More anxiety when I shower

This makes me wait for the last, but eventually I have to. I'm getting breathless, and just want to go from there. Is it alike for you, and why?

This makes me wait for the last, but eventually I have to. I'm getting breathless, and just want to go from there. Is it alike for you, and why?

 

I get a little shaky by the time I get out ..between washing me, washing my har then conditioning, then shaving, it's a long process  ...but the shakiness doesn't last long.

When I finished, I saw myself in the mirror - do`h!

When I finished, I saw myself in the mirror - do`h!

 

:laugh: I just don't look until I am dressed

I was not dressed!

The shower was a majorly scary place for me for a while. Confining and stimulating. In addition I was forced to see my weight loss. Fearing it is normal (in our situation)

Yes..I thought it was just me thinking too much in there and getting myself worked up. I get shaky and a pink rash on my feet.

I hate shower since day 1 and it's ridiculous, I get angry because I need to take care of myself and can't do it properly. In my country people shower at least once everyday, and 2 or 3 times daily when it's summer. Touching my hair feels weird, touching my skin makes me sick, the smell of the soap and shampoo it's weird now. Shower NEVER relaxed me since withdrawal began, actually it's a burden now. My brain starts the needless intrusive thoughts of fear so that once I had a massive panic attack and had to leave the bathroom. It's not pleasant to see the belly I gained as well.

I usually think, it's not as bad as at the emergency stage. Those, who helped me, didn`t have to be home when I showered (and they were very grateful). I cried, screamed and yelled like a wolf, it was awful.  Now, I get a lot of anxiety, but it doesn`t  hurt. Have you seen the angry monkey, (Family Guy) sitting in the wardrobe, and pointing? I see him before me, when it's time. And then, it's just to do it, during protest! But he has probably disappeared, when I get out of the shower ......

I could not believe anyone else felt the same. Used to love a long shower. Now I fight the irrational panic thoughts of...."so this is how they will find you." OR that I will get a dizzy spell and crash through the glass door. Such crazy crap. I literally talk out loud to myself some calming phrases and play a meditation from my phone app called Daily Calm. HANG IN THERE!

My best distraction for overthinking in the shower has been to listen to music. It keeps my mind from totally floating out into anxiety outer space. 

Back when I was dizzy and shaky, I bought a shower chair, turned the back to me, so I could steady myself with it.  Just an idea 

The first irrational fear for me was getting in the shower. It was puzzling but even though i have always showered at night i didnt that night. And since then its a struggle .some days easier than others. But its been constant.

I have problems n high anxiety in the shower only shower once every other day because i dont do.much because of my agoraphobia  n when im.in the shower i get light headed like im going to pass out n some times i feel like i cant breath its weird i use to love showers now i dont look foward to it

I have problems n high anxiety in the shower only shower once every other day because i dont do.much because of my agoraphobia  n when im.in the shower i get light headed like im going to pass out n some times i feel like i cant breath its weird i use to love showers now i dont look foward to it

 

That seems to be a pretty common problem with people on bb, which doesn't make it any easier, I know.  Mine went away pretty quickly though, hope yours does too

thanks mary  i have been experience some good lately but its all gonna change this friday when i see my primary care dr  cuz she wants to take me off of ativan 

thanks mary  i have been experience some good lately but its all gonna change this friday when i see my primary care dr  cuz she wants to take me off of ativan

....will she let you taper over to Valium and then taper off the Valium?

mary5588    i tryed switch to valium in 2015 and it did not work for me made me worse so i going to try n taper off ativan  my plain is to ask her is has read ashton manuel .  then i will discuss my options with her about tapering and tell her about my failed taper in 2014 because it was to fast  then im going to print this out n let her read this that dr ashton wrote

 

The general aim of the doseage taper of the benzo is to achieve a slow steady  smooth  falling blood concentrartion of the benzos  allowing necessary time for the pharmalogic and psychological  adjustments  and this may include actual  resynthesis  of gaba  benzo receptors  which have down regulation during the long duration of use !! there cant be a single protical  that applies to everyone because everyone is different the whole process may takes weeks, months or even a year or more its seems to me theres no reason to hurry  in patiences who been taking benzos for years anyways  and in my experience the best results achieved  is if the patient himself and not the doctor is in control of the rate of withdrawl and he or she can proceed at whatever rate  he or she finds tolerable !  most patients are quite capable of controling there own withdrawl given sutable advice and encouragement .  the doctor and patient together can initially devise and mutally agree a withdrawl schedule  but this may require readjustments form time to time  depending on progress  and if any problems  arise the doseage can be stablized for a few week or the rate of withdrawl decreased but it is important to always go foward and avoid a backward step of increasing the dosage again!!!

mary5588    i tryed switch to valium in 2015 and it did not work for me made me worse so i going to try n taper off ativan  my plain is to ask her is has read ashton manuel .  then i will discuss my options with her about tapering and tell her about my failed taper in 2014 because it was to fast  then im going to print this out n let her read this that dr ashton wrote

 

The general aim of the doseage taper of the benzo is to achieve a slow steady  smooth  falling blood concentrartion of the benzos  allowing necessary time for the pharmalogic and psychological  adjustments  and this may include actual  resynthesis  of gaba  benzo receptors  which have down regulation during the long duration of use !! there cant be a single protical  that applies to everyone because everyone is different the whole process may takes weeks, months or even a year or more its seems to me theres no reason to hurry  in patiences who been taking benzos for years anyways  and in my experience the best results achieved  is if the patient himself and not the doctor is in control of the rate of withdrawl and he or she can proceed at whatever rate  he or she finds tolerable !  most patients are quite capable of controling there own withdrawl given sutable advice and encouragement .  the doctor and patient together can initially devise and mutally agree a withdrawl schedule  but this may require readjustments form time to time  depending on progress  and if any problems  arise the doseage can be stablized for a few week or the rate of withdrawl decreased but it is important to always go foward and avoid a backward step of increasing the dosage again!!!

 

Valium, even though I finally tapered over to it from xanax, it took forever because that Valium sedated me, made me dizzy, I couldn't even hold my head up, I wish it had been the benzo they gave me instead of the xanax.  I hate Valium but tapering xanax was almost impossible because of the short half life.....But I HATE Valium.  I wish you luck!  Keep us posted and reach out any time you need or want too.

Yep ... this has been an ongoing issue for me. Just thinking about having a shower makes my anxiety ramp up. I have no idea why - I have zero trauma associated with showering. For me it is the feeling of the water on my skin and of feeling worried that by being undressed I'm going to find some horrible thing happening to my body. Makes zero sense, but then again, few things with uncontrolled anxiety disorder rarely are logical. Judging by the numerous response to this post, showering is a problem for a LOT of others here, so it is obviously a common problem.

I can say this went completely away. It was bad at first. I got out of the shower shaking but now it's gone. I don't shake anymore. Just dealing with insomnia (actually sleeping atleast 4 hrs every night now) and massive headache. My last two symptoms. I just never feel refreshed when I get up and have a hard time falling asleep.

Oh my I am so relieved I am not alone. I have been nervous with showering every since I got off. I don’t know what it even is that gets to me about it. The shower is not very small but I became claustrophobic in the wake of benzos. I don’t handle small spaces or feeling trapped well at all now. I also constantly worry about fainting and heat is a trigger. I don’t enjoy cold showers so I take warm ones. Sometimes if it eats too steamy, it’s hard for me to breathe and I worry again about fainting. If I faint in the shower, there is so much tile around that I would probably injure myself badly. Plus the shower is in such an area of the house that I don’t think it would be heard if I needed help, I guess that’s why it worries me. I anticipate things that probably won’t happen and psych myself out/work myself up. I usually feel better mentally after I shower but I purposely avoiding it because of irrational fears.

Oh my I am so relieved I am not alone. I have been nervous with showering every since I got off. I don’t know what it even is that gets to me about it. The shower is not very small but I became claustrophobic in the wake of benzos. I don’t handle small spaces or feeling trapped well at all now. I also constantly worry about fainting and heat is a trigger. I don’t enjoy cold showers so I take warm ones. Sometimes if it eats too steamy, it’s hard for me to breathe and I worry again about fainting. If I faint in the shower, there is so much tile around that I would probably injure myself badly. Plus the shower is in such an area of the house that I don’t think it would be heard if I needed help, I guess that’s why it worries me. I anticipate things that probably won’t happen and psych myself out/work myself up. I usually feel better mentally after I shower but I purposely avoiding it because of irrational fears.

 

I don't know if this will help you but it did me.  I was going through a dizzy time and was afraid to shower, so I bought one of those chairs.  I don't sit in it, I turn it backwards so the back is very close to me so I can reach out to steady myself if I need too.  Just a suggestion  . Mary

I find the sound feel and look of water terrifying.

 

Even washing my hands scares me because of the noise of the tap running, the feel of water on my hands is wrong and the look of it on my hands is wrong.

 

Having a bath is horrendous.

For me, showers just give me too much idle time with nothing to think about but withdrawal. It makes taking showers very difficult. I feel relief almost the moment I get out of the shower. Like many of you, I used to really enjoy a hot shower but now I dread them.