Agoraphobia Support Group

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie, my name is Donna an I have just turned 32. I started having panic attacks when i was 26, the first one was the day of my birthday an the day after i got engaged, after this panic, i didnt expeience anything for a few more months when i was away for the weekend with my best friend an her family an friends for her hen party, i then didnt experience anything for months after that on my way home from work one sunny afternoon. From this point on I was getting them all the time, mainly on the way to an from work. After a few months i handed in my notice, i presumed that it was due to stress that this was happening, so thought leaving work would help. Instead though they mentioned that i could work from home, so I did, i made weekly treks into work but everytime resulted in a panic attack, so i stopped going, this was 5 years ago. The last time i was out of my house for more than 5 mins was september 2006. Now I barely leave the house at all. Not only do I have issues with agoraphobia, ialso have a swallowing phobia which i have had in various forms for the past 10years, nothing like it is now. When various members of my family or my fiance are not in the house, i will not eat or drink - this proves to be hell on earth when one of them goes on holiday. I try my best to remain upbeat an promise myself that next year things will be different but some days are better than others. So I thought I would join this forum in the hope that someone out there understands or has dealt with this in someway. I have been asking for help for sometime now an so far i was offered 6 hours of help from home an that was it, next week though i have someone else coming to see me, so will see what happens there. I fear panic everyday. My life feels like its been taken away from me an thats what i hate the most. So there you go, thats my story on how i got here in a round about kinda way.

Peacean love to you all, I hope that someday we can all meet together with our issues far behind us as we look forward to a brighter future

Donna x

Welcome to the group Donna!

I am no longer housebound but I have been in the past. I understand how frustrating agoraphobia can be. This is a great, close group of people that all understand how difficult it can be. Feel free to jump into any of the discussions or ask a question. I hope you stick around

Kevin

Welcome to the group Donna! You have found a wonderful place full of wonderful people who are here to support you. We also know how to have some fun! Sounds like things have been pretty tough, but I believe they will get better.

Everyone here is at different stages with agoraphobia. I myself have worked on and off, I currently have a job but have not been to it for a little over a month. I can leave when absolutely necessary but it is very hard and uncomfortable. I started having panic attacks when I was 15 and the agoraphobia followed. At times I do very well and function pretty well in society. I guess it just really likes me and wants to keep on coming back to say hi!

It is so wonderful to have this place to come where people understand what you are going through. Welcome to the group and I look forward to getting to know you!

~JoJo

Post edited by: Fidgetgirl, at: 07/30/2010 09:03 AM

Welcome to the group Donna!

This is a great group of people who are always there for each other for the good and bad of this illness. I personaly have been homebound for over a year now.

Tracey

Hi Donna and welcome to the group. I'm glad you found us. I'm sure you will find having friends here that understand and care will be a great comfort to you. I have not traveled more than five blocks from my home in the past year. I hope we can meet altogether someday. What a party that will be. Hope you have a peaceful day!

I had my first panic attack in Nov of 2005 when I was 15 years old. I became homebound in Sept of 2006. I was still leaving a little bit. Maybe once a month. In 2007 the leaving stopped. I'm now fully homebound. It's HORRIBLE! I just had a baby too from home and he was rushed to the hospital and was there for 5 weeks. I wasn't able to be by his side and I feel completely aweful for that! I'm suffering extra anxiety and panic attacks and depression now. I really hope we all can overcome this.

Post edited by: xXxSissyxXx, at: 07/06/2011 02:37 PM

I'm glad that you posted.

There is hope. It takes time and practice but you can and will live a life filled with happiness. It's possible! One baby step at a time.

What type of coping skills do you have???

Cheryl

Welcome to the group Cosmica and xxxsissyxxx. I am also a homebound agor. It can get quite challenging but I work on as much baby steps as I can. Cheryl is right there is hope!

I am new as well. So far nothing but good people. I love this place.