Mother Of Two With Anxiety About Fires : (

[IrmaVasquez]

Im new to this so i will try to explain as best as i can wats going on with me. In Feb. 2011 i was in a house fire. I was seven months pregnant and i lived with my daughter who was two years old and my husband and his family. The house fire happened at 2 a.m. and it was in the middle of winter in Iowa. I think about it all the time. We had to jump out of the second story of the house straight into the snow outside. Im surprised i didnt go into labor that night. I was really calm during the whole situation, especially with my little girl. I was even the one who called 911.

As the days went by i noticed i was always scared. I was always on alert. I was always anxious with any little noise that i heard. I went to see a doctor who told me i was having symptoms of PTSD. Its been 8 months now and i havent gotten any better. The other day i called the fire department because the alarms were going off in my house and i was so frightened i ran outside with my two kids and called 911.

I dont know what to do anymore. I am tired of scaring my daughter everytime i have an anxiety attack. Im tired of feeling like i will never get better. Yeah therapy helps but when i am in a stressful situation i always go back to being scared and on alert.

Does anyone feel this way? How long has it been since your trauma?

 

[BloomInWinter]

(((((IrmaVazquez)))))

I am sorry for all your pain and worry....I can relate.

Yes, what you are describing is all normal for PTSD.

You are not alone.

May you find comfort, support, healing, and hope here.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

Welcome to the forum :) I hope you are find some comfort here.

 

[intothelight]

Hi Irma,

Welcome to the PTSD Forum. You went through a very traumatic event, and really the recovery time for an person is as individual as they are. But with therapy and hard work, you will see improvement and recovery.

The forum has a lot of information about ways to cope with anxiety and relaxation techniques. I hope you will find something helpful.

Wishing you peace.
Debbie

 

[Sandra]

I can understand the anxiety of being around fire. I too have that problem. Not from a house fire though. Mine was caused from when my so called mother used to set my hair on fire when I was younger.

 

[Lionheart]

My trauma was a result of the actions of other people ,so I have a fear of people. There are good people and people with questionable motives and in the same way there is the fire that warms our homes, cooks our meals, and the fire that destroys anything in its path.

So, I think that your fear is well-founded and legitimate and for this reason, I think your hypervigilence may never completely go away, but that can be an asset to you in the prevention and preparation for such an event in the future. That may not help you with the fear that your anxiety attacks will be life-long, but I don't think they will always carry the same intensity as they do now.

In other words, you can heal from the fear to a great degree, but to completely drop our guard in regards to the things that caused our trauma may not be the best idea anyway. Still, I hope that you get some relief from your anxieties and will begin to view yourself as the strong person that you are.

 

[ewyman]

Hello my name is elise. I'm a mother of 2 and married.

We also had a house fire, back in january 2011. I too called 911 and got everyone out of my house.

Our house was only 2 months old when it caught fire. The fire started because of incorrect installation of the pipes and also improper insulation installation around the pipe. After 4 months of reconstruction and living with in-laws everything was complete, except me. It has been 10 months and we've started the wood stove. I'm a nervous wreck. Our fire alarm went off a couple weeks ago and I felt like I was going to pass out. I too am on guard 24/7. I don't even like winters anymore, which is very sad.

I feel like I'm never going to feel like myself again and I'm so thankful that I found this post. So, you aren't alone... Hopefully we can heal and just trust that if something god forbid every happened like this again we will be even more prepared. It would be nice though to feel at ease again!

Thanks for listening,

Elise

 

[Stormy Eagle]

Hi Irma. Welcome to the forum. My traumas are completely different from yours, but I can understand your fear. You should take comfort in knowing that you can handle a crisis...I have often wondered how I would if I had to protect my family. What a wonderful job you did! Please keep in touch.