Dear Blotchy: I think you explained my feelings well, and you have been trying to cope with it in your own way; and I did that too for many years. When I finally got up the courage to see a doctor about it, I approached my family doctor, with another friend, who was more seriously depressed than I was. Actually I had two friends at the time, who's symptoms of depression were much worse than mine; and in helping them, I found the strength to help myself as well. I got them to the doctor, and the hospital; and broke down in tears with the family doctor when I first explained my depression and panic symptoms. Since then I have learned a lot about the whole thing. But as you said, I still struggle with the body I have been given that wants to broadcast my feelings for me; which does bring out more attention from others, and exaserbates the problem. There are many medications that people take for this problem; they first started me on SSRI's , Paxil and Clonazepam, or some other pam. Paxil is for depression and anxiety, and the other pams, are tranquilizers of sorts. Before I left my country, I was taking Effexor XR which had less side effects, and sometimes tranquilizers for sleep. Now I am living in another country, and I am taking three medications at the moment, which are not available in North America. One is an SNRI, Seretonin and Neophrin reuptake inhibitor, and the other is an anti-anxiety specific medication; probably a tranquilizer of some sort, twice a day. Recently they doubled my dose of this one. And three times a day I take another natural medication; but I am not sure about what it is or how it works. I have been avoiding drugs for about four years now; and in place of them I was taking Chinese medicine, and sometimes herbal sleep remedies from the internet; but they do not work as well as the drugs; and perhaps depending on my needs, I would rather go with the drugs now, after trying alternatives. I guess I feel like you that it is very difficult to define intermediate sources of social phobia, that might work towards ending my panic attacks, however, I will continue to try, especially now that I feel more confident on the medications. Let us keep track of our progress and share our experiences. In the meantime, if anyone else out

Thanks to Dave and Redface for replying. It sounds as if we are experiencing the same thing. Dave, I have no idea what this condition is called other than erythrophobia. I have done some research on the Internet and found symptom descriptions that match my experience under this heading. From what I have learned, it seems that some people (like us) have heightened physiological responses to anxiety, anger, agitation, etc. Our bodies like to broadcast our feelings to the world in the form of redness which typically results in unwanted attention from others and more anxiety. I have given up trying to beat it. I am trying to accept that this is my body€™s natural response to stress and I have to learn to cope with my embarrassment about it. I guess for me, I hate that everybody knows when I€™m upset or bothered. I feel weak and defeated. And it greatly affects my life. I wear turtlenecks on the days I know I will have to speak in front of others at work. I tell lies about €œskin allergies.€ I know that I have social anxiety symptoms but I am confused about whether my blushing is the cause or result of these symptoms. Redface, I was wondering about the specific medications you are taking that you find helpful (if you don€™t mind sharing). I have not checked out the Panic Program yet but I may since you brought it to my attention. As for gradual exposure to blushing, I know that is not possible for me. I€™m either white or fire engine red. I don€™t have a medium. I guess, for me, a gradual exposure might mean starting at a lower degree of embarrassment- such as blushing in front of a trusted friend or loved one instead of strangers or a large group of people. [b]Text[/b][b]Text[/b][b]causes[/b]

Thank you everyone for responding...I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one with this problem on this support group. I can tell those of you who are still suffering the most, that medications have worked for me, in varying degrees, however, if I am not on a high dose of anxiety medications, I still get it. As I said at the top of this message list, I am getting better. Also; following some of the cognitive therapy on the Panic Program can help you think about it in a more positive way; although it sounds like you guys are already trying to handle it in a positive way. When I am fully medicated; which takes a few months, after being away from it; I gain confidence I can handle it again, and the panic attacks die down and melt into insignificance. But if I am anxious about something, especially without medications; I will blush over anything and everything. Thank you for telling me you too have this problem. It is just nice to know I am not alone. There are now surgical treatments for this problem also, such as lazer treatment of the skin, until all the bloodvessels are so tiny that they do not show as much when blushing; however, it is very painful and expensive, and takes many treatments; so I have not been able to do it. Also, there is a treatment where they can cut the nerves to your face which produce the blushing and sweating; but this too could be dangerous as they have to open up your chest cavity and there is a possiblity of damage to the lungs, or other nerves of the face. It is probably also quite expensive, but I have not wanted to attempt it. Being a woman, I have also tried heavy coverage makeup which has helped from time to time, while also on less strong herbal medications; it seems that if I feel that no one can see the blushing, then the panic feeling goes away after a few minutes. This in itself tells me there is a psychological component to all of this. But I know that if I am stressed, no amount of talking myself out of it, or cognitive thought process has been able to help much. The panic comes on too strong; and the results of years of this kind of reaction, and the subsequent reaction of others has kind of been imbedded in my brain. Now I am trying to work on the cognitive side of this through the Panic Program, but

this is in reply to ''Blotchy" - i know how you feel, im currently in my final year of high school and i get the exact same blotchy spots on my face. ive seen my doctor and dermatologist but with no succession in curing this ''disease'' (i dont know what it is so ill just say disease :quest:) i know how annoying it can be, i get this real tense feeling of anxiety in my chest, i feel my body heat increase, then i get these itchy red spots on my face. it usually comes when im embarrassed or when i sweat. i cant take it anymore, if anyone knows what this is and how i can treat it please reply -thx in advance

I have suffered with severe blushing since I was a teenager. At the slightest feeling of agitation, my chest and throat areas will break out in bright red blotches. Eventually, this spreads to my face and ears. I know when this is coming on because I can feel my body heat rise. I hate it so much. I feel like my body is betraying me. Usually, I look far worse than I actually feel. My coworkers always make comments about my blushing, "oh, someone got you upset, you're all broken out." People don't realize that when they call attention to my redness, they are actually making it worse. I feel like an idiot when this happens. People think I am all freaked out and I'm really not. I get so angry at myself because I feel like I should be able to control this. And the redness takes so long to go away! I will stay red and blotchy for a half an hour or more after the initial outbreak. Does anyone else know how I feel and/or have coping suggestions?

redface, Have you ever been diagnosed with obessevive compulsive disorder? I know that alot of times if you have PD or GAD you can also have OCD. This disorder causes a person to have obessevive thoughts and sometimes they will be about horrible things that we know we would never do, but because we are thinking about them so much the thoughts cause our panic and anxiety to get worse. All of those disorders work hand in hand and one of them will play off of the other one. But if you feel yourself getting extremely depressed you need to talk to someone. Try not to worry because most of us on here have had those strange thoughts. If you suffer with PD your mind will come up with the scariest most horrific thing it can conjure up, just try to acknowledge the thought then tell yourself that's all it is just a thought and then let it go. Hope this helps.

Hello Redface, I am sorry to hear you are feeling this way right now. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, please let someone know (your doctor, a friend, family members) or visit www.hopeline.com. Just remember that the panic program and the people here on the site want to help in every way we can. Keep posting your thoughts and concerns. Susanne

My fear of blushing is quieting down, but I keep blaming myself for doing it. Last weekend I was feeling so bad about being obsessed about things that I imagined putting a large kitchen knife between my ribs and cutting my heart. I can't stop my heart from feeling things; but my mind would like to cut those thoughts out. I would never act on such a thought, however, it did upset me that I even thought of it. The next day that feeling passed, and although I felt mildly depressed, and I did have a minor blushing incident, I did not feel quite so bad. Can anyone offer some words of comfort?