EMDR - Feeling Drained?

[Orchid1818]

I feel so drained from emdr. Does anyone feel the same? Also I am not happy for other peoples happiness right now. After sessions I want to be left alone. Not talk to anyone. And I'm tired of people saying omg how are you and feeling like I have to respond with excitement about their life. Emdr and going thru a break up is just hard.

 

[somerandomguy]

EMDR is hard as hell all by itself. I can't imagine the stress of a breakup on top of it.

It's really, really normal to hate people, relationships, and happiness when you go through a breakup. And it's really, really normal to have PTSD symptoms after a session of EMDR. Put those together and it sounds like Isolation City.

It's a great time to be extra, super nice to yourself.

 

[Orchid1818]

Thank you for simply understanding no one gets it around me. I was actually a supporter of a veteran then we broke up and thru therapy I learned I actually wasn't at all dealing with a trauma of my own past. And I saw how I triggered him and and how it affected my relationship and after the break up, I decided to start emdr. But I know its working and I'm healing. I just don't want to be happy for anyone else. I just want to sleep a lot and recover. My energy is really low.

 

[Wendell_R]

Just had EMDR this week and felt absolutely drained afterward. The way I look at it is that the days I'm drained, it's because we engaged some new neural pathways, and every time that happens, I'm a little closer to recovery.

I find that walks by myself help a lot. I get reconnected with my body. I don't have to talk to anyone. My therapist says that the back and forth of walking helps reinforce the bilateral stimulation.

 

[Orchid1818]

I do walk my dog a lot and that helps. Lately I'm not even happy doing my hobbies. Again because they involve being around people and having to look happy. Which is draining.

I also find myself thinking about the trauma a lot now. I hope that's just my mind working thru it.

 

[somerandomguy]

It gets worse before it gets better. :hug:

 

[Freida]

emdr knocks me out for about 24 hours. As in don't speak to me, touch me or acknowledge I exist. And don't blather on to me about whats going right in your life because my brain is trying to eat itself and I'm knee deep in a pity party and I'm totally overwhelmed by memories of my trauma.

It runs its course and then I bounce back and am relatively human until then next time.

The only reason I keep doing it is because it's so amazing when it works. But is a huge pain in the ass and I can't even imagine trying to do it thru a breakup. So ya -- what you are feeling is pretty normal. :hug:

 

[Orchid1818]

emdr knocks me out for about 24 hours. As in don't speak to me, touch me or acknowledge I exist. And don't blather on to me about whats going right in your life because my brain is trying to eat itself and I'm knee deep in a pity party and I'm totally overwhelmed by memories of my trauma.

It runs its course and then I bounce back and am relatively human until then next time.

The only reason I keep doing it is because it's so amazing when it works. But is a huge pain in the ass and I can't even imagine trying to do it thru a breakup. So ya -- what you are feeling is pretty normal. :hug:

Yes about two months ago I posted about isolation from my veteran and a cancellation of our vaca. Shortly after he ended things bc he said he felt too much anxiety. I started therapy when I was with him but didn't start emdr for addressing my early life trauma. So we broke up and then I started emdr for the trauma I went thru.

I miss him so much, I haven't heard from him since the break up. But I am giving it time and focusing on resolving my issues first. I don't know why but I didn't think what I went thru at 15 was a trauma or that it resulted in symptoms. I've since learned it's the reason I have trust issues and high anxiety etc. And I didn't know when I was with my veteran I was triggering him. Because my trauma happened when I was 15 so as far as I knew I just thought this was just how I was made, because I've been this way my whole adult life. Not realizing it all stemmed from my trauma, that I never discussed.

 

[unbrokenwarrior]

Yep emdr is draining for me. I'm so sleepy after a session that I can barely focus. I just feel exhausted for at least a few days. And then there are the headaches.

 

[Skywatcher]

All of the above: headaches, exhaustion, wanting to be alone, trauma replays, irritability. I go on Mondays and don’t fully crawl out of processing until around Thursday. We did complete one smaller memory and installed a positive belief. I felt so loved for almost an entire week. It’s nice when you see the results you are aiming for!