*super long post incoming😅

For context I’m a 25 year old female, the past 2 years I have been dealing with severe agoraphobia. I had been working as a first responder for 5 years and had to take medical leave for 6 months. Somewhere between recovering from the injury and going back to work, I became petrified to be anywhere but the comfort of my home. I think my brain finally had time to catch up with all the traumatic situations it had been put through.

Going to doctor’s appointments, for said injury, became increasingly difficult. Life generally became difficult. So much so that when my medical leave was over, I quit my job. Somehow I played it off to my family and friends, with my husband being the only one to truly know what was going on. I was so embarrassed that I allowed myself to get that bad.

It peaked about a year ago, I truly was at my worst. Not only unable to go in public, but I was unable to go so far as my mailbox without having a panic attack. I cancelled on major events, that I absolutely should have been at. I was so deep in my own fear and shame that I didn’t know how to get out of it.

Eventually, with my husband’s help, I took the first step and got on SSRI’s. Which do help, but I refer to them as a weighted blanket, they ease the anxiety but you can still feel it underneath the surface. In comes therapy! I got incredibly lucky on the first try and found an amazing therapist specializing in agoraphobia. It took me about 3 months to make any progress at all and about 6 months to make bigger strides.

Now though! I’m able to go to the grocery store, social events, doctor’s appointments and feel pretty good doing it! Most recently I drove myself to the pharmacy AND went inside to grab my medication and some other random goodies. Such a simple act, but damn did it feel good lol. Some days are much harder than others, but I just have to remind myself to keep pushing. I made it this far, I can make it much further.

Anyways, sorry for the super long post! But I want people to know it can get better!!

I am struggling right now. Been on sertraline 50mg for 6 weeks and suddenly feel everything is worse again I talk to my doctor and they gave me proprananol 10mg to go with it and its not helping. I am trying to contact mental health service for advice they dont deal with my area and then I ring nhs 111 and they cant give medication advice. I am waking up with numb arms,face and shaking. I got this tight feeling around my neck and head aswell. Also thought on value of life. Doctor told me to taper off 50mg over 3 weeks at 25mg then stop and its sent me into a complete anxiety overdrive as I cant handle trying to find another medication.

I was previously on citalopram 40mg I felt fine on that I could do things I wanted to do. After 4 years it started affecting my liver enzymes so had to come off of it and thats when I relapsed back into anxiety with overwhelming emotions. So then I got put on venlaflaxine which didnt help it completely knocked me out, escitalopram gave me aura migraine and then amitriptyline which gave me increased heart rate. So I have been through it these past few months. Finally sertraline 50mg and as previously mentioned I am struggling I dont know if its a dose issue or the doctor said it could be over activation. Its completely overwhelming me right now as I am trying to find advice and I am getting nothing.

Deff don’t want to make this condition worse so if you drank caffeine or alcohol everyday which would make agoraphobia worse ?

Hi there,

I know all the risks with daily Benzo usage like dependency, addiction, risk of dementia in the longterm etc..., however is anyone`s anxiety so severe that you actually have to take them daily? If so, have they somehow saved your life and you still benefit from them? I am looking for experience reports from people who actually take them daily.

I was supposed to push myself to go outside today and take a walk, but I keep making excuses for myself to do it tomorrow or some other day. I was originally planning to take a small walk daily but I can't force myself for some reason. I'm just sleepy and have a bad case of rhinitis so I have been sneezing nonstop all day.

I have only left the house 3 times this month after not leaving the house for 2 months. i just can't stop beating myself up for never having the drive or discipline to do anything anymore. So much for exposure therapy.

Just a quick reminder because now im almost recovery I still want help and give hope to peoples who are in my situation mostly for peoples who take zoloft
Many peoples are kind here but one advice i can tell to everyone for my recovery is dont give up it took me 5 months for see my first relief and 7 months for see bigger change
You need to be patient and have your right dose I would recommend you all to wait every 3 months before change dose because its months 2 and 3 of 125mg I saw the big change
If someone or yourself tell you to stop because it dont work after 2 week or 2 months or even 5 or 6 months its false continue ! Find your right dose and wait
3 months ago i would never think text this after 6 years of anxiety and agoraphobia and ofc you dont really find your life as before but almost its a new you who is probably even better for the future

If you need any help support or just talk my messages are open ❤️

About a week or so ago, I made a lot of good progress and was so excited to share it with my therapist.

I went on a solo bike ride to a nearby park, went in the morning to the grocery store (different day) went to the city center with my husband without much anxiety, I felt good!

I work from home, which I love- but sometimes it can pull me back.

Currently, all week, I’ve not left the house- and I’m finding it increasingly difficult to do.

I plan on going to a local book store on Monday, and it helps when I plan things ahead of time.

But, I’m really struggling.

The grocery store is 4 minutes away from my house, I can literally look out the window and see it.

I need to get groceries, but I’m struggling to leave the house.

Previously I’ve used online delivery services, but my husband hates it because they can be more expensive delivery fee’s… I used it yesterday, because I was having a really rough day.

I know I should go outside for my own benefit, and I need to get groceries for dinner, since my husband works late.

I just feel stuck, and overwhelmed.

I’m worried if something happens to me outside, or I get hurt (or worse) I feel comfortable at home, I worry about people looking at me, and not being able to escape.

It’s also Saturday, which I hate because more people are outside during this time, enjoying the weekend.

I feel like the store will be busy and packed and I might feel overwhelmed.

Any advice is appreciated, feel kind of stuck.

I hit a new checkpoint and although it’s not too far, I’m still so excited I felt normal and didn’t panic!! I actually have real hope I can live normally again someday soon :))

sometimes I feel silly telling my family or friends bc it’s not a huge milestone but I didn’t even believe I could do this a year ago and here I am!!

Hey guys, My name's Drew & I'm 36, I've been struggling with agoraphobia and intrusive thoughts for about 16 years or so. While I've been a lurker on the r/Agoraphobia and r/OCD for a long time, after a recent set back, I decided to create a "throw away" account (tho I plan to actively use it here) to focus more on my re-re-re'recovery lol

I don't know anyone with Agoraphobia and/or OCD (probably because we all stick pretty close to our safety zones hah) I was hoping to reach out to some folks who are roughly my age bracket say late 20's-early 40's?(give or take) and maybe make a Discord or something where we could talk (even if it's just text) and share our wins, some gallows humor, commiserate and support each other in our peaks and valleys ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Any ways, something I thought might be helpful for me, dunno if any one else feels the same but if there's an interest maybe we can set something up!

​

22M. I took sertraline 50 mg daily for about a year (escitalopram stopped working for me) for panic disorder and agoraphobia. Earlier attempts to stop sent me back to daily dosing. For the past month I've taken 50 mg once every 3 days. At first I had mild nausea, dizziness and anxiety. Now it's mostly dizziness and irritability on days 2–3. My energy and motivation are better. I'm seeing my doctor this week to ask about a divisible tablet or a gradual dose reduction.

Has anyone tapered like this? How long until you felt stable? Did symptoms return weeks later? What would you do differently?

I'm not looking for medical advice, only experiences.

I’m trying to tell how bad my anxiety is on its own. I currently take up to 4, 1mg tablets per week. So there are multiple days in a week I don’t have any.

Lorazepam has been so helpful to me though as it’s the only thing that makes me feel more ‘normal’ for a while.

Before I was prescribed it I suffered for 2 years with the panic and agoraphobia where every single time leaving the house I had to fight to get off the edge of panic, and I couldn’t even do things like go into a shopping centre or stay a night away from home.

So it’s hard to tell if I’m getting rebound anxiety from the lorazepam or if it’s just the original anxiety I dealt with.

Many people say it gets better but when? I’ve had panic attacks since I was a teenager and since then, panic attacks became agoraphobia(in my 30s now).

I’ve been house bound for 5 years now. I have no friends, no wife, no girlfriend and no job. I went from driving a tractor trailer across North America to being unable to get in a car to go to the grocery store! My parents are supportive but on a fixed income and times are financially very tough right now. I do not have adequate healthcare that might help me climb out of this because I live in a country where healthcare is super commodified. I’m on an ssri but cannot get benzos for acute panic which makes it impossible to go anywhere.

I have felt stuck and hopeless now for awhile but I’m becoming more and more aware that I’m getting older and it’s scary that I live in a society that doesn’t give a shit about us so where the hell does that leave me!? I gave up having a house of my own a long time ago as well as finding a partner to grow old and happy with. What happens when my parents die? My options will be either go be homeless somewhere or a bullet.

Perhaps this is a fleeting feeling but I resent being alive. It shouldn’t be this difficult just to survive. I’m exhausted and fed up with this world. I’m fed up with peoples lack of empathy. I clearly don’t fit in and haven’t my entire life. It doesn’t have to be this way but it is and that’s what angers me.

18F, very recently graduated, have been becoming increasingly anxious about leaving the house/being far from home/being trapped in situations I can't easily escape from while far away from home for a few years now. I'm not strictly housebound, but leaving the house is a gargantuan effort and overwhelmingly stressful.

I struggled to attend school while still going, and ended up missing a lot of days. The only reason I managed to go at all was because I lived (literally) right next door to the school, so it took about thirty seconds to walk there and back. Even then I frequently had panic attacks at school and had to step out of class or even just go home in the middle of the day because it was too much to handle. I never made any proper friends there because my anxiety made me cold and reclusive and because the idea of going to parties or other social events was far too overwhelming (I did go to a couple of parties during my time in high school but ended up leaving early because I had severe panic attacks both times - embarrassing and obviously didn't make anyone want to get closer to me. I was just a weird liability in the eyes of anyone I was acquainted with and nobody really tried to hide it). Luckily I at least passed all my final exams, although I did have massive panic attacks in the middle of a couple of them, and having to sit there in the exam room while enduring it was horrible.

Now I'm lost. Over the summer I was prescribed sertraline, and I've been taking 75mg for a while (hopefully this doesn't break the guidelines! I see "no discussion of medications" but it looks like it only applies in the context of offering/soliciting advice, sincere apologies if I'm making a faux pas by mentioning it), but it hasn't done anything for my anxiety, nor has it significantly improved my mood (which is low as a natural result of having a completely empty life). I decided to take a gap year before going to university, because living hours away from home on a campus in my current state would obviously be a nightmare, but I feel depressed thinking about how many things people my age are able to do while I can't. I really, really want to go to university and meet people and have fun, but it's not possible for me as I am now. Furthermore, although my parents are reasonably supportive and understanding, they're insistent that I try and push through my anxiety and try to get some sort of job rather than stagnating and getting worse (which is an understandable position to take), so I've applied for a part-time volunteering position about a 15 minute walk from home, but even that feels terrifying. I dread starting that job, and I dread having to be responsible for earning a steady income for myself at some point down the line even more. I just want to stay safe at home.

I guess the problem currently weighing on my mind and causing me a lot of frustration, and the main thing that prompted me to make this post, is that I tried and (in my eyes) failed to go to a concert last night. It was about an hour's train journey away and for a band I really liked, and although I made it there I had to leave in the middle before even hearing any of my favourite songs because I just got so overwhelmed and anxious at being so far from home and knowing the only way to get back would be trapping myself inside a train car for an hour (or I could have got an Uber I guess, but that's just as bad, if not worse, for me). I bought my dad a ticket and made him go with me because I thought that that would make me feel more secure, but even that wasn't enough. It was just too much, and seeing so many other people my age who had come there on their own or with friends and were dancing and drinking and chatting made me feel incredibly depressed. I'm supposed to be having fun but I have absolutely nothing in my life. It's terrible. I feel wretched. I've been to therapy a couple of times before, and as I mentioned previously I'm on SSRIs, but nothing works. I'm only getting worse. Every time I try to push through it I psych myself out, panic, and reinforce my terror of being away from home.

I know there are people who have it much, much worse than me r.e. agoraphobia, but in the state I am now I'm stuck in this bizarre limbo where I'm not housebound enough to be recognised as somebody too mentally ill to function so I'm expected to carry on with my life, even though it's excruciating to do so and all I really want at this point is to give up and stay in bed forever. I don't truly want to give up and keep getting worse - I want to live my life! - but every baby step I've tried to take towards improvement has failed miserably and left me worse off than before. Basically the only thing I can do without struggling now is going for walks in the couple of parks in walking distance of my house, because being in a wide open space with few other people around and knowing I can get home on foot within a few minutes puts me at ease. I don't really feel like going for walks now that the weather is worsening though, so I'm getting more and more cooped-up.

I appreciate all the comments on my last post about me not avoiding things and still basically living my life. Unfortunately today on the way to work I had a really bad panic attack and ended up outside a&e. I didnt go in but sat there for about half an hour in and out of panic attacks. Ive called in sick to work and come home. Obviously this isnt good. I have no idea why this has happened. My panic recently ive been able to calm down but this one escalated to a full blown one where I felt like I was dying and wanted to go into the hospital. I was shaking a lot as well. Im not sure how to get through this. Im scared to be on my own. Im scared ill end up in hospital again like I did years ago. Idk how im going to go to work on Monday. I dont know what to do.

Hello,

Je viens pour demander des témoignages.

Après une grosse attaque de panique en mars, s'en ai suivi de l'agoraphobie.

J'étais en panique constant et même sortir dans ma rue c'était compliqué.

Depuis ça va mieux, petit a petit, c'est long mais il y a du progrès.

Hier par exemple, j'étais au bord de la panique, mais je suis quand même sorti pour aller a mon rendez vous médical, et j'ai fini par aller faire de l'essence, chercher du pain, et même fait un magasin et aller au parc avec les enfants! Une sortie de 4 heures en tout!

Mais à côté de ça, les angoisses sont augmentées et sont de nouveau présentes même chez moi.

Est ce que c'est normal? Elles sont surtout présente le matin et ça traine

Est ce que c'est parce que je sort de ma zone de confort? D'autre personne dans le même cas?

Merci pour vos retours!

Hello. I am a 41 year old who lives in Brooklyn, which feels contextually important because it isn't particularly gentle for the anxious and potentially agoraphobic. I spent the first 4 decades of my life being, if anything, obnoxiously outgoing and social. This summer I was walking to meet friends for my birthday dinner and had a very defining panic attack. This was far from my first one, but it was a BAD one, and it seemed to punctuate the first phase of an extremely stressful build up that sort of started taking place around April.

Since then I've felt close to accepting that anything outside of my house and a few select safe-feeling places is off limits. Going to the grocery store, once routine, feels pretty damn impossible. Having friends by, once a thing I thoroughly enjoyed, now feels grating and difficult. I don't own a car here, but had to rent one for a small trip and spent the entire car ride panicking, which I'd NEVER done before. I used to have to drive as part of a job for years, so it's not historically uncomfortable territory for me. I do not know exactly what happened but it's hellish and tragic. I feel like I need to move out of the city and find some rural small place where I can just live out my days as a recluse. Obviously I do not want that, but I am really, really struggling and would like to hear any encouragement or advise I can get. If this doesn't sound like a great spot for me or like I have a misunderstanding about how agoraphobia works I sincerely apologize, but if that's not the case, thank you ahead of time.

I'm 5 years in and I thought I was making progress. I still cant leave the house by myself but when I'm out with someone i can go into supermarkets and shops by myself or appointments. Then this last week I keep having panic attacks. I've not had any for a year but suddenly they are back. I dunno what to do I just wanna cry. I feel like i should just give up dose myself up on whatever medication of the day the doctors want me on and stop trying but i tried making an appointment with a GP but the earliest they have is late December. I just feel lost, upset and like I'm back sliding. I have two years to get to the point that i can go out by myself before we have to move cities for my husbands work and I'm scared I won't make it. Has anyone done this? I really need some hope rn.

I’m 23 years old, and I’ve basically lived my entire life in isolation. I rarely go out, mostly just on Sundays because my parents are very religious and strictly demand it; if I refused, it would cause huge drama and they would use religion to manipulate me. I don’t have any friends or a social life, and after finishing high school and university online last year, I hardly interact with anyone in person. I work remotely for an adult platform, which allows me to protect myself and feel comfortable, although as far as my parents know, 'I don't have a job' (telling them the truth about what I do for a living would be an abomination to them).

My parents are very controlling and toxic. My father, in particular, has a history of physical violence from my childhood, and I barely speak to him: I only reply briefly and coldly when he asks me something, while my mother was complicit in that entire situation. I never received emotional support from them, only food and an education. I harbor a lot of resentment and know they are the reason behind my isolation. They demand that I don't have a boyfriend or gain independence until I own a house and have financial stability, which is almost impossible given the economic situation in my country. Although I have enough savings to get by for a couple of years if I manage them carefully, in their eyes, it's never enough.

I know they want me to stay so I can take care of them when they get old, but I don't feel that in my heart. Trying to leave this house is a nightmare: when my older sister tried at 25, they hid her documents and made her life miserable until she managed to leave by getting married, and they still criticize her today.

That’s why the only solution I see is escaping to go live with my long-distance boyfriend. We’ve been together for three years; he lives in Florida (USA) and knows everything about my situation, although his mother hasn't met me in person and doubts me (thinking I might be after money or a visa). He also lives with his family, and the idea of taking the leap to become independent and come to Argentina overwhelms him a bit, so it will take courage and time. If I need to leave sooner, an acquaintance from my city who knows about my situation has offered to help me get somewhere else so I can reunite with my boyfriend.

I feel like my life is passing me by while fulfilling my parents' wishes. I’m mentally exhausted, I want to be free, start completely from scratch as if being born again, and take the risk just to have a life of my own.

I’d really appreciate any opinions or perspectives on this.

Im the guy who was being forced to move out alone. Well ive moved out alone and have begin to go to college. Previous 2 years i took gap years cause of anxiety. Im still not even remotely good in terms of agoraphobia this is all in a 15 min radius. But since then from when i moved i had only 1 panic attack the first day sleeping here and some intense anxiety first 2 days of college. But other than that me moving out having to do things on my own has improved my agoraphobia a lot. I used to go gym only in the morning where it was empty now i can go any hour and dont really care. I also rode in a friends car (i hate cars cause of agoraphobia). in just 2 weeks i done more progress than i did in the last 2 years staying home

Would anyone like to be friends? 26 year old queer female, into older music, craftinggg, sewing, gardening, pretty much every "grandma hobby" out there lol. just so insanely hard to make friends with this illness.
someone to just text during the day or do watch party nights! body double on the phone! whatever!
dms are open :))

Hey everyone. I’m a 21 year old female that has been struggling with agoraphobia for the past year and a half. This started because of some undiagnosed health issues I have going on. It’s mostly resulted from my time in the doctors and hospitals. I have a mole in suspicious of and really want to get checked out on top of all my other health issues I have put off. Doctors are my biggest triggers in the world unfortunately. I’m looking for anyone who can relate to my story and maybe would want to encourage each other to get to the doctors or would just be willing to share their stories. Just feeling a bit lonely in all of this.

Hey guys, I’m a little nervous to share this, but I need some advice from people who understand.

I went through a pretty tough breakup not too long ago, and I decided to try meeting someone on Hinge, truthfully not knowing if I would actually have the guts to meet up with someone. I ended up meeting someone really great, and we have an insane amount in common. We even grew up around the same area.

We went on one date to a museum and then another to a pub after work. He’s smart and cool. He’s on a international trip right now, but he invited me on a picnic when he gets back and to a concert a few days later.

I’m not too worried about the concert. Even though it’s a bit of a drive for me, I’ve been to that venue before, and it’s small and cozy. What I am worried about is the picnic.

I’ve learned that he’s quite outdoorsy. He likes plants, hiking, exploring the wilderness, and stuff like that, which I also theoretically enjoy. I’m able to go on hikes through dense forests and take walks around familiar places with people. I wish I could enjoy these things more, but obviously, I’m on the agoraphobia subreddit.

I’ve been in a bit of a slump with my progress lately, too. I think it’s probably because of work stress and some lingering stress from the bad breakup.

I really want to give this a go, but I would also feel really shitty if I held this guy back from his adventures. I should mention that I’ve briefly mentioned my agoraphobia to him, but we didn’t get into it. I also have this on my Hinge profile under the prompt “One thing you should know about me”: “Recovering from agoraphobia for 7 years. Used to be a shut-in, but now I’m traveling and living life, and I’m very proud of my progress.”

Maybe this makes it sound like I’m doing better than I actually am. I’m not sure. But it’s true that I’ve traveled with my family and come a long way from being trapped in my childhood bedroom. I live on my own now and have a good job and can do everything I need to do like shopping and most outings with friends.

I was thinking of suggesting we have the picnic in the little green area in my neighborhood. I can’t really think of anywhere else I’d feel truly comfortable. I’ve been trying to push myself harder with my exposure walks since I met him.

I think he’s great, and this could be a good way for me to get out a bit more. But at the same time, he has a very free spirit, and I feel kind of horrible at the thought of squashing that.

Please be nice to me. I know we've only been on two dates so maybe I'm overthinking this....