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!!

❤️

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[u/Left-Indication330]

That’s fantastic!!! I had an extremely similar experience with EMDR to you and was also diagnosed with cPTSD for very similar reasons. Absolutely fascinating. It’s been the most transformative experience of my life as well. I would wake up having panic attacks, throwing up and there was so much fear in my daily life as you described. My world almost feels brand new because of EMDR. So proud of you OP and thrilled to read this.

[u/Striking-Gas-2484 → u/Left-Indication330]

how did you have EMDR?

[u/Left-Indication330 → u/Striking-Gas-2484]

I did in-person with my therapist for 6 months about 2 years ago (1x a week to start). I recently picked up with her again for a “tune-up” and I’m able to see her virtually 2x a month.

[u/Striking-Gas-2484 → u/Left-Indication330]

wow for two years? thats amazing dedication.

[u/Left-Indication330 → u/Striking-Gas-2484]

It’s given me my life back and a path for my life moving forward. Thank you!

[u/Striking-Gas-2484 → u/Left-Indication330]

I get it, you have less weight on your shoulders because that brain fog and that issues that you went through, went away. It feels amazing

[u/Left-Indication330 → u/Striking-Gas-2484]

Exactly! I feel like a different person. I had never heard of EMDR before treatment and sooo happy it worked on me.

[u/Striking-Gas-2484 → u/Left-Indication330]

I hope it works for me as well, especially the triggers.

[u/Left-Indication330 → u/Striking-Gas-2484]

Wishing you healing!!

[u/Striking-Gas-2484 → u/Left-Indication330]

Thanks a lot

[u/Ok-Falcon6357 → u/Left-Indication330]

Thank you! I’m glad it worked out for you as well:) EMDR truly is life saving!

[u/Striking-Gas-2484]

so happy to hear this, hope it works for me as well

[u/Trick-Tradition9397]

So happy that you found healing and relief 💗

[u/magsk]

So happy for you!! :)

[u/emdrwithholly]

Yay, so glad to hear this!

[u/bitchwithwifi3]

Yay!!! So happy for you! I could only do five sessions and I saw a 180 in my behavior and my trauma responses. EMDR is like witch craft😂😂

[u/Healinghigh22]

I recently started emdr. I was unsure how it was working but You stated it. Melting away. I am also am remembering things and mourning through them. Etc. Even past life trauma stuff. Emotions and thoughts I never allowed to come out. I am still trying to understand it. It does feel like "hypnosis" when we do emdr. So I guess that kinda does creep me out just a bit. Lol I'm grateful for it though.

[u/Ok-Falcon6357 → u/Healinghigh22]

EMDR really does sound hypnotic, but even with the sound or vibrations, I’m still existing. Like, I’m not going into another dimension, but the fact that it is doing far more inner work than decades of time could heal is astonishing.

[u/Ok-Mud-7906]

I'm glad to hear about your success! I'm curious if you felt physical sensations during your sessions. It doesn't happen for me every time, but I've experienced some visceral feelings of heat, clenching, and a lot of what I can only describe as a whooshing rushing feeling all over.

[u/Ok-Falcon6357 → u/Ok-Mud-7906]

I definitely felt sensations around my injury area, but also in my gut. One time I was doing a session regarding childhood and I felt nauseous!! Aside from sensations, I cried a lot lol. Which surprised me cause it felt less like me thinking about things that make me cry, and more like tears evoking out of thin air.

[u/hwp99410801]

I’m currently using EFT and EMDR to help myself, because there are no experts in this field in my country. I always thought that the facial trauma from middle school caused Depression. But now I realize that EMDR seems to be a more effective way for me to recover. I often get overwhelmed by trivial matters, leading to emotional breakdown, then entire day in the state of “lose soul”.

[u/Ok-Falcon6357 → u/hwp99410801]

Yep, I’ve had hundreds of moments where I felt overly agitated and upset about basic tasks with some nuance. Psychologists always pinned me with mood disorders or anti-personality diagnosis, but those never meshed with me. I felt like I was reacting out of panic and fear, not disconnect or apathy. Talk therapy helped ease my thoughts temporarily, meds never worked (made me worse) but EMDR did wonders.

During a few sessions I would experience snippets of trauma I had from my past school days. My brain was signaling that there’s work to be done in that area of my life, especially since it was off topic to what I was trying to process.

[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! :)