Returning PTSD symptoms

Just curious if anyone has recovered from PTSD pretty well ....but then symptoms start coming back during treatments. Been having flashbacks to something pretty awful, panic attacks, hair trigger anger/fear and some other stuff.

Not sure if it's babesia, adrenal fatigue or the fact that I haven't been able to get a full nights rest in a week or so (bottle baby). I kinda suspect it's the lack of sleep thing, since it started once I started 24 hour feedings.

I think lack of sleep can cause high cortisol. PTSD memories are times when cortisol is high in the body. Your brain may now associate high cortisol on the same pathway as the PTSD memories as if they are one and the same. A way I have found effective in to stop the association (that has worked for me) is to do EMDR. It is the one of the most effective therapies for PTSD helping Vets finally find peace in areas of long standing trauma. I just google it and use the self-administered EMDR YouTube video. Basically it does this - you think about anxiety producing and troubled memories at the same time your eyes follow a dot Moving back and forth. Traumatic memories cause our gaze to get stuck and moving the eyes side to side (left to right) causes them to get unstuck. It simulates peaceful brain waves so that next time the memory or anxiety is thought of - there is less cortisol produced.

I no longer hyperventilate or have my heart beating out of my chest. I am totally calm.

If there is anyone who can help watch your baby just so you can get some sleep that will help to greatly reduce cortisol and in reducing cortisol PTSD should die down.

I'm sorry you are going through this!

Post Edited (SLML) : 8/8/2015 5:01:03 PM (GMT-6)

And you think that it could really work for the whole scope of what a person experiences with Lyme and company? I'd like to get rid of my anxiety every time I'm around someone that has some of the really bad symptoms that I did - no matter what is causing their symptoms.

Obviously, talking about it doesn't help me get past it! LOL! I've been talking about it for years right here on this forum and a few other places!

@Traveler - I think it can work when feelings of panic arise with regards to PTSD. Does it solve every emotional difficulty we encounter related to Lyme? No. We still suffer difficulties. But yes, I have experienced it dramatically helping the panic, heart racing, clammy hands feeling that comes when talking or thinking about past trauma. I'm sure it doesn't work for everyone either but it is simple and certainly is not a therapy that will hurt someone. No harm done if it doesn't work! Fortunately it was helpful for me but I do know that everyone is different. If it doesn't feel like it would fit well for you - I understand as there are therapies that others find effective that are not a good fit for me or are things I want to wait and think about. We each find our own way for what works for us as we are all so different. But then maybe what I have shared will fit well for someone else who googles Lyme and PTSD down the road and find EMDR as something they want to try. I know I was often googling for answers long before I became a forum member and found so many old threads useful in helping me on the path to recovery.

Post Edited (SLML) : 8/8/2015 10:16:36 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Traveler-

Here is the link I used that was helpful to me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OlfQIRJEsYk

I just followed the instructions on the screen. You basically think about troubling memories and feelings while you look at the dots move side to side. I think it connects left-right brain waves and simulates the peaceful waves over the top of our anxious waves. I've used it probably 40 times for all different things