In July, my boyfriend and I have to fly to Spokane, Washington for the wedding of a girl that my boyfriend met online. It's the biggest waste of $2,000 if you ask me, considering this is someone that we've never really met. But he insists on going so now I turn to my other issue... I've never flown before and I'm terrified.
I suffer from anxiety disorder and have panic attacks and an extreme fear of heights, I also get Vertigo. Traveling in a car is ok, but we have to stop every couple of hours so I can walk around, stretch my legs, use the bathroom and just relax for awhile before I can get back in the car. My anxiety and panic attacks surface in public places such as large stores (an airport terminal will kill me), and just the thought of having to sit in a plane with no way out for over 6 hours feels like pure torture to me. And that I'll have to do it again a couple days later to come back home just makes it worse.
I've been on several different medications from the doctor such as Xanax (sp?), and an anti-nausea medication that I can't remember the name of. Neither worked for longer than a week. I've also tried natural things such as Rescue Remedy and Suntheanine (sp?) from the health food store. The Rescue Remedy works a little bit, but not enough. And the Suntheanine makes me nauseous and dizzy. It sounds odd, but having one of my animals with me is really the only thing that keeps me relaxed and not having a panic attack... but that's not an option since I only have larger dogs that couldn't fly in the cabin and wouldn't want to stress the cats with an unnecessary trip.
My solution? DON'T FLY! But since that's not going to be an option, does anyone have any suggestions for me? Anything I can try to make this flight easier on me?
I suffer from anxiety disorder and have panic attacks and an extreme fear of heights, I also get Vertigo. Traveling in a car is ok, but we have to stop every couple of hours so I can walk around, stretch my legs, use the bathroom and just relax for awhile before I can get back in the car. My anxiety and panic attacks surface in public places such as large stores (an airport terminal will kill me), and just the thought of having to sit in a plane with no way out for over 6 hours feels like pure torture to me. And that I'll have to do it again a couple days later to come back home just makes it worse.
I've been on several different medications from the doctor such as Xanax (sp?), and an anti-nausea medication that I can't remember the name of. Neither worked for longer than a week. I've also tried natural things such as Rescue Remedy and Suntheanine (sp?) from the health food store. The Rescue Remedy works a little bit, but not enough. And the Suntheanine makes me nauseous and dizzy. It sounds odd, but having one of my animals with me is really the only thing that keeps me relaxed and not having a panic attack... but that's not an option since I only have larger dogs that couldn't fly in the cabin and wouldn't want to stress the cats with an unnecessary trip.
My solution? DON'T FLY! But since that's not going to be an option, does anyone have any suggestions for me? Anything I can try to make this flight easier on me?