Welcome to the Agoraphobia Forum. As you can already see we are a caring and supportive bunch and will do what we can to help you. You've already gotten some great advice and I hope to offer a little more.
One of the things that both you and your husband (who sounds so very special to stay home with you for 2 weeks) should do, is educate yourselves as much as possible on your conditions, especially the agoraphobia. This is an illness that many people don't understand and think we should "just get over it". Yes, a lot of us here have heard that from people in our personal lives and it's just because they don't understand it.
In the Articles tab above and in the Medicine and Treatment section I have posted several articles that may be very helpful to you both. Some of them explain a little about phobias in general, agoraphobia specifically, some contain coping strategies, causes, etc. Browse through the articles and do as much reading as you can. There are lots of books that you can buy or the local library may have some books on agoraphobia too.
One of the things you will see here a lot, it's kind of our "mantra", is taking things in baby steps. You've already taken one baby step by coming here - good for you! That's a step in the right direction. You need to figure out what your fears/triggers are - you mentioned one was the grocery store, a big one for many of us by the way. Once you figure out what your triggers are, you need to then pick one that you want to work on overcoming. This will NOT be an overnight process, it takes time,practice and patience with yourself. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to tackle it all head on. Break it down into little steps.
For instance - the grocery store - go to the store with your support person and stand outside the entrance for a few minutes until you feel your panic level starting to get to be too much for you. Then leave. Continue doing this until you can stand there without panicking. Then, with your support person, try stepping inside and do the same thing. Then, again with your support person, have your support person buy one or two things with you there. Once comfortable doing that, try buying one or two things yourself. Each time you go into the store, try staying just a bit longer than the last time...but don't let your anxiety level get too high because you don't want a full-blown panic attack.
I've shortened the steps here, but put in as many steps as you need to and keep practicing them. Everything I've read so far says to practice 2-3 times per week on each step. But don't rush things, just do what you can at your pace. Don't move on to the next step until you have conquered your current one. Like I said it takes time, patience, and practice. The biggest thing to remember is to take things just a little at a time - baby steps. The other thing to remember is just because one day you do well with one of the steps and then the next you can't face it all, doesn't mean you have slipped backwards. It just means that you need to try again another time and not beat yourself up for not being able to do it that time. There will be ups and downs to this whole process.
I hope some of this has helped and keep posting so that we can help you get through this. Now that you have introduced yourself to us, most posts go either in the General and Support or the Lounge areas. In the Lounge we have a daily thread called "What's going on today?..." We chat about anything and everything there, even if not related to agoraphobia. When one of us is having a bad day, we do what we can to help and support that person. We cheer each other on as we continue to make progress. We would love to have you join us there.
We hope to hear more from you so that we can get to know you better and don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have. We'll do our best to answer them and help you.
