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View Full Version : Hello from a Chicago-area newbie!



cici23
07-18-2014, 09:52 PM
Hello!

My name is Cindy and I have been suffering from anxiety for a while now. I think I've had some version of it all my life but never really identified it until sometime after July of 2007. I had a triggering event, and now what really sets of my anxiety is when I am in any place or situation where I am "trapped" with no easy way out... a movie theater, a mall, car wash, a courthouse, a train, plane, sometimes a car, etc. I have gotten better with some of it, but I always try to find the spots that have the easiest way out... and I find it is 100 times worse if I am alone. I can get into the triggering event if anyone is interested, but it directly relates to being physically trapped when bad things were happening around me (and also trapped with my son who was 15 then). I also obsessively worry about health things, as I see many people here do. I don't go to the doctor much... don't like my doctor. She blows me off and is short with me. I do take Buspar, not sure how much it helps. I take Nexium for my stomach and then an allergy pill at certain times of the year. The Buspar makes me feel funny (warm, nauseous, strange... ) so I usually only take it at night which is silly because my issues are best at night! My stomach complicates things because I get those esophageal spasms (kind of like stomach flip flops) that make me worry my heart is acting up. It scares me right into an anxiety attack sometimes! It doesn't help that my kids (ages 17 and 22) don't get what I go through. NO, it isn't taking over my life but it affects it. I want to fly soon on a vacation, just don't know how I would ever do that! To me, that's like the ULTIMATE in being trapped!! At least on the commuter train there are a lot of stops. I also have had issues having anxiety attacks walking the dog because we have had some issues with strays coming after us. I get VERY anxious whenever I get too far from home. Pretty much anything that has triggered an attack in the past sets up red flags for me now. I know I psych myself out. I have seen a therapist, and it was OK. She taught me some techniques that I try to use. I think what might help me more than anything is finding some people here that I can relate do so I don't feel like such a freak with all of this.
Tomorrow (July 19) I am going to see Blake Shelton in concert at Wrigley Field in Chicago and am feeling a lot of stress being away from home (my friend and I are spending the night), taking the commuter train, taxis and being out in a crowd. I am sure it will be fun and my friend is very dependable, but I am feeling the stress. I am so excited to go, but yet so thrilled already at the prospect of being home!!
Anyway, I am happy to find this site and look forward to meeting you all!
Cindy

Cullingford
07-19-2014, 05:22 AM
Hi there Cindy really good to meet you and welcome. I hope you have a really good time at that concert it's good you have dependable friend to go with you!. Anxiety etc can be so isolating for some, I am glad you are still out there doing the stuff you enjoy and not avoiding. Each time you face a fear head on and win the easier it is next time.
So welcome again Cully

cici23
07-21-2014, 08:23 AM
Hi there Cindy really good to meet you and welcome. I hope you have a really good time at that concert it's good you have dependable friend to go with you!. Anxiety etc can be so isolating for some, I am glad you are still out there doing the stuff you enjoy and not avoiding. Each time you face a fear head on and win the easier it is next time.
So welcome again Cully

Thanks, Cully! Nice to have a note from you. The concert was fun, but so much of the "travel" part of it was a hassle, but well worth it looking back. I did get a bit anxious feeling when we first got there, walked into Wrigley Field and saw all the people there, probably close to 60,000! Plus, there weren't good ways in and out so I really had to focus on not panicking. Then we left before the last encore song, and that was a GREAT idea!!! Other than that, there were a few anxious moments, but those are going to happen, I just try to take them in stride. Still not sure how I will conquer my fear of being "trapped" in a plane, but I hope to figure it out!