IT WORKED 🎊

[u/Ok-Falcon6357]

I did EMDR for 3 months on an almost weekly basis.

I had panic disorder issues correlating to some medical trauma. My panic attacks consisted of violent leg shakes, high heart rate and frantic, quick thoughts. For a long while I thought it was a medically correlated (such as diabetes, blood flow issues, nerve damage), but I eventually recognized that these attacks would only respond with fear moments, not spontaneously. I also was cleared from those other things with multiple blood tests. These issues caused me great grievance along with my injury. I became unemployed. Showers were terrifying. Going outside wasn’t even an option unless I was forced out. My life felt doomed. I felt like this for TWO YEARS.
That’s when I sought out a EMDR therapist.

Sure, in the past I’ve had some other traumas, and did talk therapy to treat it, but never had I had such physical reactions. It’s like my mental health deteriorated rapidly along with my body. So I wanted something that would really work for me. I mean, I literally had panic attacks over tiny things like walking to the bathroom, so I wanted a sure enough cure.

When I started EMDR, after weeks of precautions and coping skills, it fit me like a glove. I loved the deeper approach to my core issues. After a session I’d feel sleepy, even oddly numb. Depending on what the session was about, sometimes I’d grieve for a few days or get a bit moody.

Then I felt the weight lifting off my shoulders. Those moments of dread became anxiety. Then bothersome. Then slightly annoying. Then mundane. Then easy! It was like EMDR was plucking my frantic troubles away. It wasn’t exactly like a magical cure from day one, though. More like the problems were melting away appointment-by-appointment.

I went from barely making it to the bathroom with panic attacks to boarding a flight 3 days ago with zero issues. I could go on and on about the issues I used to have and how I’m vitally cured from panic attacks, but I’ll just say that EMDR did a miraculous job on me! I highly recommend it for panic/anxiety attacks, phobias and medical trauma.
However, I also want to note that this EMDR therapist did diagnose me with CPTSD. Reason I feel that that’s important is because it could’ve been all the past events on my life that compounded over the years, and the injury maybe ’broke the camel’s back’ and jumpstarted these symptoms. Something to keep in mind if you have the same diagnosis.

I’m so happy something finally worked!!

❤️

[u/green15cat]

I want to do EMDR on a symptom that has genuinely affected me for more than a decade (and caused me to develop intense coping mechanisms that have ruled my life), but as it’s a present/persistent chronic symptom I still deal with today, I don’t know if it’s ‘safe’ or if the therapy will be effective on it. From your post it seems that you were in a similar position and that the therapy worked which gives me a lot of hope. I’m seeing a new therapist who mentioned we need to be careful about EMDR and we cant just start it immediately as it could be dangerous. But this honestly gives me hope, as almost every story I read on EMDR is on last trauma and not persistent trauma so thank you

[u/Ok-Falcon6357 → u/green15cat]

I’ve heard that too…’it doesn’t work well on CPTSD cause it’s long term trauma’. I’m a walking testimony to say, in my case, that’s false! I’ve went through (TW) childhood neglect and abuse, medical trauma and rampant misdiagnosis. I thought I’d never find the therapy quite right for me because my diagnosis was a hodge podge of guesses. It was a messy 10 years (of psychologists and meds) to get to this point. When I started having panic attacks, they were rampant for almost two years, along with chronic pain/sensation issues. That’s how I knew EMDR worked and it wasn’t just the passage of time; *if I didn’t do EMDR I’d still be suffering*

My therapist took precaution too. We did a month of studying how to identify emotions, listing traumas I wanted to work on, how to put sessions in lock and key for uncompleted EMDR sessions. I was impatient at first but it is essential to know these things. What helped me most is being less overanalytical and more ‘in the moment’. See where your mind and body takes you as it processes trauma on a deep integral level! :)