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Sufferer Hoping to find some strategies to regain control over my body and mind so that the tics will go away.

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Marie123

Hi all,

I found this space while searching for low-barrier PTSD support. I'm very grateful that it exists.

My traumatic event happened 6 years ago, but its impact is still present in my body and mind. I struggle with physcial and verbal tics that came on shortly after the event and have not gotten much better since. They used to only happen with flashbacks, but now they happen when I think about anything even remotely uncomfortable (sometimes unrelated to the event).

They interfere with my daily tasks and focus. When it happens around other people, I have to try to play it off like I saw something or was coughing. It's really embarrassing.

I'm hoping to find some strategies to regain control over my body and mind so that the tics will go away.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Welcome to the forum!

How are your stress levels generally? I had a tic for several years during my early recovery period - my right hand would tap at the air beside me. It was directly linked to my trauma, but typically appeared whenever I was triggered or my stress levels started to increase.

So, it appeared less often when I bought my baseline stress level (like, how stressed I was when I woke up in the morning) down. Monitoring my SUDS level (basically, how stressed am I right now, on a scale of 1 to 10) throughout the day, combined with regular activities that reduce stress (good sleep, healthy diet, regular exercise, etc) helped reduce my overall stress levels a bit. That was super helpful.

The other thing I did was give myself permission to have the tic. I didn't know if it would ever go away (it mostly has), but I knew why it was there. And even though people would comment, give me strange looks, laugh at me, even avoid me altogether - that was small fry at the time in terms of all the shit I was dealing with, right? Idiots being unkind or not understanding? Meh! I got too many real issues to let shit like that be a big deal. If they understood? They'd have been kinder, but they don't, and I rarely felt like explaining. Because - bigger issues.

Like I said, it started to disappear almost completely once I got further through the recovery process.

Hope something in there is helpful, and again, welcome!
 
Welcome to the site! I hope you get some good tidbits of advice from those who struggle with tics. I don’t have them, but my physical anxiety symptom of “panic sweating” is most obnoxious. It asks for attention and that makes me more anxious. They are more under control with medication (anti-anxiety) and learning to breath differently.

Sending you blessings of peace and breakthrough as you deal with what happened to you. Not quitting is the most important thing of all!
 
Welcome to the forum!

How are your stress levels generally? I had a tic for several years during my early recovery period - my right hand would tap at the air beside me. It was directly linked to my trauma, but typically appeared whenever I was triggered or my stress levels started to increase.

So, it appeared less often when I bought my baseline stress level (like, how stressed I was when I woke up in the morning) down. Monitoring my SUDS level (basically, how stressed am I right now, on a scale of 1 to 10) throughout the day, combined with regular activities that reduce stress (good sleep, healthy diet, regular exercise, etc) helped reduce my overall stress levels a bit. That was super helpful.

The other thing I did was give myself permission to have the tic. I didn't know if it would ever go away (it mostly has), but I knew why it was there. And even though people would comment, give me strange looks, laugh at me, even avoid me altogether - that was small fry at the time in terms of all the shit I was dealing with, right? Idiots being unkind or not understanding? Meh! I got too many real issues to let shit like that be a big deal. If they understood? They'd have been kinder, but they don't, and I rarely felt like explaining. Because - bigger issues.

Like I said, it started to disappear almost completely once I got further through the recovery process.

Hope something in there is helpful, and again, welcome!
Thank you so much for this kind response!

It's nice to know that I'm not alone. I would say my stress levels are pretty high. I experience heart palpitations regularly that I'm told are tied to my stress levels. I'll sometimes feel the palpitations while I tic - so you may be right about the connection.

I've been needing to improve my sleep, diet, and exercise habits. Maybe that will help.

I appreciate what you said about giving yourself permission to have the tic. I feel so much shame around my tics and what people think of me when I have them... I'm a non-traditional student at a prestigious university where I just feel less than everyone all the time. Having weird, uncontrollable tics at seemingly random times is not a good way to blend into the background. Sometimes I feel like I don't really belong there. Or anywhere, really.

Anyway - I digress. Thank you for your warm welcome and peer support. I really appreciate it.
 
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