Worried About My Dog - She Vomits/shakes When I Have Flashbacks

[crazy8]

Does anyone have a dog that helps them manage their symptoms, especially emotional instability associated with complex-PTSD?

My dog very visibly reacts to my PTSD, especially when I am particularly "on edge." Nearly every day now for the past few weeks (since my Christmas Eve 2013 aspirin overdose/ 3 day Intensive Care Unit stay), my dog watches me very carefully. She pays close attention to my body language, the tone of my voice when I talk to her (yeah...I talk to my dog a lot ;-), my breathing, etc. One of my PTSD somatic symptoms is nausea/vomiting. She often vomits when I have these symptoms, and occasionally vomits even when I feel intense painful emotions associated with my flashbacks.

Unfortunately, it appears as though she has developed a conditioned stress responses to my changes in breathing/behaviors/talking...she knows when I am about to have an emotional flashback (or am "on edge"), and she knows what's coming next: all the self-hate talk, hyperventilating/breath holding, muscle tension/spasms, and other very visible symptoms. When I have a flashback (I usually call them "episodes"), she hides in the bathroom and shakes with her tail between her legs. Sometimes she won't eat for a while after that and acts like she is sick and afraid of me.

Of course, I am also doing the best I can after I have the episodes to calm and coax her, assure her that she is safe, etc (I do not use any violence or hitting, etc as negative reinforcement...I primarily use positive reinforcement training).

I really love my dog...she really does help me emotionally, but I worry about how my PTSD may be affecting her physical and mental health (with "doggie anxiety" and vomiting in response to observing me go through my worst flashbacks symptoms.) She's a half pitbull, half greyhound mixed breed...very much enjoys humans and needs to have a lot of human interaction/petting or she can sometimes act depressed or anxious. She may be a overly dependent on me, perhaps that's an angle I can work through to help her...

Does anyone else experience this type of relationship dynamics with their dog in response to their PTSD? Has anyone found anything to help your dog "cope" with your symptoms?

 

[JustBe]

Wow! Sounds rough. Your illness may be too intense for her if she's that sensitive.

I'm sorry, sounds like she may need to be distanced from this and put in a more stable situation for her own health.

 

[arfie]

My dogs have been the single most effective assistants I have found in my own 42 years on recovery road. I am deeply ashamed of how neurotic this made my first few dogs, but honestly believe they forgave me before I knew I needed forgiving. Over the decades of this evolution I have come to believe my dogs are the clearest and kindest reality check available to me through this bizarre journey. My most recent dogs have even woke me from nightmares.

Still I cannot describe this bond well enough to write a how-to book, but the essence is that helping my dog feel better has immeasurable healing and grounding power within my own emotional instability. They gots no good words for it, but they communicate quite simply and elegantly when I take the time to pay attention.

Wish I could say it better, but... Tentative wag and hopeful whimper??? Paw scraping air???

 

[JustBe]

I give my SD lots of "Down time". If you're not able to do that is there someone who can?

 

[billie]

This maybe a tough idea to give out (its ridiculously hard to talk to people) but if you have the ability to talk to an advanced behavioural theraspist (animal), then maybe a young veterinarian (as more positive training methods are taught now). Maybe look up a book called "animals in translation" by Dr Temple Grandon. She has the ability to reach out amazingly well to animals as an Autistic person. I found that book such a good resourse in my animal training. Good luck to you and your fur kid.

 

[billie]

Another suggestion could be (if at all possible; I mean no disrespect to your trauma) when you feel hightened anxiety give your lil one a treat as a grounding technique and a positive reinforcement for your pooch. Your fur kid could eventually reconise that the chemicals your body is excreting as a result of anxiety is not a harmful experience for lil poochy. I hope that may help. X

 

[crazy8]

helping my dog feel better has immeasurable healing and grounding power within my own emotional instability. They gots no good words for it, but they communicate quite simply and elegantly when I take the time to pay attention.

Your comment here really resonates with me... When I see my dog acting anxious/submissive/scared, it's a cue for me to "check in" and see what sort of symptoms I might be exhibiting. In this way, my dog warns me that a flashback is likely to come soon. I really hope that soon my more specialized "PTSD" therapy (starting next week) will provide me with some skills/behaviors that I can try to prevent the flashbacks from starting once I know that I am likely to have one...

Petting her during these times is very soothing for me (and for her). It "forces" me, sort of, to act happier...to talk in happy tones to her and to snuggle up to her to make her feel better. I'm less likely to go into an all-out flashback while cuddling and sweet-talking my pooch! ;-)

 

[crazy8]

Yeah @Movin'On ...I just remembered that she has a whole day at "doggie day care" to take advantage of...a trip that's already been paid for. Perhaps now is a good time for her, since I am probably in the midst of my most intense symptoms in my life. (She LOVES doggy day care...running and playing with other dogs)

 

[crazy8]

"animals in translation" by Dr Temple Grandon

Thanks! I love Temple Grandon but didn't know about this specific book.

A good source to check out, perhaps I'll add it to my collection with Sophia Yin, DVM, MS; and Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash."

Thanks!

 

[crazy8]

Your fur kid could eventually reconise that the chemicals your body is excreting as a result of anxiety is not a harmful experience for lil poochy.

brilliant! so, creating an association between my PTSD symptoms and "treats." So when I start to have flashbacks, her mood may even elevate a bit in anticipation of the treat. Or, at least the anticipation of the treat could help minimize the negative effects of her anxiety. Cool, thanks.

 

[billie]

Yeah....... I also wounder if eventually your dogs anticipation may also help you in the long term. Our bond with our pets speaks more than words :)

 

[Echo]

One of my cats knows even from the next room when I am about to go into flashback. You can guarantee that the moment it starts he will be hugging up as close to my heart as he can get and won't leave me alone until it stops. I've had days with him being my shadow, with one paw on me constantly. I wonder if they can see some kind of aura, and they do seem to look at things that aren't there - slightly above me or to the side of me at times. They are very attuned to us and it is well-known that pets can get upset and distressed if we get upset.

I think people are right to suggest spending time calming them down will also have knock-on benefits for us, too. A dog might feel it needs to take charge if it sees the leader of the pack (you) being unwell. It might wonder where the 'enemy'/'attack' is coming from and may read your anxiety in that way; something that would normally be passed from pack member to pack member, if you were all dogs. So telling him all is well might help a great deal.

I find that the soothing music I listen to before going to bed really soothes my cats, too. I find binaural beats with music really helpful and they particularly like the higher frequencies.

You can also get diffusers from the vets which fill the room/house with pheromones telling the dog/cat that all is well. It really works to calm my moggies down, too.