ok...what is going on now?

[cameragirl21]

sorry guys, i really feel like a mess lately and i'm sure my posts (at least in this section) reflect that.
ok, so my stomach problems seemed to be due to gastroenteritis or something to that effect because while my stomach is still not 100% it's countless times better than it was last time i posted in this section, earlier in the week.
ok, new issue...here's a little background--i am very afraid of heights. i'm not one of those people who is afraid to go up on a ladder (some people are SO afraid of heights that they won't even do that), there has to be a substantial rise in altitude for me to be afraid and for instance, i'll ride roller coasters because while i HATE the ride up, i enjoy the thrill of it and they take you down really quickly so i'm ok on those, for the most part but for instance i absolutely loathe the ferris wheel and won't ride it anymore. sometimes if i'm in someone's high rise apartment i get a little nervous on their balcony. i was very afraid at the top of the Empire State Building and when visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris(i was still a teenager back then) i seemed to be ok but more recently when i visited the Eiffel Tower in Vegas (which is exactly half the height of the one in Paris) i was very afraid so i think as i get older this gets worse.
anyway, here's how this may be relevent...today, i met my friend Cherie for lunch. some of you may recall she's the one who owns a farm and to whom i gave that rooster turned hen that i found sometime back. we went in her truck, she drives a dodge ram (i think) pickup and it sits pretty high up, whereas i drive a little sports car that is low to the ground, idk if this has anything to do with what happened today. so we're driving along and twice we went up these overpass bridges, the kind i normally pay no attention to when i'm driving and suddenly, omg, you guys, i was terrified speechless...and there was nothing wrong with the way she was driving but i was holding on for dear life and kept feeling like we're going to fall of the overpass and die. if she weren't jabbering away the whole time idk what i would have done...i tried as hard as i could to focus on her chattering and not think about what it would feel like to fall off an overpass and die.
ok, idk if it was the fact that i wasn't in control (i hope i'm not that much of a control freak), or the fact that the truck made us very high up as opposed to being in my car (even though i'm not so afraid of heights that sitting up in a truck scares me) or what but i was terrified speechless, literally. and i hated that feeling.
ok, what is going on with me?! does this sound familiar to anyone who deals with anxiety, etc? i'm really not liking what i see happening to me, this is just not like me.
also, she mentioned what she called "happy pills" but didn't know what they were, said she got them from a psychiatrist...said she thought they were called lipithor...well, lipitor is a cholesterol reducer so it ain't that. maybe lexapro? any of you who've taken lexapro or know someone who have...does it work that fast? i thought it was like prozac in that you have to take it for weeks for it to have some effect. she said she took them and they had effect that same day.
here's the thing--i am planning to travel by air, looking to visit guatemala and possibly costa rica later this year, along with some possible other travel, most likely to south america so there is no way to go other than a plane and due to my fear of heights, i don't exactly love flying although i've never needed to be medicated in order to do it. usually, once we're past the takeoff, i'm fine but lately, when i drive past the miami airport and i see the planes taking off, i feel afraid and the idea of flying scares me a bit and i'm thinking maybe i need to take a "happy pill". here's the thing--i've heard of xanax for this but Cherie said it makes you sleepy. i don't want to fall asleep, i want a happy pill that will keep me awake but happy so that i can make myself understand that flying is not that bad and that i was ok, so that next time i fly i can go without a pill. i'm hoping whatever this crazy sh*t is that is going on with me will pass so that i can continue flying without medication. but in the here and now, i'm exploring possibilities as far as flying with happy pills so i don't become more anxious.
anyone experience this sort of fear while being on an overpass or similar circumstances, when you're not driving...wonder if that lack of control is a factor, because like i said before, when i drive over these overpasses i never give them a moment's thought.
and anyone know of a happy pill, like what she was describing?
just in case anyone is wondering, i plan to get any happy pill legitimately, as in asking my doc for it. i don't go to a psychiatrist but i'm sure my regular doctor who treats me for hypothyroidism can prescribe any of that stuff if i can tell her what it is and why i need it.
thanks, sorry this got long and if anyone can explain to me what the #%$%@$# is happening to me i'd appreciate it, if anyone knows, that is....

[msoulz]

Jennifer I have nothing to offer except . I hope you figure out what you need and feel better soon.

[kit_kats_mom]

I despise driving over bridges but I do ok if someone else drives them and I just close my eyes until we are over them.

My anxiety increased over time, much like yours seems to be doing. I'd just talk to your doc. S/he can probably perscribe a fast acting anxiety reducer for short term (like before flights) then a longer term med for later. I really don't suffer from any of my old fears anymore.. Granted, I still don't like spiders but I don't get the chills and feel nauseaus if I see them. I just walk away.

[redchief]

Fear of crossing bridges and overpasses, Gephyrophobia, is pretty common among both men and women, though more so with women. Altophobia is a fear of high places. It's common for people with one to suffer the other. They're closely related and based upon the fear of falling that is instilled in all humans by instinct. When these fears become debilitating is when something should be done. In other words, to get a case of the willies when you look down from a high place is normal and part of the survival instinct. To become terrified and unable to function is an abnormal reaction. If you have such a reaction I would definitely recommend professional intervention.

[Hillbilly Housewife]

My doctor prescribed me lorazepam for such situations.

Yes, the old lady drug.

It's also known as Ativan.

[cameragirl21]

thanks for the info, everyone. i was really freaking out because i really don't need to have issues like that. anyway, i told my mom because we got into a fight yesterday and we rarely fight so i mentioned that something bad happened to me and that maybe that is why i'm not quite myself and eager to pick a fight. so i told her what happened and she said that both she and my dad had these sorts of mild anxiety attacks on occasion while driving when they were my age, so maybe that is where it is coming from. she said it's normal, just a little anxiety attack and she thinks it's largely due to the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota...maybe that got me upset but i'm not sure if that is what caused this because i wasn't afraid the bridge would collapse, i was afraid the car would topple over and we'd fall over the rail and die. and the feeling was very strong and i am very intuitive, so is my mom...when i was in an emergency landing in a plane in the middle of the night, she woke up at that exact moment, not knowing about the emergency landing but strongly feeling something was wrong...so when i have a strong feeling like that it always scares me.
anyway, i guess it was simple anxiety...my mom said not to drive over that bridge, lol, so that i wouldn't have that type of attack while driving but i think if i were driving i'd be less afraid. i hated being up high in that truck, idk how you SUV drivers do it but i love being down low to the ground and i know my godson's mom, who is an SUV addict *hates* being down low, so i guess it's all a matter of perspective, literally. i have to chuckle at my mom saying not to drive over that bridge because what if i have to get somewhere and that bridge (or any bridge) is the only way? i have to get over this, one way or another.
anywho, i will for sure be asking my doc about those happy pills for my next flight...i respect human beings too much to force them to be around me (given the way i've been lately) during the takeoff of an airplane unless i'm, uh, made happy.

[gr33n3y3z]

I think what your saying is your afraid of diffrent hights sorry you type to much and you always loose me with the fillers LOL

here is a