Please help I suffer from agoraphobia and anxiety

[mummy2princess]

Hi all,

I'm 23 and have suffered with agoraphobia and anxiety for 3 years now. I had my daughter 2 years ago, and after having her I was in hospital for 4 days. I had to have blood transfusions and ever since then I have found it hard to bring myself to brush my teeth at all. I very rarely brush my teeth and I dont know why I cant bring myself to do it. I'm a clean person and take good care of myself in every other way.My teeth are starting to decay, ive had 1 tooth that ive been feeling that is really weird upon taking a picture to see my tooth better, i noticed how awful my teeth were, and it made me cry. when i look in the mirror i dont see them that bad, but when close up they are awful. As i suffer from agoraphobia I am so scared to go to the dentist, i always have been.

I dont know what to do, now that i have seen my teeth in this way, its made me not want to go out even more now, I currently have a nurse who comes to see me once a week to try help me get over my agoraphobia. I feel embarressed that I have allowed my teeth to become like this, and dont know how to move forward with getting them sorted.

Please help with any advice you have to offer.

thanks a lot

 

[carole]

Hello mummytoprincess

There is a thread on here by SilverRose1968 that suffered from agorophobia and PTSD and she managed to get to the dentist. She got the last appointment of the day and they tried as much as they could to make sure she came into contact with as few people as possible.

If you read her thread it might help. Are you in UK because you can get dentists to visit you at home although they are limited as to what they can do.

I hope you manage to conquer your problems. I can not give you medical or dental advice but you will find plenty of support on here.

 

[vicki]

Hi and

First of all, well done for posting. You've come to the right place and if you have a read through some of the threads on here, you'll see that there are lots of people with various different problems and worries, as well as experiences to share, so you're not alone .

You mentioned that you have agoraphobia, anxiety and are scared to go to the dentist. I'm sure that must feel like a lot to deal and maybe overwhelming? The important thing to remember is that you can get through this. Different things work for different people and some people make progress quicker than others, but what matters is that you want to move forward now.

Feeling embarassed about your teeth because you haven't been to the dentist for a while is completely natural and I'm sure that most of us on here have felt, or still do feel the same way. A good dentist will not judge you or make you feel bad about this and will want to help.

Depending on where you live, there are various different options and things that you can try, so it's just a matter of finding out what works for you. For example in the UK, there is the Community Dental Service in many areas and they specialise in seeing people who have either dental phobia or other problems such as agoraphobia. Ultimately the aim would be for you to go out to see a dentist, but to begin with, home visits might be an option until you feel more confident.

I've worked with a few people who have had agoraphobia and although it can seem almost impossible to overcome, as with many fears and phobias, there is quite often a thought process or previous experience (also known as the 'seeding event' in hypnotherapist lingo ) that underpins it all. Sometimes it's down to a previous bad experience (and therefore fear of that experience happening again) or it could be fear of having a panic attack (fear of fear itself).

You may have covered all of this with your nurse, but maybe it might help to break all of your fears down into more manageable chunks so that they're easier to deal with? There is also a book that you might find helpful in identifying your specific fears and finding ways to overcome them. It's called 'Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel By Changing the Way You Think' by Christine Padesky and Dennis Greenberger. It's about taking control of your thought processes in order to change the way you feel. When I was at college about 15 years ago, I used to experience quite bad and frequent panic attacks (in the days before I trained as a hypnotherapist!) and I found the book very helpful.

You can do this, so please do stay around and tell us how you're getting on .

 

[brit]

I wonder if the 'nurse' who visits you at home could accompany you to a really sympathetic dentist?

 

[mummy2princess]

Thank you all for your replies, not sure how to use forums properly lol.

My nurse is on holiday and is due to see me on the 16th of this month. Been a while since ive seen her just before xmas as I was putting her off for a while, not to sure why. Just wasnt in the right frame of mind to deal with her I guess.

I'm from the UK.

Its mainly crowded places that scare me the most so I avoid them. I dont drive so would have to use public transport which is a no go for me as too many people, or cabs which are costly so I just avoid going to places. The internet is where I do all my shopping.

My nurse is lovely and I am sure she will drive me to the dentist, its just I know I need a lot of work doing on my teeth and it really scares me, I've had a few bad experiences in the past and it hurts lool. I'd probably end up going the first time and not going back which is really stupid.

Vicki my nurse says it is fear of fear.

But i'm sure it has to be more than that as I can go to my local shop which is 2 mins away from my house, not all the time but sometimes, also when the weather was better i was going to the park with my daughter with the help of my dad. But it comes from no where, I will be fine one minute and will go have a major panic attack its usually in shops that i have noticed i get it bad, when im in a queue and there are people behind me it triggers it off.

I broke up with my partner of 5 years in september and needed to get away a few of my cousins was going to scotland so I decided enough was enough and I booked a train ticket to go with them for the weekend. train journey up there was fine as we was having a little drink, so i think it made me feel more at ease. but the journey back was the worst time of my life, 8 hours it took me from door to door and I had a painc attack before i got on the first train till i got home, there not meant to last long they are meant to slowly go away after a while. I think this has set me back a lot and why I have been putting my nurse off a lot lately. I know she is going to keep pushing me to go out and I dont want that feeling again.

Sorry I know this is a site for agoraphobia/anxiety or panic attacks but I just wanted to give you a little bit of infomation about me so you could understand.

I was search for the book now and see what it is all about.

Carole I will have a look for her thread now

Thank you all again. I will keep you all updated if any progress is made once my nurse is back

 

[brit]

My nurse is lovely and I am sure she will drive me to the dentist, its just I know I need a lot of work doing on my teeth and it really scares me, I've had a few bad experiences in the past and it hurts lool.

It can't be to just any old dentist rather one who can treat you without hurting you. It is possible. It is the 21st Century. Actually ask her to find out about the Community Dental Service in your area. if you are unwell enough to be getting home visits from a nurse, you could well qualify to be treated by them. They do home visits where appropriate.

Special Needs and Dental Treatment

Where in the UK and the US can you get dental care if you, or your child, has special needs? This may include disabilities, dental phobia and agoraphobia.

www.dentalfearcentral.org