Thinking About That Story of The Woman Stuck on The Toilet For Two Years  

Well don't you think the boyfriend should have gotten help for the woman??

Oh, how awful for you! You risk dying of a heart attack if you think, "Oh, it's just another panic attack" or you end up being scolded by some insensitive emergency personnel for "wasting their time with just a panic attack". Sending good thoughts and best wishes your way.

Hi BarBaraPrz, No the doctors at our emergency ward are very very good.
It was them who told me never to just treat it as a panic attack.

Gee how considerate of your doctor to say "forget the past dreadful year...." Like in other words he was probably insinuating it was all in your head like most doctors do....think most docs think we females are hypochondriacs or something and don't pay attention to us
Well as much as a pain in the a$$ that it is whether it's a genuine heart attack or panic attack I guess the saying goes..better safe than sorry and go to the doc or hospital. Still like to kick docs though for their insensitivity.
I have to admit I haven't been to a dentist for awhile...my old one was great...he used to automatically give "sweet air" to make one a bit groggy...plus the novacaine....then one time I decided I no longer wanted it, as for some reason it gave me weird hallucinations..LOL----but then I noticed that he would only do say one filling rather than many at a time....I later found out the hard way
So he retires..I start seeing a new dentist...he never used "sweet air" just the novacaine...so I had explained about my panic disorder...okay so one day I go and he says he's going to do three fillings and three bondings...so gives me three shots of the novacaine for each tooth...the minute it takes affect I'm having the worse panic attack going...I mean I'm having the screaming mimies...He thought I was just being a "difficult" patient and said, right to my face "Oh you're stupid to have this phobia...what are you afraid of, there's nothing out there to harm you.." Needless to say never went back to the idiot...It turns out, novacaine has adrenaline in it...the hormone that has and gives the fight or flight feeling and triggers panic attacks! That's why I haven't gone to a dentist..none of the other ones around me use the sweet air which would nullify the panicky feeling the novacaine gives one

If that doctor was still at the medical centre I used to see him at, I would go back and give him a piece of my mind, but he has moved, to where I do not know.

I need to go to the dentist again, but they are so expensive.
I could buy my weeks groceries for the cost of a filling.
I am lucky I have a very good dentist, he takes his time with me, keeps asking if I am okay.
I wish all dentists were like him.

My old dentist was like that..very good and considerate...not like the other smuck

Have you ever heard of Lucinda Bassett's program "Attacking Anxiety?" I got it years ago and it has helped tremendously....One of my therapists who I saw years and years ago, and Bassett don't really advocate med use...one of the bitter pills in a way that I learned from the program is how often "WE" are the ones triggering the panic attacks cause we're expecting them by means of anticipatory anxiety---there's a whole relaxation tape and breathing exercises one can do to calm oneself---if you're interested her website is

http://www.stresscenter.com

mmmm...maybe you haven't heard anyone you know mention it cause most of us phobics don't talk about it..I know I didn't for years and hid my own problem to appear "normal"

I was wondering if she also had a fear of having a toileting accident. So felt compulsive about staying on the toilet to prevent the chance of having that problem. I am sure there is an official scientific name for it, as well.

GardenGerty...yes there is one possibility....many phobics have IBS...irritable bowel syndrome where they are literally pooing all the time...all triggered by the anxiety at times--thank GOD I never had that problem...but that woman might have been obsessed with the idea that she would have to "go" all the time...think???

That is another thing to think about!!
When I had my stomach bacterial infection it was causing me to have to go all the time and on a whim too so I can see that reasoning!

You were both guilty of enabling her. If she could not bring herself to get out of the car then oh well, she didn't get to vote and oh well, she did not get to see the kitten. Not being cold here. I suffered anxiety my whole life. It was the people that did not help me that actually helped me the most in the end.

oh, we finally got there, and she finally got help the first time because I told her that she had to.

She voted from the car, it was getting her OUT to the car that was the issue. She doesn't walk well, and so getting out of the car was an issue since I couldn't easily get her in or out of the car more than once. We are talking about going for a short drive to see wild flowers later this month, we'll see if she has an issue with that too. If so, I'm going to tell her she needs to talk to her dr about it.

I just recommended this to someone else...Lucinda Bassett's program "Attacking Anxiety"

http://www.stresscenter.com

It's a fifteen tape program (also have CDs now) and maybe could help her...I have to kind of agree with sid556 that you're enabling her...Believe me when I say I KNOW how hard it is for a phobic person to get over their fears...one has to take it in small increments...baby steps...keep doing the same thing over and over and over again...one feels really dumb about it...but after awhile by challenging oneself to go out and do things it will be second nature--she really can't spend the rest of her life having everyone hand things to her like that, then she'll never get over it.

I made her go out to the car. I'm going to try to get her out to it again in the next week.

This will be the first time she's gone out since last fall sometime.

Sadly, my job is to make sure she's all right, and she REALLY is disabled physically. I could nag about her weight, but after 30 years, I know its pointless, she just gets mad. Without taking off at least 100-150 lbs she's never going to get the knee surgery she needs to make her more able, and EVEN if she did, she's such a coward of pain that she'd probably NOT do the therapy she'd need to become more able....

Well I hope you have luck getting her out..gee, not since last fall? Since she seems to have such an extreme case of phobia problems, someone ..not necessarily you all the time, should try and coax her out at least once a week....I can't imagine being stuck at home all the time drives me absolutely stir crazy..occasionally I will stay home, but just for a day or two...then it's like I HAVE to get out...like a case of cabin fever

If I don't get out at least several times a week I go stir crazy. I wasn't supposed to drive after my shoulder surgery in 05, but I had to, not wanted to as much as had to. I got a steering wheel ball that helps me guide the wheel with one hand and I LOVE it! But it also gave the the freedom to get out after that surgery, even when I just wanted to too... Did help me drive to the hospital on Tuesday...

Good point...yeah, just where did he go to the bathroom unless he went outdoors and did his business there...I'm gathering she probably didn't have family or too many friends either to be concerned about her

I still am dealing with my "problem"---what's been discouraging is now it's not so much I can't get out due to panic attacks as I haven't had them in years, but I've developed severe ankle and foot pain which makes it hard to walk any distances without pain...but I do still go out, but it's like I've gone backward somehow cause of this pain--yes I believe it is hereditary too as I think my mother had anxiety issues as well (among other things)

Glad to see you were determined to get over your anxiety Lakota..it's not fun being stuck in the house when you yearn to be outdoors--so can't imagine the deal with this woman unless a very extreme case of anxiety--hope she gets help now

My hope too she really needs the help I him to for letting her stay there.

I know..real mystery how she kept herself clean..uh, if she did--must have stunk to high heaven