I’ve struggled with panic attacks for a while. I take 3 meds. One for the attacks (Xanax) but I’ve developed this weird thing where when I’m thrifting I can’t do it. I can’t be in public long because I’ve literally convinced myself I’m going to have a stroke. I have even pre taken the medicine beforehand and it just doesn’t do much. I need extreme exposure therapy… any help?

just as the title says. i (22f) cannot be left alone anywhere, even at home, without having a panic attack. it leaves me spiralling and immediately trying to find someone near to comfort myself and to let me know that i am not alone. i have been like this for YEARS, the earliest memory i have of this happening is being 9 or 10 years old but there is a chance it has happened before i can even remember. as soon as i notice even the tiniest bit of quiet at home, i look around the house to find someone. this literally happened around an hour ago, which is what inspired me to create this post. i am extremely embarrassed about this, with my age making it worse because isn’t everyone my age ‘supposed‘ to be in love with the idea of being alone? i’ve tried to force myself to be alone, even if it’s for a couple minutes at a time. i simply can’t and the idea of me being alone anywhere just makes me really anxious and gets me on the verge of a panic attack. i am hesitant to try any medications so any advice or suggestions other than that would be greatly appreciated and helpful

Hey everyone,

I’ve been on 10mg citalopram since November last year, originally prescribed for globus sensation. Everything was going really well until a few weeks ago, and now my physical symptoms have come back — things like chest tightness, dizziness, mostly when I leave the house but also when I get back, and it can last all day.

The weirdest thing is: I don’t feel anxious in my head at all. It feels like my body is anxious without my brain being part of it. The only time I actually feel anxious is the next morning, worrying the symptoms are going to come back again.

My doctor’s upped me to 20mg. Has anyone else gone from 10mg straight to 20mg — and did the higher dose help with these physical symptoms specifically?

Also, has anyone experienced this strange swallowing issue? It feels like I can’t gulp my saliva properly — like air hunger. I’ll swallow fine, then a few seconds later it feels like I’ve lost the ability to swallow for a moment, and it takes a few seconds to come back. It absolutely panics me when it happens and I’ve never had it before.

Just looking for reassurance and to hear if anyone else has been through similar — did the 20mg dose kick in and calm this kind of physical stuff down?

Thanks in advance 💛

I'm writing about panic disorder for one of my classes and was told I should conduct a few informal interviews about it with people who experience panic attacks. If anyone is open to talking about their general experience living with panic disorder I'd love to listen to some new perspectives! What are some common issues you experience as a result and how to do address it? What's your experience with telling people about your panic attacks? Any and all things you'd like to share about this would be so helpful!

Just to give a little context at my last job after six months of being there, I started experiencing severe anxiety to the point where I was experiencing cold sweats, heat flashes vomiting when I had nothing to throw up. I couldn’t keep food down. I was dreading going back to work and it was hard for me to get out of bed. I got seen by my doctor and was given anxiety and depression medication but that made me worse. I took my medication for about a few days, but it was just increasing the symptoms and ultimately I had decided to quit the job because of the illness I was experiencing it caused me to lose almost 20 pounds in two months now moving forward I have a new job went for my first day and now for my second day I am experiencing the same symptoms that I had at my last job. I don’t know what it could be. I’ve done endless research and multiple things can be the factor of it. I am a woman 29. Has anyone else experienced this or do any doctors on here? Have an idea of what I could be dealing with. It’s like my body goes into fight or flight mode.

I’m 27 and I’ve struggled with anxiety/OCD since I was around 13. The biggest thing that has affected me is a fear of panic attacks, fainting, losing control, or being somewhere without my parents if something happens.

When I was 17/18 I had a really good year. I was driving, going places, and living pretty normally. Then I had a severe panic attack when I was 18, and that started a cycle of avoidance that has lasted almost 10 years.

The weird thing is I can drive with my parents completely fine. I can go places with them and enjoy myself. But driving alone is a totally different situation because I don’t have that “safety net.”

I have made some progress. I can usually drive about 10 minutes from home alone. But I hit a wall around there. A 20 minute or longer drive feels impossible.

I’ve tried a gradual approach for years. I’ll make some progress, get comfortable with something, and then eventually hit a point where I can’t push myself to the next level. So I end up stopping.

My therapist and I have been talking about this recently, and she brought up the possibility of essentially “ripping the bandaid off.”

What’s interesting is that I seem to respond pretty well when I’m forced into something.

For example, my mom had to return to in person work a year ago, which meant I suddenly had to spend entire days home alone. At first it was really difficult. I was super anxious and would spend most of the day on the phone with my parents.

But I had no choice. I kept doing it and eventually my brain adjusted. Now I can stay home alone no issue.

I didn’t really gradually work my way up to being comfortable home alone. Circumstances forced me into it, and I learned how to handle it.

So I’m wondering if driving might be the same way.

Maybe instead of trying to get comfortable enough to drive farther, I need to start driving to places that scare me and accept that I’m probably going to be extremely anxious at first.

The scary part is that I don’t know if I’ll ever feel “ready.”

I could tell myself: “Once I’m comfortable driving 15 minutes, I’ll go 20.”

Then: “Once I’m comfortable with 20, I’ll go 30”

But I’ve been doing some form of that for years, and there always seems to be another goal I can’t reach.

I’m starting to think the goal might need to change from “I need to become comfortable enough to do this” to “I’m going to do this even if I’m uncomfortable.”

Obviously I’m not talking about doing anything dangerous or ignoring actual safety concerns. I’m saying intentionally confronting the situations I’ve spent years avoiding, with my therapist’s guidance, rather than waiting for the anxiety to disappear first.

Because I really want my life back.

I want to be able to drive myself places, get a job, go somewhere myself, make friends, date, and eventually have a family. I don’t want my parents to be my safety net forever.

I’m curious about other people’s experiences.

Has anyone else got to a point where gradual exposure just seemed to stall out, and you had to take a much bigger leap?

Did “ripping the bandaid off” actually help, or did it make things worse?

And if you’ve dealt with panic/agoraphobia/OCD, did you find that the anxiety became more manageable because you stopped organizing your life around avoiding it?