiences im having out and about are praying on my mind. i know i am not actually stuck in somewhere but the fear is so overpowering and real at the time.

thanx i will check that out.

thats something iv never thought it could be, i will check that out too thanx. had a bit of a do in supermarket today, thats never happened before either.