Biofeedback

Really?
I guess I'm a pioneer.

Our son, who will be 30 next week, had biofeedback when he was 8 for a slight attention deficit disorder. He did it for about 6 months. He was never medicated with the typical ADD meds and just grew out of it by the time he hit 4th grade. So I really can't say if it helped or not. But it certainly didn't hurt!

Im in therapy, meds and I exercise like hell. Definitely helps. Panic attacks have reduced greatly. However, with PC DX, it's back! Not too mention I am waiting till May 11 for treatment so I am very susceptible to panic attacks. I am meditating using an app called Headspace. It's free and has short session II try to do at least two times a day. Meditation is hard. My mind is all over the place on a normal day. Put some "cancer is in me" thoughts, and it goes "Red alert, Red alert, Red alert!!!! Trying to learn to control my thoughts and not let them go all over the place. Mediation and Rationalization exercise helps. At least it has kept me out of the emergency room in three years.


Never heard of bio-feedback. Hypnosis therapy worked extremely well at one point. However, I cant find the therapist anymore. She left the state. Others have not been nearly as effective.

Please share how it goes.

Thanks for the responses. Before I started it, I spoke to a friend of mine who is a Dr of Psychiatry at a hospital. He told me that it is proven science, and very legitimate. So I took the shot. It's about 10 sessions, as I mentioned I'm half way through. The last couple of days I am feeling better, and finding myself thinking thoughts like " you can't control everything, and so don't worry about what might happen, because genres a good chance it won't, and if it does, you'll handle it."

Now, full disclosure , I also started a low dose of Zoloft a month ago. So I don't know if it's the Zoloft kicking in, or the biofeedback starting to work (psych told me when we started, that I should start seeing a difference around week 5, and a big difference around week 7) . I'm guessing it's both. Hopefully it will be long lasting.i do intend to stick with it, and I'll keep you posted.

It's not cheap, $250 a session, Medicare doesn't cover it, but if it works if will have been well worth it, no matter how big a disruption to my cash flow it is.

We spend about 15-20 minutes just talking. How was your week, what issues did you run into? Through these conversations she's determined that
1. I'm not CLINICALLY depressed
2. I've got acute chronic anxiety that needs treatment (no sh!t Sherlock)
3. I've got a control problem, always feel I need to be in control (including of things I have n control over)

Then she hooks a belt around my waist and a band that wraps around my thumb, that is hooked up to a machine. This machine measures my muscle tension, heart rate variability and how in synch it is with my breathing rhythm, and my activity in my mind (calm vs mind racing)

With this machine she does a baseline measurement, and then 3 or 4 two minute breathing sessions, where she tries to get me to stay focused on my breathing, and measures the results.

It sounds weird, but I was shocked . Whenever my mind started to wander and I started thinking, while breathing, she could tell, and reminded me to get back In focus. She also was able to see on the monitor, and show me, how, as I was breathing, my muscles started to relax.

The most important part is after I leave, doing the breathing exercise for 20 minutes two times a day every day. I use an app called Breath Pacer, that she had me download onto my phone and iPad. I have it set for 4 second inhale and 6 second exhale. Which she told me is customized to my breathing habits, based on her findings in ten first session. I log my dail exercises, with how I feel at the beginning and end of each session, this gives her feedback on how I am progressing.

She's explained to me that the way it eventually helps me, is the exercises, done repetitively, trains my body and mind to control my heart rate and anxiety level. The heart and brain are like any other muscle in the body and can be trained with exercise, to be controlled.
I think the 20 minutes of conversation is helping me too. She is very good. Biofeedback can't be done by any psychologist, they have to be specially trained, and I beleive certified, at least in NY. I looked it up and it looks like there are 85-90 psychologists certified in biofeedback in all of NY state.

This is the person I am seeing for this...

www.drleahlagos.com

I highly recommend giving this a shot if you have high anxiety about health issues like I do, to the point where it interferes with your quality of life.

Thank you Prato. You did an excellent job summing it up. It sounds solid to me.

Paul