agoraphobia

This question may be best directed to the moderators:

 

From your experience, has it seemed agoraphobia has commonly presented AFTER people started a benzo, as a withdrawal or side effect, rather than an original condition for which the benzo was prescribed?  Just wondering if you've noticed any patterns to this.

 

thank you,

 

clearbluesky

Not a moderator but I've been here awhile and I've seen a number of people become agoraphobic during their taper or after discontinuing, even through they did not have agoraphobia when they started taking the drug originally.

 

It seems like once the dampening effect that benzos exert is removed the fear center of the brain goes haywire in some people. They develop all sorts of phobias they didn't have previously, with agoraphobia being one of the more prevalent.

 

It's not uncommon to find people here that barely ever leave the house after discontinuing.

Thank you.  Wow.  30 years of my life may have been stolen.

 

I never was completely housebound, but after an out-of-the-blue agoraphobia episode following off-and-on use of a benzo for a few years, I've never fully regained ability to travel distances.  I have never been on an airplane, bus or train since then, and I'm only comfortable up to a few hours from home, and struggled for years to regain even that. 

 

It seems strange to say, but I was and still am an adventurous person.  In the early 80's I was taking a benzo, probably Valium or Librium, for nervous depression.  I was unaware of risks associated with discontinuous use, CTing, withdrawal, etc.  I was traveling to Churchill, Manitoba alone, to join a tour group to see migrating polar bears in the wild, when I had my first agoraphobia episode. Immediately after I could go no more than 5 miles from home.  It has taken decades to be able to go a few hours from home to hike, camp or kayak, activities I love more than anything in the world!

 

Ironically, for the past two decades, I would take a quarter (.125 mg) Klonopin pill to "help" when I was trying to go distances.  Two years ago I suffered a severe agoraphobia setback after increasing to a daily low dose of Klonopin.  I'm still struggling to fully regain the distance comfortabilty I worked for years to achieve.

 

Until reading posts of other BB members, I never would have suspected that Klonopin, rather than helping, may actually have been responsible or contributed to this condition that essentially wrecked my life.  But like me, it does appear others may have developed agoraphobia AFTER benzo use. 

 

Could benzos actually cause agoraphobia???

 

clearbluesky

 

 

 

From what I've read here, very few members had agoraphobia before taking, withdrawing or recovering from benzo's, most developed it as a result of their use.  I had it as well but it dissipated as I recovered and is completely gone now.  I'm assuming this is true for others who have recovered but I don't know this for a fact.

I had it during benzo withdrawal. I think it was just fear . . . fear of my nasty withdrawals and WTF was coming next that spread out to everything in my life. I became afraid of people, bridges, the coffee maker . . . even my hair dryer. And going outside was a struggle. Thankfully it passed when my taper was over.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Katz

 

P.S. I am no longer afraid of my hair dryer 

Thank you, Pamster.  That is stunning.

 

30 years ago I am sure I went through benzo withdrawal continuously, as I thought benzos could be taken irregularly.  Always a modest dose, and maybe something like 2-3 weeks daily, 1 week off....thinking I was playing it safe, as I've always been wary of pharmaceuticals.  Continued after becoming agoraphobic to "treat" the condition.

 

Come to think of it, I improved most during the 20 years I only used .125 mg Klonopin once or twice a month for particularly challenging activities.

 

It wasn't until I resumed daily Klonopin use in spring/summer 2020 that I was hit with severe agoraphobia setback.  Or it may have been after I updosed cause it didn't seem to be working, then had second thoughts and cut the dose in half, after 2-3 months of daily use.  Tolerance and kindling?

 

If there is any good news, it might be that I've regained most of the comfortability range I lost in 2020 fairly quickly, and that has been DURING this long, slow taper. 

 

In trying to analyze all this, it seems possible that even a low dose taken daily, but inconsistently, cut significantly or CT-ed......could cause agoraphobia?  Or could there be some other common denominator, from what you've seen?

 

This is like trying to solve a mystery. 

 

In any case, I am very concerned that the proposed "anxiety screening" could result in more benzo use and more agoraphobia cases!  I would not want more people to suffer the anguishing losses I've been through!

 

clearbluesky

Oregonkatz, I am so glad you've made peace with your hair dryer!  That is so funny!

 

It DOES seem to help address this mystery, too, as for me it wasn't just fear, but full-blown panic attacks.  I had never experienced a panic attack until the doors closed on the plane headed to Winnipeg to catch a bush plane up to Churchill.  I didn't visibly freak out, but my mind was exploding.  It wasn't fear of a plane crash, more like sudden extreme claustrophobia, another condition I had never had before.  I thought I had suddenly lost my mind.  It took all I could muster to get myself home from Winnipeg.  After that, I couldn't go 5 miles from home without a panic attack. 

 

I had been taking a benzo for anxiety, but never experienced anything like this.  Panic attacks are pure hell.

 

clearbluesky

I had terrible agoraphobia during withdrawal. I would force myself to walk to the mailbox or to drive around the block just to make sure I didn't become completely housebound. It is now completely gone.

I had awful agoraphobia when I was in acute and then at the beginning of my taper. I would go out only for the necessary things, and would avoid my neighbors so I wouldn't have to say hello. Also, I was terrified of the shower. In my normal life, I never had any agoraphobia symptoms, travel all over the world, and love showers! I'm doing much better as I've gone lower in my taper, and I talk to my neighbors again. So it's definitely from the benzos.

 

I had to put together a huge mystery of sxs that were from tolerance withdrawal, but had been misdiagnosed as a million other things. So I understand. I think the mystery solving is one of the most frustrating parts because we see we could have avoided much of this suffering. On the other hand, at least we're solving the puzzle now.

Not a moderator but I've been here awhile and I've seen a number of people become agoraphobic during their taper or after discontinuing, even through they did not have agoraphobia when they started taking the drug originally.

 

It seems like once the dampening effect that benzos exert is removed the fear center of the brain goes haywire in some people. They develop all sorts of phobias they didn't have previously, with agoraphobia being one of the more prevalent.

 

It's not uncommon to find people here that barely ever leave the house after discontinuing.

 

[move]^^^This^^^[/move]

 

I almost never leave the house. But once I'm healing, I hope that will change. For me, it's that I worry that something bad will happen, staying put makes me feel safer. Until then, I'm staying in my safe zone, my home.

I'm experiencing that RIGHT NOW and it's horrific. One day I feel fine, the next it hits like a train.  I stumbled across this video talking about how the increase of glutamate is the issue for the anxiety part.

 

This doctor has bipolar disorder and heals it himself, so I feel like he must know some stuff. He's a Functional Medicine Doctor  in the uk.

 

I'm going to be trying the mailbox routine so I don't become completely honeymoons,  but I went to the grocery store with my husband the other day and it was not at all a good experience.  I don't trust myself to drive at this moment either.  I feel pretty useless sometimes.  :'(

I'm experiencing that RIGHT NOW and it's horrific. One day I feel fine, the next it hits like a train.  I stumbled across this video talking about how the increase of glutamate is the issue for the anxiety part.

 

This doctor has bipolar disorder and heals it himself, so I feel like he must know some stuff. He's a Functional Medicine Doctor  in the uk.

 

I'm going to be trying the mailbox routine so I don't become completely honeymoons,  but I went to the grocery store with my husband the other day and it was not at all a good experience.  I don't trust myself to drive at this moment either.  I feel pretty useless sometimes.  :'(

 

Walking to the mailbox is a victory! Yes, we all feel pretty useless at times. You are not alone. You will get through this one day at time. Really, that is the only way to get through this. One foot in front of the other, often baby steps. One day at a a time.