Go Days Without Leaving My Home

I can relate to this but I don't really notice that I stay in the house so much until I went to the PCP and he said I had a vitamin d defiency and I was at risk for some crazy thing called rickettes I really don't like living where I am

ahhh yes, you are not alone. sorry to read your story... Kindal left some great and kind advice and i too know the pain of anxiety attacks. i have similar problems and i'm lucky if i can leave the house on more than 2 or 3 occasions a week now. some weeks i can only manage the one trip. i have ptsd and the avoidance and hypervigilance goes hand in hand with anxiety attacks. thank you for sharing your story, i hope you can find some improvement in your condition too.

Thanks I am glad that you can relate, because it makes me feel I am not so alone. As I mentioned in my story I had a major panic attack which I think has caused me to retreat to my safe place my home. I also have social anxiety disorder as well so with having agoraphobia, panic attacks and social anxiety has prevented me from leaving my home.

I can definitely relate to your story because it sounds a lot like something I would have written myself. I have agoraphobia, avoidant personality disorder & social anxiety, so all of those combined make it very hard for me to leave the house. I hope the best for you :)

I'm sorry to hear this but I think with work you can overcome this. You need more confidence, I'm sure people don't notice you as much as you think. You just need to take baby steps, a day at a time and before you know it you will be able to go out with out the attacks.

Debra you are most welcome and I hope they don't happen again and that you are able to get out more. Hang in there honey. Hugs.

I really appreciate your comment. Along with the good advice you gave me. My story is I do have a learning disability which no one understands. Then in 97 I was diagnosed with social anxiety. When I had my major panic attack I was on my way to a self-help group which I knew in my mind I didn't want to continue not after the counselor had told me I was addicted to the inter-net. Bur did make it crystal clear that I suffered from social anxiety my first night in the group. The night of the group I was walking up a flight of stairs which has also become a great fear and now try to avoid. altogether. So now I have a phobia of stairs. And while walking up my legs suddenly gave out on me. A young man came to recuse me, but I had a throbbing headache when he sat me down on the stairs. That when he decided to call 911 and when they arrive there the paramedics suggested to take me to the nearest hospital so they could assess me more properly. My husband came to pick me up at the emergency ward. My legs were hurting by the doctor didn't find anything physically wrong with me no heart attack or stroke.



My doctor did prescribe some ativan for me just incase I do have another major panic attack. And my husband seems to be understanding about my anxiety disorders.



Thanks so much for your help. Debra

Im so sorry. I have had panic attacks and unless someone has had them they don't know what it feels like. Some think it's just like having anxiety and boy are they ever wrong! It's much more then that. Your heart races, you cant breath, you feel you may be having a heart attack or your throat is closing up, you feel in a cloud, spacey and out of touch with realty and very nervous and can't sit still and can't move around either. You are caught in a bubble, in a trap and cannot get out.



I too had to go to the hospital and it took 3 breathing treatments, 2 shots of ativan and finally morphine to bring me back to normal. It's one of the most horrible experiences a person can have and so I relate and I understand your fear and I know the fear of having another one and losing all control especially if you are somewhere that you are alone.



May I offer some suggestions that helped me? It may not help you but I found I had to get ahold of it somehow because I cannot handle having them, they are just too much. When I first feel one coming on my head is spinning, i'm obsessing about some thought or something someone said or fear or anxiety about something that is going to happen or has happened or a situation I need to get out of. So first that's what I notice and don't know the panic attack is going to happen until my heart starts racing and I get this tingling sensation on the skin of my thighs going down my legs, ever so lightly. Okay now I know i'm heading for a panic attack. I had one once for a week. I would wake up and be fine for the first 1/2 hr then it would last all day until I was able to go to sleep. I was having a nervous breakdown as well and my pulse was racing 220-250 beats per minute. Too rapid and no one would get me help.



Okay so when I feel that tingling, which may be different for you. I start with the self talk. I tell myself that nothing is worth going into a panic attack and I have to calm myself down somehow or it will get worse. I tell myself that everything is okay, this will pass, whatever situation i'm facing is not worth it and my feelings on it will change soon. I keep repeating these type things to myself and if possible make myself take a nap or I busy myself such as coming on ep or taking a walk or something like that. I also carry ativan around with me now and only use it when I feel one coming on and it helps, not greatly but it does make a small difference.



I don't get out much either because I'm disabled, I have no friends outside of ep because i'm not very social and don't make friends very easy so I can understand that part of it as well. If your husband is around and can help you too it would be good if he would tell you that it's okay that you are going to be okay just to calm down, take in deep breaths and hold them then let them out slow and just having someone there repeating these things to you helps you calm down before it goes into a full blown panic attack to where you cannot get out of it on your own.



I hope this helps in some small way. Hugs. Kindal