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agoraphobia support group


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Hi Jumpman,

Agoraphobia is the pits! I’ve suffered this terribly for the past 8 months whilst tapering.

I force myself everyday to leave the house... even if I walk to the mail box.

What do you find helps?

 

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I developed a kind of agoraphobia mixed with social phobia, it feels like a paranoic feeling mixed with high anxiety,

 

  Im housebond for almost 210 days (7 months) i link this as a defensive state because of my symptoms,  too much impaired mentally, my condition ( symptoms) improoved since acute, and Last days im having a kind of little break from mental symptoms and of 24/7 chemical anxiety, im not leaving the house yet, i Dont feel confortable enough, there is a possibility that IF i push myself tô go out while im having Just a littlle break pushing Will end up Just flaring up my symptoms and worsening my condition, i Will wait tô see IF its a New baseline or IF its Just a little break..

 

Being agoraphobic its awfull

 

Last attempt withdrawing from high doses of benzos forn 10 months it was terrifing to lewmave the house.. then suddenly i had relief of my mental conditon with lyrica, the whole ordeal of symptoms eased up with this another drug wnd the agoraphobia faded aswell,

 

I had this sort of reaction since my first experience with psych meds against my will, first time it was because of too much APs , AEds, after 2 months being medicated i spent 10 months stuck inside suffering mentally . I didnt took any meds since stopping ct all the drugs gaved to me  .. after 10 months all my mental symptoms faded ..  and i felt myself back..

 

Some time later i had another intervention, one injection and 15 days of this drugs , result was the same, from not suffering  and fully fucntional to disabled agoraphobic and suffering  mentally of a bunch of things ... this second time i ended up on benzos for relief..

 

Being agoraphobic because of mental symptoms and anxiety its awfull

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Hi Jumpman,

Agoraphobia is the pits! I’ve suffered this terribly for the past 8 months whilst tapering.

I force myself everyday to leave the house... even if I walk to the mail box.

What do you find helps?

hi aussiegalrecovery  thing that i found have helped is pushing the boundarys  like exposer therapy  when it first started i was stuck in my room for quite a while and benzo buddies suggested try leaving the door open for a little while a go from there  now i am about to go out side anytime  and even go to my grandparent house  on good days they live 2 houses over and across the street... i still feel as if there is an invisible barrier i can not cross  and when i try crossing it on my own  its all bad and i have to come straight back home right away

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so to here that denizthekid    what do you do that helps ?  have your tryed anything other then meds ?
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Exposure therapy is key. Have you got anyone that can cross the road with?

Are there free support groups in your area? Or carers that can help you?

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so to here that denizthekid    what do you do that helps ?  have your tryed anything other then meds ?

 

Like I said the first time I healed, as my cns got back to normal I got over it ,

Maybe this first time the exposure helped, but I got to a baseline where pushing wouldn't flare up my symptoms terribly... If pushing yourself doesn't make you feel bad because of a setback, then probably a little exposure is something to think about, since you have more time off, do you get a setback if you push yourself?

 

in my case, even the lack of caffeine from (yerba mate) that i got used to drink causes me a big setback, I had a little break these last few days, it's been 3 days a small break of constant chemical anxiety, I feel that I I can't push myself without ending up just exalting my symptoms and skyrocketing my anxiety levels

 

If you could tell me, after overcoming the agoraphobia of leaving the room, did you have trouble leaving the house? or you didnt had any problems leaving home after breaking free of your room?

 

From your point of view

 

Don't you think that overcoming wasn't mainly because your cns became more stable and your symptoms and anxiety levels eased to the point where you felt comfortable ?

 

 

  do you think that exposure and effort pushing yourself played a role in overcoming it? 

 

 

 

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@aussie    no to all the questions you asked......  and the best support i have found for the agoraphobia has been on here and friends i have met over the years on instagram  typing in  benzo withdrawal
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Denisthekid    after breaking free from my room the next challenge was staying in other parts of the house  for most of the day.....  going outside was the next challenge for me i didnt fear going outside but leaving my property was a big step i was ok outside for the most part but just could leave the property  ..

 

overcoming it definitly had a huge role with my anxiety  not sure my cns played a role or not as i am still on the benzo.....  the cns plays a role when i get over stimulated  thought and that still happends from time to time with house lights and smells

 

i would not be where i am if i did not push myself with the exposure the more you do somthing the more comfortable your going to feel doing .... dont get me wrong i still have a long ways to go but from being trapped in my room i feel like i have came a long way  there is a ton of stuff i still can not due but one day at a time and one step at a time my friend

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Thanks very much for your input and point of view on it, i know how much is awfull being agoraphobic of leaving your own home..

 

In my case i see this sort of fear and axiety being chemically induced and being related beside of anxiety itself  to my other symptoms and impairments ( each one brings some anxiety and insecurity aswell)..    i cant see yet pushing myself to go out to solve it, maybe it will be when i reach a better baseline and mental condition aswell as my cns get more stable

 

Im still very depressed and still have anxiety , but the worst of anxiety from acute went away, it was asfull beyond what words can tell, i would yawn allday long because of too much anxiety..anxkety urges and akhatisia like anxiety..

 

Wish you the best

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Hey mate,  im having a clinical issue for a long time, besides of.all the things i need and want to care about and cant since i became agoraphobic  it can be something serious

 

  I will need to push myself go to a pneumologist, i think my cns settled down and my anxiety aswell to a point that im capable to push myself to go without taking a rescue dose ..

 

i confess that if it was not a serious question i wold not push myself given the agoraphobia and the general discomfort to go out .. but its something thats making me scared and its causing pain and.discomfort , it has even the possibility of beeing something really bad/ serious so i will need to push myself to check,  maybe by going out and exposing to solve this will help somehow with the agoraphobia

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so sorry to hear about the issue that is bothering you i hope everything turn out ok denizthekid......  if you think your anxiety and cns is healed enough i would suggest a test run with with agoraphobia  we all can push through if we have to but we dont want set backs.....  i found it a lot easier to build up to things gradually then to just force my self in a very uncomfortable situation .......  i am  honestly shocked that this support group has very little interaction given the numbers on this website...
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I was thinking the same thing earlier about the litltle numbers of buddies affected by it interacting on here

 

The reality is , im still too much unstable, mentally affected/ impaired and emotionally unstable .. a litle stress and i see myself with obsessive rumination toughts and moaning because of anxiety the rest of the day

 

Im sorry for rambling and if i dont have much to help mate ...just my point of view

 

I  dont see my cns in a considerable good.baseline...  and im in need to pushmyself to check this, just awfull

 

I see it like as cns related, that ends up causing anxiety and depression in the end it tends to affect the psychological ( in my case)

 

You see, first time i had an agoraphobic response, i had never experienced anything like it prior, neither severe anxiety, or depression or anything that was mentally distressing...it was a " behavioral problem" , after being medicated for 2 months i developed it ... ( they didnt gave me benzos) the result was awfull anyway... almost 8 months totally agoraphobic and deeply distressed mentally,

 

it was traumatic, but i dont think a traumatic experience of being hold against my will wiuld have been a problem without the part of being given drugs that deeply affects the brain and cns.. 10 months later it all faded ... the agoraphobia aswell

   

You had agoraphobia prior to benzos ?

 

 

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no i did not have agoraphobia till i was on benzos for 5 years  never anything like it at all...... even before benzos the anxiety i experienced and panic attacks where mild to what i have experienced on the drug.....  i do not see the agoraphobia as a cns problem for me i see it as more or a gaba and Glutamate  problem  because i am on the benzo my gaba is down regulated and shot.... so when the glutamate starts ramping up it cause extreme anxiety and anxiety and panic attacks  .....  maybe if we keep the form alive others will join i know its a huge part of the benzo community.....  where are you from ?  i am from  USA  ohio
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i'm brazilian , so sometimes i misspell or not put exactly what i want to say

 

When I adressed the nervous system I wanted to encompass what you put about glutamate and GABA in a general way and I wanted to say that it is a chemically induced condition, it affects the psychological but it is not a natural condition, I think you understand what I mean

 

even being confuse to understand the dose ur currently on jn your signature I saw that you are micro tapering

 

In your case, when holding the cut for a while, do you reach a certain stability?

 

'if yes, as it is not a linear process and the occurrence of waves of symptoms, it is not difficult to see that you have stabilized to the point of another cut?

 

I didn't see myself able to have this microcut routine due to not knowing how much incapacitation it was going to cause me and that I probably wouldn't be able to continue, I jumped from 20 mg of valium this time, it totally broke me partner, months on end of extreme suffering, even with all the incapacitation I'm still in, this kind of deep and extreme suffering has passed

 

I believe this glutamatergic theory is well refined, due to how much a drug that holds back excess nerve transmission and the glutamatergic storm made me go from totally dysfunctional to functional and feeling somewhat good, ( based on my prior wd) 

 

I ended up giving in to a vicious circle, a drug to control the suffering induced by another drug

  since you've been able to maintain the routine without despair, I believe that going at the pace you can handle so that you don't completely break like I did is the best thing you can do mate,

  so that you don't end up in the vicious cycle of medication. this medication significantly decreases the induced mess in my brain but even when healing significantly from benzodiazepine damage I will have to have a lot of patience and engagement in the small cuts routine to discontinue pregabalin without collapsing again

 

I believe that you like me and (in most cases) that giving the necessary time to heal ( you/I and everyone) who had this agoraphobic response in this process will break free from this agoraphobia according to the brain homeistasis and stability of the excitatory and gabaergic or whatever the mess caused

 

The big problem is not knowing how long it will take to reach a stability to the point of significantly reducing the barrier caused by this anxious situation.

 

Another big problem its my impatience and also the psychological impact,

 

 

 

Besides of agoraphibia what symptoms have been most bothering you ?

Hold on, it will get easyer as you heal

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very well written i agree with you but i am not micro tapering  i am not tapering at all.....  i have had a one failed taper in the past under doctors supervision i was on 1.5mg and it was a 40 day taper  that was in 2014  i got all the way down to 0.25mg  but could not stay there and i slowly climb back up the ladder to where i am at today but i have gained a signifcant amount of knowledge on how to taper i have been studying benzos for 7 years now i have been on them 8
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Hello all,

I have agoraphobia as well.  I try my best to stay home and I do not go out at all unless I absolutely have to!  I really hate riding in a car as I am so scared that we will have a car accident!  Years ago, I was almost in a car wreck and have not liked riding in a car since!  But - I was able to do it without too much of a problem until 5 years ago when I was put on xanax and then cold turkey'd by a doctor that did not know anything about what the drug would do if you just stop taking it.  I did not know it was a cold turkey at the time and was very, very ill for over 6 months before a doctor put me back on the xanax and over time, went up to 4 mg a day!  The issue for me has been that I have had this anxiety of riding in a car since 1990 and have been able to live with it, even though the anxiety is rough.  Since the pandemic started, I have only left my home around 10 times as I was so scared to go out because I was scared my husband or myself would get covid.  He is high risk so I just did everything I could to stay in.  Have had groceries delivered etc.  Now we are both vaccinated and can go out, I just hate it.  The further down I go in dose with my taper, the worse this fear of going out and riding gets.  I do not drive so I am forced to have to ride.  I try to go out but I get scared and do most anything to not have to!  It does pose a problem for my husband as he tries to make it easier for me but the anxiety is so real!  I am going to talk to my therapist about it again and see what she suggest.  I worry what it will be like once I am off xanax.  I am down to .4688 and am hoping to be off xanax in a few months.  I have been tapering since January 2019.  I also want to be off this drug.

 

I do like what I read about exposure therapy.  I am going to look into that!

 

I hope you all the best and I hope and pray things get better for all of us.  I am so close to being off this drug and want to be able to function and go out again!

 

Hugs,

Julia

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hi juila thank you for sharing......  exposure therapy works when you can identify the though behind what is cause the anxiety or ect... right now i am therapy also and i am learning cognitive behavior therapy  to help identify the though patterns  but unfortunately  we as benzo users have chemical induce anxiety and especially when tapering and were not stable... but its still worth a shot to figure out what you can control in your mind and what is chemical from the benzo ...  also another thing that helps me when i have to go places which is rarly is to sit in the back seat and having the option of laying down with the covers i find that being it the front seat with the big windshield and seeing everything is very overstimulating  vs when your in the back  seat you only can look out to the side of the road  through a much much smaller window 
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hi juila thank you for sharing......  exposure therapy works when you can identify the though behind what is cause the anxiety or ect... right now i am therapy also and i am learning cognitive behavior therapy  to help identify the though patterns  but unfortunately  we as benzo users have chemical induce anxiety and especially when tapering and were not stable... but its still worth a shot to figure out what you can control in your mind and what is chemical from the benzo ...  also another thing that helps me when i have to go places which is rarly is to sit in the back seat and having the option of laying down with the covers i find that being it the front seat with the big windshield and seeing everything is very overstimulating  vs when your in the back  seat you only can look out to the side of the road  through a much much smaller window

 

Hello,

Thanks for the response.  I have tried cognitive therapy but it has not done much for this so far!  Once I am off the xanax I am going to work on this more.  Right now I am just trying to get to the end of this taper and hope some of this gets better.  I was able to tolerate this before I was put on xanax and then the CT but since that time this has gotten really bad for me.

 

I have the same issue with the large windshield and it looks like everything is coming at me!  I have actually sat in the back seat before when there was a third person in the car and it does help!  I may try it again if this does not get better!

 

Take care!!

Julia

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very well written i agree with you but i am not micro tapering  i am not tapering at all.....  i have had a one failed taper in the past under doctors supervision i was on 1.5mg and it was a 40 day taper  that was in 2014  i got all the way down to 0.25mg  but could not stay there and i slowly climb back up the ladder to where i am at today but i have gained a signifcant amount of knowledge on how to taper i have been studying benzos for 7 years now i have been on them 8

 

I hope that if/ when you decide to stat tapering, 

 

that holding for some enought time makes it more easier, hope that this way you can do it ,

 

  its a nightmare process, given the time your searching/learning about it you know,

 

And d for you not to loose hope in the middle of it,what normally occurs ....

 

You can do it.. i was on 6mg of or more back in 2015

 

This time i was stable on 20 mg of valium, i went tottaly crazy as i told, .. but i reached a much diffrent baseline..

 

its still not good, but im less far from something acceptable or having some functionality

 

  Be strong and go slow as possible

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Hello all. Sadly I’m having agoraphobia too. I’m 13 months and 10 days off. I’m not scared of going outside or being around people. I’m afraid of riding in the car and something bad happens on the way to my destination. When I ride in the car the stimulation of the moving vehicle and outside stimulation causes my symptoms to increase. When they do I get adrenal surges which make me have a panic attack. My symptoms are a pulling sensation like a magnet pulling me down and boatiness like on a boat in water with waves. The moving vehicle makes these kick into high gear and I feel faint. Very scary.

I pray this goes away for us all soon. I’ve never had this before in my life. About 2 months ago I was riding in the car with no problem and even started back driving ( just once). I had a setback and been having this problem every since.

At the beginning and during my taper I was scared to be alone. That went away after a couple of months. I read the suggestions on this thread. Thanks!

Did any of you force yourself to ride in the car? What happened? How did you manage? Did it cause waves?

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Hey, i cant tell about if its a good idea to push yourself, im nkt saying you shouldnt

 

And i hope this goes away for us aswell, and i truly belive that by waiting for your brain and cns to adjust its the most important , then it comes the exposure thing,  , but thats just my point of view

 

Hope you heal soon

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