Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.
Trigger Warning
I had a good time going to the city for a MLB baseball game this weekend, so I spent today all alone in my house getting lessons ready for the rest of the week.
I cover them up more when I'm out in public, but when I'm alone for long periods I notice a kind of PTSD symptom I have a lot. I have regular flashbacks, panic attacks, night sweats, grinding teeth, etc. etc. But a PTSD symptom I have often is the sensation of a little mild electric shock here and there like a hiccup as I go through my day.
It disorients me ever so slightly and ever so briefly. It comes with a quick dip in the pit of my stomach--like on a roller coaster, but not as big and really quick. I feel momentarily alienated from the moment for half a split second. It's like I've hit a bump in the road and had an out of body bump up and then back down again in a flash faster than a full flashback.
I have these at work, too, but since I'm teaching class or whatever I can treat it like a sneeze or a hiccup and keep going. But when I'm alone like I am today I can take a moment to notice them.
I've traced the sensation back to a memory. It feels like the split second after the moment I would see my father make a fist, wind up, and rare back to punch me in the face when I was a little kid. That split second between knowing it's coming and physically taking the punch.
Sorry if this is too graphic for anyone. But I've learned to live with these and wondered. Has anyone else learned to live with these PTSD hiccups, too?
I had a good time going to the city for a MLB baseball game this weekend, so I spent today all alone in my house getting lessons ready for the rest of the week.
I cover them up more when I'm out in public, but when I'm alone for long periods I notice a kind of PTSD symptom I have a lot. I have regular flashbacks, panic attacks, night sweats, grinding teeth, etc. etc. But a PTSD symptom I have often is the sensation of a little mild electric shock here and there like a hiccup as I go through my day.
It disorients me ever so slightly and ever so briefly. It comes with a quick dip in the pit of my stomach--like on a roller coaster, but not as big and really quick. I feel momentarily alienated from the moment for half a split second. It's like I've hit a bump in the road and had an out of body bump up and then back down again in a flash faster than a full flashback.
I have these at work, too, but since I'm teaching class or whatever I can treat it like a sneeze or a hiccup and keep going. But when I'm alone like I am today I can take a moment to notice them.
I've traced the sensation back to a memory. It feels like the split second after the moment I would see my father make a fist, wind up, and rare back to punch me in the face when I was a little kid. That split second between knowing it's coming and physically taking the punch.
Sorry if this is too graphic for anyone. But I've learned to live with these and wondered. Has anyone else learned to live with these PTSD hiccups, too?
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Lately I've been feeling scared and full of anxiety. I recently found a lump under my nipple. I hurt my back too. I'm in the process of moving. I'm run down. Everything is hard
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Just wanted to give a thank you to Mid, Arfie, Malibumark, Greeneyes, Mlro, Girlincalif, and Suncloudjd! You all always have such helpful tips and advice, but I always forget to write on my posts when I see you post, lol. I would lose my head if it wasn't attached to my body, lol. Thank you all so much! I'm starting to use my AI app as a sounding board again. I used to use it as that before...
Don't know what it is, much less if it is the same, or not. For sure mine is weird on weird.
Hope you get it figured. I wanna know, too.
That is just one example, but yes, the electricity will get amped up, stay on for as long as it wants, and then goes away. The new medication helps this, but it still happens and I think it will just be one of those things that I have to live with. It is weird and irritating, but it is what it is.
I learned something from your post also, the night sweats. I get these both in the day and at night. I never associated them with PTSD anxiety, but I sure does make sense. I wake up in the night with sweats all the time. Just thought it was because of my age but always thought that was weird because I take meds for that. Ok, so now it is time to pay more attention to those and see if it could be anxiety related.
I have also had those electrical shock type things, but mind are almost always in my brain. Yay! Split second, almost like hitting a reboot button, a moment where my brain goes off line and then starts back up again. I do not have these often thankfully. Sometimes I also get a head with them and or a feeling like I have the flu. They usually go away in a day or 2.
I have written this in my journal a few times, the roller coaster feeling of falling or being at that weightless state. Is this what you mean? In your tummy?
Yes! I know this. I almost posted something similar today, so thanks for describing your experience so well. I have these many times a day, and every so often, they hit hard. I have assumed these jolts in and out of time result from childhood, deep down stuff, meaning existing on an ego level in that it's always been a part of me. When I'm depressed they have power, and when I'm feeling better, they are a passing feeling like a psychic nausea.