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Agoraphobia and anxiety anyone?

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,181
Location
New Mexico
It's so hard when you feel you cant stand upright for more than 5 minutes to feel confident walking about, I get anxious just walking at home some days. Cfs has a lot to answer for.
This was one of my biggest challenges............and made for great anxiety every time I went to grocery store. I can't count the number of times I had to leave a cart full of groceries because I could no longer stand. (Electric carts not always available.) Found myself on so many occasions having to sit/lay on the store floor which brought on all the hubaloo of people surrounding me, asking if I was OK, etc. etc. "Should we call an ambulance". Strange because even though I have improved and my orthostatic intolerance is much better. (I don't need electric cart anymmore)...........I still get anxious when going to grocery store.............and almost feel like I have a bit of PTSD because of past experiences.
 

Jemima37

Senior Member
Messages
407
Location
UK
Thank you all so much for your advice and replies. It means so much.

I woke today still in the crash. My arms before bed felt weak and heavy out of the blue so I knew it was not getting easier. Usually each day I improve in a crash and I havent crashed for more then 2 to 3 days all year. Now its day 4 so of course I'm worried. I also couldn't wash my hair and I've not washed it since Tuesday and having naturally oily hair this gives me anxiety. My husband said wash it once you've had 1 better day and not before, if that means its next week so be it. That's hard for me to do but when I'm in a crash I'm extremely anxious so I know it would result in a panic attack during the hair wash because when I'm crashed I'm so anxious anywhere but laying on my bed. I guess that's normal and I need to cut myself some slack and sod the hair. Right now I'm worried incase this is a very long crash. All I did was shower, wash my hair and dry it Tuesday morning and I've been unwell since, it hit within a few hours but hit harder the next day. I had also been doing screen time on phone and ipad for 5 to 6 hours a day, sometimes more days before the crash, a bad habit due to boredom. I need to work on that as screens make me feel dizzy and unwell so I know there is a link. I've not crashed as often this year but this month I've crashed on 2 occasions.

This morning as soon as I opened my eyes I noticed how weak my arms were, its killing me to type this. I had a very basic wash, face and teeth. I couldn't do a body wash that I make myself do twice daily between showers. I got dressed and now I'm on my bed for thr day. I didnt sleep until 12.30 and was awake 6.45am.

Definitely back to showers and hair washes separately, never on the same day once I can get back to them. In the meantime how do I stop getting anxious I cant do them.

Thanks again all.
Jem
 
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Rufous McKinney

Senior Member
Messages
13,251
Definitely back to showers and hair washes separately, never on the same day once I can get back to them.

Do you have a stool in the shower...would that be helpful?

I've noticed I keep my eyes closed to reduce the eye blurr and chlorine exposure- and I'm rather falling over in the shower.

I have long hair and I am starting to question the wisdom. Can hardly comb it. Thats the most exhausting here.
 

Jemima37

Senior Member
Messages
407
Location
UK
Do you have a stool in the shower...would that be helpful?

I've noticed I keep my eyes closed to reduce the eye blurr and chlorine exposure- and I'm rather falling over in the shower.

I have long hair and I am starting to question the wisdom. Can hardly comb it. Thats the most exhausting here.
It's more just the shower itself exerts me. I do have a seat but I crashed this week as I washed my hair and showered at the same time then dried my hair. Usually I do them separately not on the same day. Now I'm too crashed to do either lol.
 
Messages
56
I had agoraphobia and anxiety to a degree that it had been difficult to even go to the kitchen to eat. Leaving the house was very very difficult.
Credit where credit is due. SSRIs turned that thing around for me. I would therefor recommend you to get that kind of help.
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
In the meantime how do I stop getting anxious I cant do them.
For me, it was a gradual acceptance of the fact that, for now, this is the 'what is', and not beating myself up about it. It took a period of sort of mantra-ing stuff like "I can't do this right now, it doesn;t mean I'm lazy, or that something awful will happen because I can't do this right now, it just means that for now, I cant do it." I had to repeat that every time that particualr kind of anxiousness started up. You have to kind of retrain your expectations.


Credit where credit is due. SSRIs turned that thing around for me. I would therefor recommend you to get that kind of help.
I'm really glad that SSRI's worked for you, as they have for some lucky others. But when you recommend them to others, you need to be aware that what's good for you could be poisonous and damaging to someone else before making a blanket-statement recommendation like this.


No matter how harmless and beneficial many in the medical community express antidepressants to be, they're psychotropic drugs that fiddle with, and alter, brain function, and as such should be approached with respect, great care, and extreme caution.
 
Messages
56
I leave it to Jem and her doctor to decide, as her problem right now should be clearly addressed by an expert. Maybe she then will become a member of the "few lucky others" and at least get this problem of the table.
 

Jemima37

Senior Member
Messages
407
Location
UK
For me, it was a gradual acceptance of the fact that, for now, this is the 'what is', and not beating myself up about it. It took a period of sort of mantra-ing stuff like "I can't do this right now, it doesn;t mean I'm lazy, or that something awful will happen because I can't do this right now, it just means that for now, I cant do it." I had to repeat that every time that particualr kind of anxiousness started up. You have to kind of retrain your expectations.


I'm really glad that SSRI's worked for you, as they have for some lucky others. But when you recommend them to others, you need to be aware that what's good for you could be poisonous and damaging to someone else before making a blanket-statement recommendation like this.

No matter how harmless and beneficial many in the medical community express antidepressants to be, they're psychotropic drugs that fiddle with, and alter, brain function, and as such should be approached with respect, great care, and extreme caution.
Thank you.

Day 5 of this crash and I'm worrying as this is a long one for me. Usually I bounce back after 3 days. I have heavy weighted arms and achy arms, achy ribs and shoulders. My legs feel weak, shaky as I walk sometimes and heavy so I'm hating walking. I feel sickly, woozy and just drained all over. My phone feels too heavy to hold to type. My blood pressure has also been a little bit low, less than my norm. Just an all over drained feeling so I get anxious walking around. I always feel the fatigue in my body more than feeling tired in my eyes like I need to sleep. I dont need to sleep, it's always my body feels broken and drained. Is that normal for cfs all of my symptoms?

I woke up feeling a bit better so I washed my greasy hair today at the sink as it had been 4 days and wham after drying it I was in pain like a horrible dull ache all over my body and my symptoms as above are back but even more pain all over than usual. I always feel the affects of doing something soon afterwards.

I never used to get pain with cfs but I do recently. My GP suggested I could have fibro when I last spoke to her but as I can't go to a hospital to have this confirmed due to the cfs and agoraphobia/anxiety, i didn't take it any further. I never used to get pain with the cfs flare ups but I'd say pains been niggling on and off in mild crashes for months but this crash pain has been an big issue along with the very heavy arms. I feel like my arms have weights on them.

My anxiety is up worrying when this will ever go after 5 days. I'm resting on my bed and taking it slow. No jobs or anything. My worry is if I aggravate my crash each time I hair wash or shower what am I to do? I cant neglect them. Urgh I never crash this long this year so its worrying me this will be a long crash like I had in the past.

Prior to this crash I did the shower and hair wash in the same day but for weeks before I've been a bit worried and anxious about my life so maybe that led to my crash too. I kept trying to read anxiety books etc to find a way out of anxiety and I felt myself become really brain fogged and mentally tired from searching and stressing a way out of my anxiety and occasional panic attacks before Christmas. Mum guilt a 2nd year this poorly may Christmas. I posted last year about my Christmas fears as I was unwell for 9 months.

Thank you for your support it means so much Yippee.

Ps I cant take SSRI meds due to allergy to one years ago. I'm on a different type and have been for a few years. It's not working as it was but I currently dont want to put up with withdrawal or increasing side effects. It still helps me sleep and eat as it helps with both of those issues but I want off meds in the future as I've struggled taking them with some of the side effects and other meds I had bad reactions to. I'm very anti meds but took these during the time I was struggling after my brother attacked me.
 
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YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
It still helps me sleep and eat as it helps with both of those issues but I want off meds in the future as I've struggled taking them with some of the side effects and other meds I had bad reactions to. I'm very anti meds but took these during the time I was struggling after my brother attacked me.
Absolutely zero need to explain or justify your choices!!! The bottom line is: if it's helping, it's a good thing, and nobody else's business.


I know there are people who like to offer their opinions on our personal treatment choices, and while I appreciate their input, if it flies in the face of my own experience of a thing, I just ignore it.
 

Jemima37

Senior Member
Messages
407
Location
UK
Absolutely zero need to explain or justify your choices!!! The bottom line is: if it's helping, it's a good thing, and nobody else's business.

I know there are people who like to offer their opinions on our personal treatment choices, and while I appreciate their input, if it flies in the face of my own experience of a thing, I just ignore it.
Thank you so much YippeeKi 💜
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
I woke up feeling a bit better so I washed my greasy hair today at the sink as it had been 4 days and wham after drying it I was in pain like a horrible dull ache all over my body and my symptoms as above are back but even more pain all over than usual
I don't know if this will work for you, but after a lot of trial and error, along with a strong determination to avoid any kind of prescription pain killer, I discovered Aleve.

Tylenol
had done nothing. I wasn;t expecting much, but Aleve had been recommended to DB (my husbnd, Dearly Beloved, family joke, long boring story, sparing you here) by a colleague at his workplace. SO I dutifully gave it a try, taking 1/2 of a regular strength tablet and expecting nothing.


And incredibly, about 20 minutes later, the pain was as close to gone as I could hope for, considering how bad it had been. Ever since then, whenever I have pain that exceeds my pretty decent tolerance level, it's 1/2 an Aleve, and the other half about 30-45 minutes later if the pain is still too strong. I almost never have to take the 2nd half.

The pain reduction lasts for a looong time. For me, that's about 10 - 14 hours.
 

Jemima37

Senior Member
Messages
407
Location
UK
I don't know if this will work for you, but after a lot of trial and error, along with a strong determination to avoid any kind of prescription pain killer, I discovered Aleve.

Tylenol had done nothing. I wasn;t expecting much, but Aleve had been recommended to DB (my husbnd, Dearly Beloved, family joke, long boring story, sparing you here) by a colleague at his workplace. SO I dutifully gave it a try, taking 1/2 of a regular strength tablet and expecting nothing.

And incredibly, about 20 minutes later, the pain was as close to gone as I could hope for, considering how bad it had been. Ever since then, whenever I have pain that exceeds my pretty decent tolerance level, it's 1/2 an Aleve, and the other half about 30-45 minutes later if the pain is still too strong. I almost never have to take the 2nd half.

The pain reduction lasts for a looong time. For me, that's about 10 - 14 hours.
Thank you so much. I've been taking paracetamol and resting with a heat pad. My whole body aches.

I'm beginning to worry and I know that wont help this crash. Worrying because usually I can do a personal wash morning and night on the days I dont shower. Indont shower daily to avoid crashes anyway to keep at my baseline level of fatigue. Now I've crashed badly after washing my hair and showering on the same day on Tuesday I'm struggling to do a personal wash with a flannel at the sink. I just now tried to wash my body and omg it took it out of me. I felt so drained and weak and heart rate went up so I had to stop and rest. I washed my hair this morning and have felt much worse for doing it. When in a crash how on earth do you manage personal hygiene without worsening your crash?

This is so unlike me. I can always have a wash at the sink and manage ok but in this crash I'm wiped out and in pain. I have fatigue daily and have to pace but to crash is something else. 5 days in this crash feels too long for me. I've not crashed like this all year.

Any advice appreciated.

Jem
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
When in a crash how on earth do you manage personal hygiene without worsening your crash?
By limiting it to the absolutely essential. This will be different for everyone, but for me when I was in a really, really, and I mean really bad state, it was limited to washing my face when I got up, brushing my teeth, brushing my hair and twisting it into what I hoped looked like a deliberately messy bun on the top of my head. Later when energy reserves returned a bit, a quick wash at the vanity sink, maybe a splash of perfume. Back to bed. Done.
 

Jemima37

Senior Member
Messages
407
Location
UK
By limiting it to the absolutely essential. This will be different for everyone, but for me when I was in a really, really, and I mean really bad state, it was limited to washing my face when I got up, brushing my teeth, brushing my hair and twisting it into what I hoped looked like a deliberately messy bun on the top of my head. Later when energy reserves returned a bit, a quick wash at the vanity sink, maybe a splash of perfume. Back to bed. Done.
Thank you.

That helps. I need to cut myself some slack. I'm still finding it hard to accept cfs even though I've had it 2-3 years. I still always worry it's something more or it's all in my head. Then I crash like this and it hits me mentally and I cry I'm like this and get anxious will the crash ever pass. I know 5 days isnt much really, but it's not been this long all year. Usually I bounce back inn3 days and I never feel this bad during one. Ah well. All I can do is accept it and ride the wave, and stop worrying it wont ever go away.