When did you feel comfortable/safe going out?

[[as...]]

To stores? To other places not part of your typical routine like home/work?

 

I still feel so uneasy doing this...I have this fear and tension anytime I do.

[Guest [Cl...]]

I've been trying to do it off and on the entire time I'm withdrawing. I have a textured stress ball that I carry and use - supposedly the texture of the ball helps distract the limbic system from revving and panicking as much. And I find with each outing feel a tad more confident for the next time out. Although today was rough..my ears closed up and I became dizzy while in a large group of people. My therapist says "be kind to yourself" and try not to see things like that as a "failure (my words)."

[[ma...]]

During a c/t withdrwal it took 4 months for me to leave the house.

 

This time it is a very forced effort to go to the store. I find that getting out the door is the hardest part. I still have only shopped twice since w/d, which is odd, because I have no problems socializing my child with inner circle friends that understand what I'm going through. Still...If I don't make an effort (and sometimes I don't want to) my home is like a magnet. I try to push myself, but not too hard.

[[St...]]

At 9.5 months out I still struggle with this but I'm way better that I was, for me now it feel like severe apprehension... like a sudden dizziness will overcome me and I'll want to leave where I am. It' seems like we get knocked down so hard and for so long that to try to venture out in the world again is too overwhelming. Once I get out I usually feel pretty good, but I always sink back into that apprehension.

 

I've had times of relief that I just want to hang out with the mobs of humans at the store, I hope those times are the windows of relief from this horrible agorophobia symptom.   

[Guest [Tu...]]

I tend to plan the times I go out. I'm usually best about 11 a.m., after my morning walk and then a shower. I feel more relaxed and in the here and now, so if I need to go to the grocery store or post office, where ever, I tend to do it about 11 to noon, or from 1-3 p.m., when the stores tend to be less crowded. I don't have problems with agorphobia (fortunately, and knock on wood...), but I do get frazzled when there is a lot of noise and activity. So, I try and go out when I think it will be quietest.

 

For me, I have forced myself to go out from the beginning. Some days are easier than others. I'm finishing up Day 33 of a CT from roughly 30 mg. of Valium and I can honestly say that every single day has been different for me. But almost every day I go out and go on a walk in the morning, before the desert heat gets intolerable. Some days I've been in a daze. I wear an old pair of bicycling gloves and I use a walking stick. I have music going on the iPod Nano to block out the sound of cars honking and traffic in general. I carry a cotton recycling bag and to keep my mind occupied I look for aluminum cans, which I crush flat and put in the recycling bag. My one-day record is 38 cans, found in 90 minutes of walking. Last week I found a pile of cans in one place and snagged 37 cans in 60 minutes. Usually, though, it's 6-7 or so. Still, it keeps my mind occupied during the walk, and I often forget that I am in a daze, stumbling down the sidewalk looking like an idiot in my goofy hat, bicycling gloves, walking stick and recycling bag. I usually wear a sleeveless tie-dye t-shirt and baggy gym shorts, so I stand out in traffic. I may amuse others, but I'm doing what I need to rebuild my sanity, step by step, day by day.

 

Good luck to you!

 

Tie-dye Jac in Tucson

 

This is me as Day 33 winds to an end:  

[[...]]

I always get a uncomfortable going out, even when I wasn't going through withdrawal.  I think it's just irrational fear that we have, but I usually just fight if when I do feel this way, and when I'm out it usually goes away because my mind is focused on other things. 

 

Your situation probably isn't the same as mine, but try to fight it because nothing bad is going to happen to you when you leave the house, plus it may help being out and about taking your mind off all the pain you are going through.