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View Full Version : Light at the end of the tunnel??


wantmylifeback
04-26-2009, 10:04 PM
After spending nearly a year not driving but only if someone else is in the car I have suddenly been faced with having to drive without being able to ask my fiance to take me...he has given me one week to get back behind the wheel....the anxiety of that alone has gotten me on pins and needles.

I started having panic attacks back in 1994 8 months after the birth of my daughter, the attacks consumed my life, me and my ex-husband only had one car so as far as driving he drove me to work everyday and we always ran errands together so I never had to drive. I got down to 85 pounds and lived in fear everyday... 7 years later suddenly the fear ended as fast as it came on. I was able to drive and live without fear this lasted until the past year. I began having attacks while driving, I would have to call a friend so I could follow her home, I would hyperventilate in the car and nearly pass out. I would have to pull over to the shoulder and wait until someone could come and pick me up.

I could be in a parking lot less than 3 minutes from my home and be completely paralyzed with fear I couldn't even turn the corner. The only way I would be able to do it was to get on my cell phone and have someone help me through it.

I hid this from my fiance for several months I was able to because I always made an excuse to have someone else in the car with me, one of my kids. I worked from home so it was very easy to hide it.

I then got a client that was 100 miles away and I would have to drive the highway...I knew I had to do it but came up with the excuse that I needed his help each time I went. I then broke down and confessed, then suddenly one day while he was driving he witnessed one of my panic attacks and realized that my fear was real, and he agreed to drive me everywhere I went, he would get frustrated at times but knew that I was petrified.

He made me see a doctor and they prescribed me Xanax, well that didn't help because sleeping at the wheel is not good either.

We had been under an enormous amount of stress and I told him once the stress level decreased that I could get strong again and that I would start driving.

Here is the problem, we just moved out of state a month ago, I have not driven one time since we have been here, we live 16 miles from cell phone reception, it is a two laned highway. I am suppose to start working and it is 50 miles one way each and everyday. I have been in constant anxiety. I have begged my fiance to drive me until I can get the strength to drive myself but he gives me one week. I don't blame him because of the cost of gas back and forth but to have to all the sudden drive without being able to contact anyone if I begin to panic and then travel 50 miles everyday all within a weeks time seems impossible.

I have to wait til my first check to be able to order the program but what do I do in the mean time. I want my life back!!!!!! I am tired of letting fear steal my life.

Rich Presta
04-28-2009, 12:54 AM
A week in unreasonable, and really, someone else demanding you overcome a fear isn't going to be all that healthy going into it. The good news is that worst case is that you'll feel lousy and anxious, but ultimately, the feelings won't hurt you.

Rich

wantmylifeback
05-18-2009, 02:59 AM
Well its been a week and he is going on a camping trip and now I have to drive all of the sudden by myself and I am completely and totally overwhelmed. I am already sick to my stomach and trying to figure out anything I could do to get me there. It is so bad that I am planning on staying at a Hotel for the days that he is gone so I can walk to work. I absolutely hate this I feel like I have lost my life entirely.

My problem is that I have a heart condition called SVT and if my heart gets to racing then it will remain at that level dangerously until it fixes itself but if I continue at that rate I will pass out and I am not so much worried about myself as I am for anyone else if I can't pull off in time.

I just can't allow the anxiety to start but I am already anxious and not in the car.

teaser
05-19-2009, 02:12 PM
Hi WMLB....

So - is this the week you are driving by yourself or next week? Are you doing okay?

Have you gotten the program yet? I think the thought popping would really help the anxiety you are having before you even get in the car.

I'm assuming you have seen a doctor for the SVT.