Panic Attach Advice 1 Of My Rapist Contacted Me/tried To Keep It Short!

[DianeP]

I really need help in two ways.

Let me give you a brief background. When I was 10-11 I was gang raped by being pulled into a house and the second time they broke into my house and raped me in my bed.


One of my rapes just recently contacted me. Since then I have had bad panic attaches; I went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attach. I am having trouble sleeping, do not leave house unless I have to, fells like someone is sitting on my chest and just start crying and shaking for no reason. I went to my Psychiatrist on Thursday and he gave me Ativan. It works because I sleep trough everything! I have called to let them know and maybe see if there is anything else I can take instead.


1st: I need help knowing if I should check into a hospital or something. I am not doing well. I have never in my life thought of hurting myself…this is the 1st time. It is getting bad even with the Zoloft. I thought when my husband came back from Guantanamo I would feel so much better. It did not help at all!!!!!


2nd: How do I explain to my husband what I am going through? He really does not understand at all. He said I should only feel this way if there is an imminent threat. That is what his military training has taught him. He has a Traumatic Brain Injury since he has had his head drilled into by the military in 2006. So, I have to tell him in very concrete terms.

I am going back to the psychiatrist of Thursday if I cannot get this under control.
Thank you for any help at all,
Laura

P.S. I have let the police know what is going on.

 

[Gamereign555]

Wow how insensitive to just contact out of the blue. Some other attempt should have been made to make contact so that you could have decided on your own to tread those waters. You were so in the right for contacting the police.

If you feel you should go to the hospital then do that. There were a few times if I hadn't gone to urgent care I would have experienced hyperventilation syndrome again and again, which just adds to the terror of it all and my experience with it was traumatic in itself.

Combining meds with therapy was what I had to do, wouldnt blame anybody else for trying. At first all I did was sleep because they had me on high doses of Ativan 3 times a day, later I prefered Valium though because it was less of a punch and it lasted much longer. You might have to just hang in there while a therapist works their magic and they find a medicine combo that works for you.

I dont know what to say about question number 2, my advice is to just talk to your therapist about it, if you dont have a trauma/stress therapist you should get a referral for one from your doctor right away. In fact after my 4th trip to the hospital, a social worker visited me in my hospital room and asked me if I needed a refferal for a counselor, for some reason sometimes unless you know help is there you dont know or know where to look for it. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Nicolette]

Laura, do you know how your rapist was able to find out your details to contact you?

To ease your anxiety the first steps I would take is to make sure my phone number and address are not publicly listed (still do this myself till today due to past experiences), if he got hold of your mobile number I would consider changing it again to an unlisted number and make it clear to all who know you that your numbers and details are not provided to anyone without your prior consent. Sounds dramatic - but its not if this is your reaction.

Save your rapist's phone number so when he calls again you can identify it and not answer the call. There is a lot of worth in caller ID.

Was the rape reported? Is your husband home or are you by yourself at home alone as that would definitely be a trigger if you were raped at home.

These are just some starting points I can think of. Hope they help.

 

[AngelaMarie]

I agree with Nicolette. You need to secure your personal information. Be as invisible as possible. One of the best things I did in my life was change my phone numbers, etc. so no one from the past could contact me. I am so grateful I did it because now I wake up and know that if my cell phone rings or I get an email it's from someone I know and want to talk to. I was able to breath again after years and years.

 

[Reclusive]

Explain to your husband that PTSD is considered a disorder/problem exactly because we shouldn't be panicking unless there's an immediate reason to - that's why people get treatment for it.

In your case, though, I would consider that kind of contact a threat. I'm glad you contacted the police. I wish I had more advice for you, but beyond what's already been said, I have no idea.