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i've been living with crohn's for 14 years now, and i'm struggling with the social anxiety of being in places where i don't have immediate access to a restroom. baseball games, concerts, anywhere with crowds scares the *** out of me so i don't go. i've skipped bay-to-breakers 4 years in a row because i can't handle the idea of lines fo the restrooms. i got stuck in a ski gondola last year so i'm not going skiing again....

i basically am torn between never wanting to leave my house, and being so miserable that i can't just relax and enjoy normal, fun activities without a panic attack.

after 14 years of living with this disease, i didn't think i'd need advice like this, but i think my wife is going to strangle me if i don't leave the house more willingly.  any general life advice with coping with the social anxiety would help.

i'm looking into a general anxiety drug to add to my meds regimen. anyone have any experience with how much these drugs help? i'm looking at lexapro & paxil (ssris) but am freaked out as it lists diahrrea and stomach cramping as a side-effect.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

Try 5-HTP. It's good for pain, anxiety, and as a mood stabilizer. It is found naturally in our bodies as well as in certain plants, and acts as a precurser to seratonin in our brains. Which means, we actually create more seratonin with 5-HTP rather than changing our brains to become more susceptable to inhibition of seratonin. Low levels of seratonin are related to depression and pain sensativity. A spinal tap showed that 5-HTP crosses the blood-brain barrior, where many things do not; this is good. Best of all, it's natural, so there are little side effects. You can order it online from Nature's Sunshine and probably other places; this is where I get mine. I'm trying it out now and I'm more comfortable with it than the man-made antidepressants/pain relievers/anti-anxiety meds I've tried in the past. The only notable negative side effects I've had is a little excess pupil dialation with the first dose acompanied by a deep-seated sense of relaxation. The pupil change was gone within a few hours and the relaxation tapered to where I feel normal, but I'm only taking 35mg 3x a day and I'm slowly increasing... whereas in Europe people have used this for over 20 years @ 100mg 3x a day. So good luck. It's not too expensive either, compared to many man-made medicines. Careful with putting artificial things into your body. Toxins create disease in the first place, my darling! Let's not perpetuate our situations in trying to help ourselves.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

I've felt that way too!!! I couldn't even run to the store to pick up a couple of things. It was horrible. My Dr. prescribed me .5 Lorazapam and it works well. I only take it when I need it and I',m finding I need it less and less as time goes on because I've had more sucesses. It's normal to feel that way with this disease but you don't have to put up with feeling this way.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

I agree with pembroke.  I would try therapy and exercise (if you're healthy enough) before adding another drug to my regimine.  I have had left-side colitis for 3 years now and suffer from depression occasionally.  Mostly when I stop working out.  Running seems to work best for my anxiety.  It will help eliminate the fight-or-flight response your body naturally generates to cause your anxiety.  I hope this helps.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

The anxiety can be overwhelming. I believe we must not stop living and do everything we can in our powers, hopefully w/ our loved ones by our sides to get any and all help needed to LIVE.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

I have had Crohn's for 4 years now and just recently started taking anxiety and anti-depressent meds.  I take Welbutrin (actually the generic), which is an anti-depressent and I also take clonazepam for anxiety.  They both have helped me, especially the clonazepam.  My anxiety had gotten much better.  It does make you sleepy when u first start taking it but that goes away after awhile.  I hope you find something that works for you....

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

I have taken Celexa both for depression and anxiety.

The first time they gave it to me, I was pretty depressed, and it worked well. Then before I went over to Germany, I was starting to have panic attacks and really bad anxiety that was making it really hard to sleep. So I went and saw my GP and asked if he thought that celexa could help with the anxiety, since I knew that I responded well to it.

Sure enough a week before I left, which was about 3 days after starting it, I was able to sleep again, and the anxiety disappeared while I was there.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

Hi, I understand how you feel about becoming agoraphobic.  I too feel very anxious when there is not a bathroom close by.  I was in a crowed elevator for just 2 minutes once and it felt like the walls were closing in and I thought I was going to scream because there was no fast way out if I needed to get to the bathroom.  I hate going to the large box stores because I always seem to get the urge when I am on the opposite end of the store and it is a long RUN to get the the bathroom.  I don't always make it either.  I drive a mini van and always have a small potty in it with wipes and hand sanitizer.  There have been many times when I have had to pull over to the side of the road and use it.  Just having that in the van helps me tremendously.  For the most part we  can only plan events where there are bathrooms close by.  I've also been only drinking Ensure during the daytime hours when I will be out and about because it is fully digested by the small intestine and my BMs during the day are much less frequent and then I will eat dinner when I can be around a bathroom.  I haven't gone the drug route for anxiety yet, but have thought about it.  I go from being very angry about my condition to very depressed sometimes. I have pan colitis right now and have had it in some form for the past 4 years.

 Reply posted for crjcarr.

I'm going through a similar situation as you.  I suffer from anxiety, esp. when there's lineups or when I'm stuck in traffic.  I decided to seek counselling first before I went the drug route.  I had my first appt. today.  I would seek other options, such as counselling before you throw another drug in the mix.