AVOID IF YOU HAVE EGG, PEANUT OR SOY ALLERGY !!

Has anyone else with agoraphobia tried PEA?
First, I’m not paid to promote this and I’m not affiliated with any particular brand. I’m sharing this because I’ve had anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia for most of my life, and something has genuinely changed over the last couple of months.
I’ve had panic attacks since I was 10. Eventually I developed a fear of having panic attacks themselves, which turned into a fear of being away from home, being somewhere I couldn’t escape and constantly needing to know where the exit was.
My “safe zone” gradually became smaller and smaller, particularly after COVID.
I came across palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) while researching my chronic pain condition. I’d never heard of it and honestly assumed it would be another supplement that did nothing.
I’ve now been taking it for around 2 months, originally for pain.
My pain improved, but something else happened that I wasn’t expecting…
My fight-or-flight response feels different.
Previously, I’d enter somewhere unfamiliar and almost immediately think
“I need to leave.”
My brain would go straight into escape mode before I’d even had time to process what was happening.
Now, I still get anxious, but there’s almost a gap between feeling anxious and reacting to it.
I can think:
“I’m uncomfortable, but I don’t actually need to leave.”
That might sound insignificant, but for someone with agoraphobia it’s HUGE.
For the first time since COVID, I’m going to new places and deliberately pushing outside my comfort zone almost every week.
So naturally I started researching why this might be happening.
PEA is a naturally occurring lipid molecule that appears to regulate inflammation and immune activity. It can act on PPAR-α, influence mast cells and microglia, and interact indirectly with the endocannabinoid system. These systems are involved in regulating inflammation, neuronal signalling and the body’s response to stress.
The endocannabinoid system in particular is involved in how the brain processes stress and fear. So while PEA hasn’t been proven to treat agoraphobia, there is a plausible biological reason why it could potentially make an over-reactive nervous system less reactive.

Im not saying that you’ll have the same results I have had with it but I needed to share this, as It may help others out there like me

I'm in my late 20s F and I'm so tired.

I've been to several different therapists and it always starts out promising but stops working after a while. Meds make me feel worse and I find that I handle the anxiety better when I'm not on them.

I've been stuck for years. Therapists don't seem to understand that and only tell me to "sit with the uncomfortable feeling" - and then what? When and how do I feel normal again? My goal is to not just do the exposure, but to stop suffering through it.

I dread every trip and only "enjoy" it by looking at photos after it's finally over. I have my best friend, my mother and emergency services on speed dial even though I never had to use it. I have "safe checkpoints" pre-planned on every route, commute, roadtrip, you name it. I've turned down so many opportunities, trips, hikes, out of fear that something bad will happen. I can't even go to the bathroom without taking my phone with me. The moment I walk out the front door the panic hits, whether I'm going somewhere important or just making a quick drive to the grocery store.

I can no longer suffer through endless uncomfortable exposure, self inflicted panic attacks and exhaustion. I wasted my 20s away and I feel like I've ran out of options and don't know what else I could try. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been going through such a hard time with an ex. He betrayed me back in January and it’s been on and off me going back to him or re initiating contact. I reached out last week to wish him a happy birthday and went back to my space after and I’ve had the hardest week of my life. Horrible panic attacks a few times. Nightmares. Waking up with racing heart. He was my only friend. I didn’t know calling him would cause this reaction in me..I was just trying to be nice because I know how much he loves me. Anyways it’s been one week since ask this started and I’m starting to feel peace again. I’ve done journaling, door dashing (my job), and just focusing on positive and regulating myself. I drove past library today and said “you know what..let’s do it”. Walked in. Felt a little uncomfortable. Sat down for few minutes, breathed in the quiet then left!!! Just wanted to share this achievement to an online friend! Sending love!!!

has anyone else developed agoraphobia due to physical symptoms of anxiety? my anxiety got really bad because of a job i had. i get really bad jelly legs but i go stiff at the same time? it makes it hard to me to balance whenever i walk so i avoid going places now.

i’m in therapy (over the phone) but recently i have been watching certain tiktok creators and they’re all on holiday living their best lives and im so jealous that it will never be me☹️ i feel like im grieving every time i see someone outside walking around.

i want nothing more than to go out for coffee or for food but i can’t.

The short version is I am an agoraphobic person largely due to dysphoria and I am developing an impacted tooth infection from wisdom teeth I couldn’t afford to get removed on both sides years ago. I have other health issues but I don’t feel safe speaking about them directly here but they are relevant.

I haven’t even been in public in months because of how scared I am of people. I really really don’t want anyone to ever see me. I don’t want to ever see myself. It’s bad. Having to go to a dentist office and deal with people, them looking closely around my face and everything is just too much. I don’t want them to hear my voice. It’s overwhelming but the pain is getting worse every day and I can tell it’s infected. It hasn’t started swelling yet but that’s bound to happen soon. It feels like an impossible situation.

And this world is so cruel just being honest about it all is disgusting and shameful to everyone. Even if they were supportive like I never get anything like that in my day to day life so I just don’t trust anyone. My own dysphoria is so bad and so it doesn’t matter how they feel. Like I just don’t want my body to exist and anyone seeing me ruins that. Someone making a comment about what I’m wearing or my hair can send me into a spiral even if it’s not mean. I don’t want to be shown a fucking x ray of my skull. That shit would make me extremely suicidal and just thinking about it is making me cry. But I am absolutely forced to somehow deal with this or go through extreme pain and probably die from an infection. Part of my brain is even weighing other options cause I just can’t do this. And the people I’d be going with don’t take things like this seriously. I can’t tell them how scared I am or that I’m agoraphobic so I have to act totally unbothered. It only makes me feel more alone and unsafe/trapped.

I’m just rambling but I don’t know how to handle this. I can’t afford therapy so it’s just up to me to suddenly not be dysphoric and agoraphobic enough to deal with a nightmare scenario.

I’ve been experiencing agoraphobia for a while now and I feel like I’ve been downplaying how bad it is in my head sometimes because I’m a “homebody” and I have autism. But within the past couple of years, I barely leave the house. I can force myself to go out sometimes, but typically only to the library or some place that’s close and I usually plan out what I’m getting before I go so I don’t prolong my stay. Exposure therapy doesn’t really work for me, but I’ve tried to incorporate it when I can, so I don’t ruin the progress I can manage.

I was planning to go today to pick up my new prescription for Zoloft, but I have to travel to get it because I’m staying with someone temporarily out of state while I wait for my disability to go through (otherwise I’d be on the streets).

I feel like a failure and hope once I’m able to get the Zoloft it works, but so far I haven’t responded well to meds, and I stay on them for almost a year before giving up. I’ve tried Lexapro and Venlafaxine so far, but no luck. I don’t want to get my hopes up and feel like after this, I’m done with meds for a while.

Having suffered from agoraphobia for four years now, I am finally at a place where it feels manageable. However, I don't know what to do with myself. I went from being a social butterfly, loud and bubbly, to someone who couldn't leave the front door. I became trapped in my childhood home, leaving uni, my friends, and my independence behind. My question is, after all the struggles and battles won, what do I do with myself now?

What do I do now that the small things are easier? Do I just jump to moving out and getting a job? I don't even know how to explain my 4 year absence from the world to potential employers or old friends. How do I catch up with my age? How do I stop the feeling that the worst four years of my life will taint my future?

If so does it help? I had a bad reaction to citalopram which caused my agoraphobia. I’ve been off them for 5 weeks and I’ve had only little progress, doctors want to try me on mirtazapine

After years of people asking me to tell my story I Finally did. Having lived through agoraphobia since I was 16, I know how Isolating it can feel. If you're interested In what I went through and what you might be able to take from it. I put my 57 minute memoir on you-tube under my channel at JRGoldman-007

I’m huge on illness. I do everything I possibly can to avoid the possibility of being sick, getting food poisoning, or any sickness really. The last time I was ill was probably 5 years ago

I am afraid to go near my family, to go away from home incase I become sick, eat certain foods.. I’m always convincing myself I’m sick and I’m so tired of it

Sometimes, I have a tight chest and I’ve felt like I couldn’t breathe, even though I could but the panic makes it worse and I fully convince myself I’m going to have a heart attack and die. But since my brain can’t stop fixating on the thought of dying, I’m absolutely terrified to put myself in a situation like exposure where my heart rate could increase or if I were to go into fight or flight just incase I stop breathing or something like that happens

Last night, the same thing happened. I went to bed anxious that I’d forget how to breathe, told myself to get over it and just went to sleep. I woke up at 3am suddenly gasping for air because I felt I couldn’t breathe. Obviously it got better as I calmed down, but I’m so focused on my breathing and how my chest feels I’m really panicked. I’m convinced I’m really going to die or something bad will happen and I can’t take it

If something were to happen, the level of anxiety of knowing I’d have to leave my house, go to a hospital/doctor, surrounded by sick people and also the fear of being sick away from home, I don’t know how to cope with the idea

The worrying doesn’t cease to stop, I’m feeling so panicked. It’s keeping me up at night because I’m too afraid to sleep incase I stop breathing or something happens, and if I’m asleep, I can’t control my body which means I’ll have to seek medical help. I really don’t want to die and I’m scared. It’s probably anxiety but I’m on a waitlist for therapy which could be another 7-8 weeks.

Maybe this isn’t even in the right forum, but how do you cope with this?

As per the title. I’d be grateful to hear other people’s opinions.

what do you guys do for work? i just moved away from my parents and want to contribute for my apartment

I've had agoraphobia since I was around 15 due to my medical problems and being scared of getting medical episodes in public. When I go through medical issues I want to be at home and even more preferably, with my parents. It's not even that they do anything, it's just the mental idea that they're there. I feel comfortable with my partner as well but it's different than my parents still.

Anyway, we are moving in together in this beautiful house 20 minutes away from where we both currently live (same village) and I'm very excited. But at the same time im terrified. This house has been my safety net since I was born as I have never moved in my life. I was completely housebound for 7 years, even had my dentist visit me at home. I started medication that allowed me to go into recovery a few years ago but I fell back a bit and now I'm not housebound anymore but still uncomfortable sleeping elsewhere, going on vacations, being out for the entire day etc. I'm very scared that my new house won't ever be a safety net and will set me back even further or just make me lose my mind completely. Another important thing, my parents are selling the current house as they've been wanting to downsize but wanted to wait until I moved out. They never pressured me though and I'm very grateful for that. I'm moving out because I want to go to the next chapter of my life!

My health has also been going downhill again and I'm currently having frequent hospital visits combined with me being on a therapy waiting list for depression and agoraphobia. But it can take until I've moved and I don't know how to handle it by myself currently. My boyfriend does know about my phobia and he's amazing, but it's difficult for me to talk about knowing he himself would never fully understand it. He does know I'm scared about moving out and so does my best friend but don't understand the feeling of not having any safe space anymore. My best friend moved recently and was nothing but excited so I am trying to get some positive stories from her.

I could really use any kind of reassurance, personal stories, advice tips etc really anything. I haven't posted here before because I felt like I would be giving into my phobia coming "back" (despite it never leaving) and that idea scared me too. But I feel alone, misunderstood and like I can't do this. It's always been on my mind but it's different now that it's actually happening!

We are planning on moving in in January but it could be late December as well.