Flashbacks - What are yours like? Is this normal?

[honeymask]

Hello all,
I am going through a terribly difficult time in my life (will not get into details here) and had to discontinue therapy due to my health insurance being dropped while it gets switched over to a new state.

I have been having what I was told by my old therapist are flashbacks. I mostly get them in the evenings around bedtime, but they can happen any time. When they come on there is little warning. I experience burning skin, as though I have the most horrific sunburn all over my body. I sweat and get hot chills, cannot speak and can barely move. It feels like someone has their hands around my throat which makes it hard for me to administer any medication that may help me. It feels as though I cannot swallow, and when I am in it it is the most intense state of fear I have ever experienced and it feels like it will not end, like I will be stuck that way for the rest of my life. These episodes last anywhere from 2-4 hours.

I haven't seen many posts about flashbacks on here and was wondering if others could share their experiences? I would like to feel less alone in this, it feels so much worse than a normal panic episode and not much helps to bring me out of it (I have learned many coping skills in therapy.)

Sending you all love and light ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

 

[EveHarrington]

Have you inquired about medication that can be taken sublingually? (Under the tongue.)

Can you swallow liquids? Getting meds compounded into a liquid may be an option.

 

[honeymask]

Can you swallow liquids? Getting meds compounded into a liquid may be an option.

Hello Eve,
I have just been prescribed Clonazepam which can be taken under the tongue. I picked up the script yesterday so I will see if that helps.
I think many of my medicines are controlled release, I am not sure. Do you mean having a prescription that is liquid instead of tablets (didn't know that was an option), or dissolving them in water at home? Thank you for your response <3

 

[Missycat]

Hi @honeymask , i can truly understand how difficult this must be for you, flashbacks are awful . I suffer with them quite regular and in a lot of cases its body memories as though i am re- experiencing the abuse - i also feel as though im watching a movie of the abuse but cant get away from it or stop it. Flashbacks can happen in so many ways. I am doing emdr with my t to process the flashbacks / memories that are stuck, it has worked before for me so i am confident it will work on the current memories. I dissociate quite a lot and particularly in therapy if i become overwhelmed , my t tells me i dissapear and its difficult to get a response from me so we have processes in place to ground me and get me ‘back in the room’ - sometimes she will try and get me to stand up but its usually something verbal or visual, i have also learned alot of ways to ground myself. If you cant find anything on the site re flashbacks then there is some good stuff on the web - i googled flashbacks and found some links to some good info pages.

 

[EveHarrington]

Do you mean having a prescription that is liquid instead of tablets (didn't know that was an option), or dissolving them in water at home? Thank you for your response <3

I have my capsules compounded into a liquid suspension at the pharmacy because I take 1/4 of the smallest size capsule and accurately splitting a capsule isn’t easy.

The big chains won’t do this. You’ll have to find a compounding pharmacy as it requires a special license. I’m lucky that there’s a compounding pharmacy about 15 minutes from me, and another about 45 minutes away should the first one fail at any point, lol. Even my doc who lives in a big city says it can be hard to find a pharmacy that compounds, as he is head of a rehab clinic and needs to compound withdrawal meds. So, it may take some effort to find one! Mine isn’t named a compounding pharmacy, it’s just a local pharmacy that happens to compound.

Oh, and my compounded med isn’t time release. I’m not sure how you’d work around the time release issue if you need a liquid med. maybe get the non time release version and take it more often?

 

[honeymask]

it may take some effort to find one! Mine isn’t named a compounding pharmacy, it’s just a local pharmacy that happens to compound.

I have never even heard of a compounding pharmacy! Are you in the US? I shall look it up as it sounds like a really great idea, especially if I decide to taper off of a tablet at some point, it will be easier to decrease the amount that way. It would help me so much with these episodes if I could just swallow a liquid!