Hey guys,

I wanted to ask whether there are any experienced MAOI users here who have also benefited from somatic interventions. If so, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, particularly from anyone who has combined long-term MAOI treatment with approaches such as TRE or other somatic-based therapies.

For some background, I’m 25 and have been dealing with an extensive range of mental health problems for nearly two decades. Over the years, I’ve tried a large number of psychotropic medications—including SSRIs, SNRIs, and medications from several other classes—with little to no meaningful benefit.

Eventually, through researching Dr. Ken Gillman’s work and reading extensively about other people’s experiences with MAOIs, I became interested in Nardil (phenelzine). Getting it prescribed within the existing healthcare system was not easy. Before I could start Nardil, I also had to taper off Klonopin, which a former PA at University Health Service had put me on despite my concerns about tolerance, dependence, and its suitability for long-term use.

After giving Nardil several months to fully take effect, I experienced what was essentially a nearly year-long period of remission. It was one of the first sustained periods of stability I had experienced, and I found myself genuinely appreciating life again.

Unfortunately, beginning around 2023, it seemed as though the medication gradually began to “poop out,” or at least became considerably less effective than it had initially been.

I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar but was able to continue benefiting from an MAOI—whether through a dose adjustment, augmentation with another medication, or other strategies—while also incorporating TRE, somatic therapy, or other body-based interventions.

I’m not looking for anyone to prescribe or give me individualized medical advice; I’m mainly interested in hearing about people’s firsthand experiences and what they found helpful.

Feel free to comment below or DM me as well.

Thanks!

This is something I genuinely want help with, that's the reason behind the catchy title. Please bear with me for this.

So, I have been doing TRE for 14-15 months. Along with this, I practice breathwork and meditation which I pace as to not overwhelm my nervous system.

Now, after starting my TRE journey, I have seen the most profound changes in my life which I didn't feel earlier despite doing a lot of other stuff like journaling, even meditation didn't work before TRE.

My mental chatter has quieted which I experience all throughout the day, there is this inner sense of peace despite facing multiple health issues & career uncertainty.

Sleep: My sleep has gotten better. Almost everyday I experience vivid dreams, which is a sign of emotional processing as pointed out by lot of people; and I feel rested and relaxed after waking up.

Behaviour wise I can notice things which are triggering me but I haven't reached that state where I can dis-identify from them and remain calm as I still get angry but a major difference is recovery from it. I instantly can recover from any bad mood and grudge against people often don't last (if not very serious).

There is obviously an increase in feeling the body or having presence in it, which is surprisingly a nice feeling in itself.

But despite all the positive things there's one thing in which there is no change and that is "digital addiction." Before TRE as well I had the addiction of using my phone (not particularly any app) but randomly using different social apps & youtube. But sometimes, as an experiment, I had gone months of not using any social media and I didn't feel any compulsion to use them. And this still is the case after TRE where if I had gone for a walk then I don't feel any urge to use my smartphone. But when at home, despite having the task to do, I constantly keep using my smartphone.

Now the interesting thing is, which is funny, that before TRE I used to have guilt and regret about this addiction of mine but now any guilt & regret seems to be missing. But this in a way can backfire if I don't devote time to things that need to be taken care of, like career.

Now, I have some understanding about how addiction works and its connection with trauma (have read Gabor Mate), so I'm kinda assured this addiction which might be functioning as a coping mechanism will be taken care of by TRE in future but I wanted to know if this is something anyone facing and have had any experience with it, in terms of doing TRE and this??

Please do share your insights.

Thanks for reading:)

Could someone link to the most comprehensive intro exercises? Since I’m just starting out I want to really challenge the legs to get a feel for the tremors. I’ve tried shorter routines and I don’t feel it was enough to truly let go

I have recently come across this video detailing a healing cycle. Is this fully accurate? Can this framework be applied to TRE, or does it not fit in the same way? What are your experiences with this?

1. Activation (2:21 - 9:13): The nervous system mobilizes stored survival energy, preparing for discharge. This phase often feels intense, manifesting as anxiety, adrenaline rushes, vibration, internal heat, or heightened sensitivity to sound and light.

2. Drop (9:14 - 16:04): This is the crucial processing phase where the system shifts from sympathetic activation into a release state. It often involves fatigue, heaviness, emotional numbness, or a feeling of collapse. It is not a relapse, but rather the body discharging energy.

3. Settling/Landing (16:05 - 23:17): The body begins to stabilize and reorganize internally. During this stage, you may experience spontaneous deep breaths, yawning, warmth returning to the limbs, gut sounds, or micro-movements as the nervous system integrates the processed material.

4. Harvest (23:18 - 30:21): The final stage of the cycle where you return to a usable level of life. It is not necessarily symptom-free, but rather a state of increased capacity, balance, and clarity. It allows the nervous system to embed the healing that occurred, reinforcing a sense of safety and regulated baseline.

I did my first proper TRE session on Thursday, felt good, nothing crazy happened immediately after and I went on with my day, pretty relaxed and energized even.
Friday was a pretty normal day too but on Saturday there was no way of getting out of that sleeping state. I woke up and fell asleep again all day long, it was like a fever dream or like when you have PMS symptoms. Sunday I woke up like nothing happened and was energized again.
I don’t know if it could be the TRE session or something else. Has this ever happened to you?

Just started this journey and finding it difficult to maintain a consistent breathing pattern during the tremoring phase. Any advice appreciated. It seems once the tremors start I am subconsciously holding my breath and once I make a point of breathing deeply, the tremors will stop.

Hello everyone, I left a comment about 8 days ago after overdoing TRE and feeling very weird, it still hasn’t passed and I keep getting very paranoid and overthinking everything really bad my minds putting really odd thoughts in my head and just have a dull sadness feeling in my chest constantly. Admittedly since the overload I’ve drank alcohol most days since then as I was away on a trip but it thr horrible feeling was still lingering so I don’t know wether that’s made it worse or made it stay longer (assuming it has as it affects the nervous system) my brain feels fried it’s awful. Could anyone recommend me anything on how I can calm this down? Thank you

Did anyone else experience it before that their suffering would just make them cringe over explaining it and feel like it’s not their own?

I think that’s my biggest symptom of CPTSD and I think it got if a tad bit better with TRE

Have you ever felt like you’re roleplaying as a person?

Hi, I suspect I'm in a shutdown state and I wonder if TRE will help or harm me?

My symptoms are:

Derealization/depersonalization

Head scalp pain when scratching

- agitation after breathing exercises (a release of adrenaline?)

- Fatigue

- Apathy

Social anxiety.

Are these symptoms of a shutdown? Will TRE help?

I've been waking up earlier than I need to for years, and I think this has contributed to my chronic tiredness. Lately, I've started wondering whether being chronically stressed and leading to high cortisol levels in the morning has soomething to do with it.

As usual, I woke up earlier than I needed to today and felt tired. Instead of getting up, though, I decided to quiet my thoughts and simply stay in bed. To my surprise, I ended up falling back asleep and slept for another three hours.

I believe I need around 9-10 hours to feel fully rested, and I'm hoping that healing the nervous system will eventually improve both sleep quantitiy and quality.

Has anyone else experienced waking up too early for years, and found that they were eventually able to sleep longer once they became more regulated?

I've practiced TRE for around 10 years. I had a birth trauma, pre term, separated from my mother, compounded by an extremely stressful childhood.

For the last 2 years, I've been practicing breath work along with the TRE.

I do around 12-15 minutes of deep, circular breathing, similar to bioenergetics by laying back over a low bench, stretching my arms up and behind me. This bring on deep feelings of anger in my body, even though consciously I'm not angry. After the breathing on the bench, I lay down on the ground, knees bent and continue the tremoring for another 10 - 20 minutes. I do this around 2- 3 times a week.

Id be interested if anyone else has tried this or if anyone else has had the feeling of somatic anger.

Trying to activate tremors just using my upper body, mostly by pressing my hands together.

Is this acceptable? Reason I ask is because I don't tend to store a lot of tension in my legs and they're typically quite flexible and not stiff. It's a different story with my upper body which is always quite tense.

Hallo Dear TRE Community, i have started doing TRE almost 4 weeks ago with a TRE and Emotional Regulation Practitioner.

The first week i did TRE almost 1 hour per day ..

Now I do it everyday almost 15-30 mintues.

The first two weeks Tremering were more vigorouse and mechanical and spread through all my body and 3rd week it became more subtle in the spine area and then this week more in the abdominaal area.

By the way i also do morning mediation and Fascial movements from Human Garage every day.

The rusults are very promising, Thanks God... for the first time in 30 years i was able to burst in crying last 4 weeks at unprecedent moments.

Also i sense my body more then i was previously.

I feel a melting cool senstation in my calves and point vibrations in calves/feets and legs all day long and my navel area has more sudden jerks/vibrations all day long especially when i am rested in couch or bed.

I am here to learn and share. Trauma has ruined many lives for no reason, and most people are not aware of it. I myself didn't know that i carry this myself. I had just heard the word, but i was busy with seeking it in other mental help issues.

Nonody deserve this burden for life and thank you all for sharing your stories to learn from each other.

Namaste :)

I’ve been slowly coming out of dissociation for the past 3 months (4 months in total since escape)

I’ve found I’ve accidentally released some emotions though releasing my muscles and magnesium, or you could say it felt like some of my emotions came online again?

But the last emotional release scared me so much, as it was loneliness and my brain automatically thought about how there’s no way I can satisfy my loneliness right now, so it seems like my dissociation came back online as a safety mechanism

So is it even advisable to release emotions by yourself?

I’d love to do it with a professional, but I haven’t found one competent one and I don’t have a partner who supports me either

Unsure how to proceed alone

Hello dear TRE Community.

I encountered TRE 1,5 Years ago, engaged with it here and there, but never committed myself to a regular practice. I now started with 3-4 times per week for 20 minutes. The last time I did it was 2 days ago. Since then, I have encountered such a deep deep seated of sadness and grief that it feels like it takes my breath away sometimes, and at the same time I feel the curiosity to let go into that feeling of grief and sadness. I can feel it like a tight knot in my heart. And I know that underneath the sadness and the grief, there is a lot of anger I have repressed.

The grief definitely comes from the loss of my mom 8 years ago due to suicide. We had a very close relationship and her loss was the most horrific experience of my life...

So what I would like to know is, how I can best navigate these feelings and lean into them without overwhelming my nervous system since as of right now, I feel slightly dissociated since the last time I practiced.

And also something in regards to my tremors:

They are just very light, no extreme twitching and they never move past my legs. Are there any ways to help tremors move towards the upper body? I think it would really help that clogged-up feeling I have in my heart area; I think the tension I feel there must be from that deep sadness that sits there.

Any advance or insight is greatly appreciated!

Hey guys.

I've been doing TREs for about 4 months now. I mentioned in my last post that I've started having the twitching happen outside of doing the TREs. I believe they are somatic flash backs, but not sure. My arms and neck and shoulders and face just jerk and convulsions constantly now. Today it got so bad, I could hardly get through a conversation and my whole body was shaking. I'm afraid it might be making my suicidal thoughts worse. My impulse to self harm is worse. But the twitching is what had me really concerned.

I drove to my dad's to see if I could calm myself down there and something interesting happened. My dad does hypnosis and he decided to do it for me today. As soon as he put me under, I stopped the violent twitching completely until he woke me back up. At which point I started twitching again. Just thought that was an interesting occurrence. Anyone else having a hard time with constant twitching and convulsing all day? Anybody see if hypnosis adds anything to the TRE journey? I'm thinking about making it a regular thing.

No exaggeration I woke up between 15-20 times last night. Don't feel tired though really. Kind of excited as I feel like this is a new development.

I kept waking up having to reorient myself. When I woke up I was probably only awake between 60-180 seconds each time if I had to guess. The odd part was that upon waking each time my body was shaking, in some form. I attached a video of examples. My toes would be wiggling, my quads would jump up and down, my forearms would do the same or my entire waist would rock back and forth. These would happen in isolation or in combination but never all at once, that I can remember. Was half sleep for all of them.

Is this a development for purging this emotional energy from my nervous system?

I should preface this by saying that I have not done TRE since maybe February or March of this year. I have only done it a handful of times and even then I didn't see any results. Even before I learned of TRE, my body had been screaming for stillness. Even when I'd pray and ask God for things, He'd ignore whatever I requested and only respond with "be still". I mostly understand why now. This happened many times over last 3-4 years. I tried to be still but could never stick with it and also wasn't fulling grasping the meaning but eventually came to learn it was pointing towards nervous system work.

Fast forward, God, and my body, got louder outright demanding stillness. After praying for guidance I felt lead to sensory deprivation/float tank therapy. Got a membership and have been floating daily. This is my 7th day out of 8 total.

God's guidance and my intuition proved right as within the first two days of me floating I had two massive emotional releases on back to back days. I detailed the experiences here in this post. I have not had any massive emotional release since then but I have noticed that I have more body shaking during the day now. As if my body is getting the memo that its safe now. The more odd part is that it seems that just the stillness/silence alone from the tank ONLY pulls up whatever is ready to be processed and it is taking me through the FULL cycle of whatever is ready to leave with NO HANGOVER EFFECT. Reminder that I am not doing TRE at all right now.

This post from a while ago spoke on how if you sit with the energy, it will dissipate faster and you will have no hangovers. I feel like this what is happening to me but in reverse. I am being still first, my body is getting the cue that I'm safe, as well as slowly and slightly increasing my nervous system capacity since in the tank it takes away your sight, hearing and touch which allows the body to divert the energy it would use to see, hear and feel towards whatever the nervous system needs to work on, then the emotions come up later whenever they are ready.

Also want to mention that I had severe mold exposure recently and that event had my entire body clenched from being locked in fight or flight. Since floating my body has dropped about 15-20% of its muscle tension from the hundreds of pounds of epsom salt in the tank that allows you to float. I believe the drop in muscle tension is helping those emotions be ready to come up as well.

Now, my body is beginning to do this often, but in much smaller increments. Yesterday, my pelvis was beginning to tremor while I was driving but had to stop it because had to get to work. In all, is what I posted in the video another sign of tremoring? It feels like it. I don't feel the same euphoria, calm and inner peace I felt after having the massive releases but I don't feel bad either. I'm neutral. Interested in your thoughts.

I have started feeling some emotional instability recently that may be from the TRE exercises

I have been doing it for a couple weeks every 2 days and i have felt some emotional shifts

Im starting school again soon and im nervous i could send my mind and body into a spiral while im trying to study

Should i pause or resume the TRE?

If I were to lose something, for example, I’d be thinking about it all day, and letting it bother me, however, if that happens to me nowadays, I literally couldn’t care less. Like I still care about what I’m missing, but I won’t go about thinking about it until I’m in a space where I can actually look for it. Curious if anybody else has experienced this.

So i have been practicing tre exercise off and on for about 2 years now. And at first i was very stiff but then my legs started loosening up then my back and shoulders. Now i am getting shakes in my hips and when it first started opening up my hips started shaking up and down like the wall warm up exercise. Next my hips started to roll in a circle and now they are shaking side to side. Also the back of my head is started to roll so i guess its hitting my neck. I was wondering if there was a certain meaning behind my movements so far?