Agoraphobia

[mommywoman]

Does anyone know of you can have agoraphobia just a little, maybe partial, ocassionally? It seems that I sometimes don't want to go outside the comfort of my home. It's like I feel safe here and I just don't want to deal with people? I guess I need to bring this up to my psychiatrist. I don't know if I have agoraphobia or just some kind of anxiety thing. I'm not fearful and if I have a dr appointment I sometimes call it off. WTH, any ideas?

[Damavandi]

Hi Mommywoman:

You definitaley are deficient on vitamin d3.
Please get it tested at a good lab.
It will all go away, if treated properly by an endocrinologist.
After the treatment, you do not have to waste any money,
and time with your psychiatrist !!!

Best wishes,
Ali

[kiwiang]

So are you saying to cure anxiety I only need vitamin d?

[Buttercup]

If you are deficient in vitamin d then taking a supplement may help. However, the majority of folk who have anxiety and/or depression will get blood tests done to test for vitamin/mineral deficiencies and other conditions and more often than not these results come back normal. I have suffered from anxiety/depression over the years and my blood work has always come back normal. Despite this I have taken vitamin and mineral supplements but with limited success. Everyone is different though and some folk find taking vitamins etc very helpful.

As for your original question, I am similar to you and go through agorophobic periods where I can't leave my house but other times I am ok to do it. My most recent bout of anxiety left me pretty much house bound but seeing a new therapist really helped me get back on track.

[dazza]

LOL... IF ONLY anxiety was purely a vitamin deficiency!

Not sure if you've got a phobia or not really.

The thing is, you could analyse pretty much any behaviour and come up with some random disorder or phobia if you wanted...

I mean; I don't like playing football - this doesn't mean I have football-a-phobia, lol

Everyone is different. Some people like, other people dislike.

You're probably not a very sociable person, are you? (and maybe this is why you can't be arsed with people sometimes)

[dazza]

Actually... I'm curious... how on EARTH did Damavandi come up with a diagnosis of; "DEFINITELY have a vitamin deficiency"?

[hopeNfaith88]

He also told me i had a vit d3 deficiency on anther thread, but i dont. I take a multivitamin and eat well, plus get more than enough sunshine. I also was tested for it a few months ago and it was normal

[kiwiang]

there are a lot of supposed vitamin def. that can cause anxiety b12 being one and I suffer this and have injections but it sure has not helped my anxiety:( I love this forum, but its a bit dangerous people suggesting not to seek other help and saying its all a lack of a vitamin ,what works for one person does not mean it will for all...people are very vulnerable here.....mommywoman do see a doctor or someone who can help:)

[hopeNfaith88]

Does anyone know of you can have agoraphobia just a little, maybe partial, ocassionally? It seems that I sometimes don't want to go outside the comfort of my home. It's like I feel safe here and I just don't want to deal with people? I guess I need to bring this up to my psychiatrist. I don't know if I have agoraphobia or just some kind of anxiety thing. I'm not fearful and if I have a dr appointment I sometimes call it off. WTH, any ideas?

Im like this. How agoraphobic i feel is directly related to my anxiety levels and how physically bad i feel. Its worse on some days and nonexistant on others. Its normal. But it sucks and its a very scary depressing feeling nonetheless.

Ive climbed out of the deepest pit of agoraphobia and anxiety recently. Fell into it about 5 months ago and it lasted about 4 and a half. Im not sure if any one thing helped me, but here is a list of things that combined have made me feel better:

-going to the dr and getting a complete check up (he ordered like 20 tests on my blood) to reassure myself
-taking iron supplements to correct my anemia i found out i had from above tests
-beginning a multivitamin (never took one before)
-drinking natural calm magnesium drink (mag was recommended to me from someone on here, i really do feel relaxed when i drink it)
-doing research on anxiety, and realizing not to freak out when im anxious. I familiarized myself with symptoms of anxiety and over time they became less scary because i realized that after 4 months of "stroke" and "heart attack" symptoms, i was still alive! So obviously i wasnt having them lol. I began talking myself down. Just simply saying "you are ok, its only anxiety" helped alot!
-seeing a therapist (not just a psychiatrist) shes great and has helped calm me down overall
-made myself leave the house daily. The first few times i would take a small amount of xanax before leaving and always carry some on me. I would also have someone with me the first few times to get my confidence up. Sitting around only makes it worse. You have got to get out and move around. I would literally stay in PJs and lay in the same spots all day. My body began to hurt from not moving and i was beginning to get cabin fever. Its hard to get out but it will get easier and eventually ur anxiety will be down to a manageable level and almost all gone. If you stay indoors you have no choice but to focus on and obsess over ever little body sensation and it doesnt get you anywhere!

As you can see i tried many different things because i was desperate to feel better. Like i said im not sure which thing did the trick maybe it was a combo of both. But i cant stress enough how low i was. I didnt even have the confidence to walk to my mailbox. It was very hard on me. I considered taking my life because i just couldnt understand why one day i was fine and the next day i couldnteave my house. Its upsetting to see that change in yourself. But it always gets better as impossible as it seems

[brittany09]

Sounds like you have slight agoraphobia. Basically your a functioning agoraphobic. That's better then a full blown one. My advice to you is to keep going out and doing things everyday,or at least every other. That helped me get past my agoraphobia. Don't cancel any more appointments. Even if you feel like you can't or don't want to go,just go. The anticipation is always worse then the actual task. The more you get out,the easier it will be to get out and eventually you won't question it anymore. You can always handle the situation. Bring a benzo with if your prescribed one,and a paper bag to breathe into. What's the worst that could happen? You have to go in the bathroom or go outside to breathe for a minute? Obviously,you have survived every time you've ever had anxiety,and will continue to. Always remind yourself it's just anxiety and there's nothing wrong with you. Some other tips...take magnesium supplements,a multivitamin,make sure your eating enough and sleeping enough, and keep busy. That's all I did. Now I'm able to leave my house without even worrying about it.