Has anyone tried EMDR therapy?

Has anyone tried EMDR therapy? From what I’ve been able to read and what AI told me, this therapy helps disconnect an emotional event—like a panic attack I had—from the sensation I experience. I developed the most severe sensations in my body—specifically in my ulnar nerves—during a panic attack that happened in a period of high stress and health anxiety. From that point on, my brain “re-labeled” that area, sending these sensations first there and then spreading to other parts of my arm.
The reason it’s been recommended to me is that my brain might still be acting as if that event is ongoing, even though it belongs to the past. I understand it could be beneficial, but I’m not sure whether it would lower the intensity of what I feel or help my brain stop being so hyper-focused on that area, since this is constant from the moment I wake up until I go to bed.

 

Honestly Alouqua, I would stop talking to AI about this stuff (and maybe in general) and I would stop looking towards external things for how to fix your situation.

How much of your day is spent looking for an answer rather than working on detaching from the physical (and focusing on the psychological) and treating yourself better and developing skills to empower yourself to get control of your brain?

 

My situation is honestly very overwhelming. The sensations in my arms are very severe, and because they are nerve-related, I feel like I can’t simply sit down and endure it in that way. My brain has been very intense, and this feels extremely invasive; the sensation doesn’t allow me to relax or function like a normal person. If I walk all day and rely on AI, it’s for survival. I am basically surviving each day through this.
When it comes to the psychological side… the best I can do right now is walk while moving my arms to self-regulate, and rely on something like neuroscience to remind myself that this can change simply by staying calm. I truly believe that without that support, I wouldn’t have been able to keep going, because when what you feel is this real… like being electrocuted, dark thoughts come close every single day. I know this sounds raw, but this is how I feel. I barely get through each day.
I don’t understand when people tell me I should focus on the psychological. The best I can do is keep moving, stay calm, and shift my attention away by reading that improvement is possible little by little, even if it’s not linear, showing my brain that my nerves and my body as a whole are not broken.
I know how this started in my ulnar nerves. While I was having a panic attack, I felt a cold line marking the area of the nerve at the elbow. I know there is a strong link that my brain created. It classified it as a priority, associating it with maximum danger. From there, everything began little by little inside the elbow, generating fear and worry, and over time I reinforced it, which caused it to worsen, spread, and made my overall central sensitization worse as well.
At that time, I didn’t realize I already had central sensitization, since I had tingling in one foot; my nervous system was already perceiving danger everywhere, and that’s why this happened the way it did. The point is that somehow I need to help my brain understand that the event is over and that it needs to lower its guard in that area.
I know you want to help me, but many times I’ve felt that my situation isn’t understood. What I have is something I don’t think anyone has experienced in their life. It feels like a deep, electric pain in the nerves that radiates into my arm. That sensation is not something minor. It feels like I am being electrocuted continuously. My situation is truly exhausting both emotionally and physically, and I am literally surviving every hour of the day, since most days the sensation is strong, and even when it is lower, it still feels very bad.

 

You keep thinking you’re some unique situation that is hopeless and fucked. You have zero faith in yourself to make progress, you are way too obsessed on the physical symptoms you discuss them here way way too much. Just read through your own posts. You’re completely caught in a loop and self sabotaging yourself. What does think psychologically mean- it’s different for everyone but a starter should be stop talking about your symptoms, with AI bots that are just feeding you stuff based on what you’re telling them and stop discussing them here. Do you believe it’s TMS? If so then it’s your brain creating everything, if you believe it’s TMS then it’s all reversible. I’m sorry to be blunt but your situation is not unique you are not some hopeless victim, but you need some major strategy change here, what you’re doing is not working and you’re expecting shit to change overnight. The transfusion didn’t work, what is that telling you? You’re debating doing emdr over an episode related to pain, do you realize you’re missing the forest for the trees. It’s your own obsession and fear and panic that is fueling the symptoms and rather than address that you’re turning towards external treatments. If you’re looking outward then go for a TMS coach or therapist to help provide one on one guidance. But you need to really reflect on the fact that what you’re doing is not working. I’m sorry if my words are harsh, you’re clearly a good person who deserves better than their current lot, but you are so immersed in victimhood and the false belief of your situation being special that you’re hampering any possible progress and ability to find hope.

just to add, there are so many red flags here regarding your belief in the TMS diagnosis, saying it feels real-all pain is real and generated in the brain. Calling it central sensitization instead of TMS which at its core is nervous system dysfunction, again a reversible process. The in-depth description of your symptoms their locations etc.

 

You’re right, this is exactly how I feel—like a really difficult case at this point. I know everyone has experienced pain to some degree and in different ways, but right now, after almost 10 months with this condition and three months actively working on it, I feel like my situation has gotten worse.
It’s constant, it doesn’t give me a break. Almost every day, in the afternoons, it spikes to a 9 out of 10. And when I say I’m surviving each day, I’m not joking.
Do you know what it’s like to have that sensation all the time in your arms, deep inside the nerves? It’s disabling.
It’s not that I doubt my ability to improve, but I know this can take time, and I need to get through it in the best way possible—staying calm despite the symptoms, moving my body, even if my arms feel bad.
When Sarno talked about thinking psychologically and returning to normal activities, he was essentially pointing to what we now understand as retraining the brain. His approach helped because it made you lose fear. Focusing on the psychological side pulled you away from the obsession with finding physical fixes, reducing stress and worry.
And by returning to activities, you were teaching your brain that there was no need to protect that area that had been “hijacked” by the danger signal.
All of this aligns with what is now recommended to retrain a sensitized brain: movement, reducing fear, and lowering stress and worry. That’s why it works. He proposed it without having all the scientific evidence we have today, and even so, people improved.
That’s exactly what I’m doing, despite the severity of what I’m feeling. I don’t think I have to do it perfectly. I also don’t think—or I don’t want to believe—that it’s not working. I think it’s a matter of time, because the brain changes through repetition and consistency.
I don’t know how long it will take to start noticing what you once mentioned—a long-term trend of improvement. But I do know that if this improves at some point, even a little, it will become easier to handle.
If I’ve already endured 10 out of 10 levels and I’m still here, trying to keep going, then when this decreases—even a little—it will be more manageable.
I know it might seem like I complain a lot, but this is genuinely how I feel. Even so, I don’t believe this isn’t working—I want to believe that idea is wrong.

 

I’m not getting in a tit for tat whose symptoms/story are worse or whether I know what it’s like to be in severe pain. You’re just feeding victimhood mentality, which I get the appeal of.

I became TMS aware in feb 2025. I had an acute jaw injury end of February, which I turned chronic due to obsession. I saw no tangible improvement in those symptoms until December 2025 and still hit a huge rock bottom January 2026 that had me the closest to suicide. That was the wake up call that what I was doing was not working. I finally sat down with myself and recognized how much I was obsessing about the physical, constantly adjusting my jaw, scanning my jaw, fearing speaking, fearing the future.

If you think what you’re doing is working or following Sarno’s model, so be it. I can tell you plainly you are making a ton of mistakes and you are hampering your progress. You went from debating a ketamine transfusion, to getting one, to seeing no results to now questioning whether emdr will be the answer.

What TMS programs have you done to strengthen your belief that what you have is TMS? What skills are you trying to learn to get control over your brain (meditation, somatic tracking etc)?

what percent of your thoughts are dedicated to thinking about the pain and solutions to the pain?

 

I’m not constantly monitoring my symptoms or my sensations. That’s why I often focus my attention on my phone while I walk and move my arms. I do this both as a form of self-regulation and as a way to show my brain that my body is completely intact.
Talking to AI keeps me occupied, with my mind engaged in reading. It’s not that I’m necessarily worrying; rather, I try to maintain calm and neutrality. As we talk about the possibility of improvement, I feel that the brain doesn’t really understand the words themselves, but the emotion with which I say them.
That’s literally what I do: maintain calm. At this point, I feel like I need that emotional support. If something gives me a sense of safety, I don’t think it’s wrong to use it.
I’ve read Alan Gordon’s programs and I try to maintain serenity through the sensations. I understand that somatic tracking is something slightly different, but for me it means being able to feel the sensation calmly, allowing it to be there, showing my brain that it’s not dangerous.



[CITA="Rabscuttle, publicación: 171850, miembro: 23886"]No voy a entrar en un ojo por ojo sobre quién tiene peores síntomas/historia o si sé lo que es tener un dolor intenso. Solo estás alimentando la mentalidad de víctima, que entiendo que tiene atractivo.

Me di cuenta de la existencia del síndrome de dolor miofascial (TMS) en febrero de 2025. A finales de ese mes sufrí una lesión aguda en la mandíbula, que se volvió crónica debido a mi obsesión. No noté ninguna mejoría tangible en esos síntomas hasta diciembre de 2025, y en enero de 2026 toqué fondo, llegando al límite de mis posibilidades de suicidio. Fue entonces cuando me di cuenta de que lo que estaba haciendo no funcionaba. Finalmente, me senté a reflexionar y reconocí mi obsesión con lo físico: ajustaba constantemente mi mandíbula, la analizaba, temía hablar, temía el futuro.

Si crees que lo que estás haciendo funciona o que sigues el modelo de Sarno, allá tú. Te digo claramente que estás cometiendo muchísimos errores y que estás obstaculizando tu progreso. Pasaste de debatir sobre una transfusión de ketamina, a recibirla, a no ver resultados y ahora a cuestionarte si la EMDR será la solución.

¿Qué programas de EMT has realizado para reforzar tu convicción de que lo que tienes es EMT? ¿Qué habilidades estás intentando aprender para controlar tu cerebro (meditación, seguimiento somático, etc.)?

¿Qué porcentaje de tus pensamientos dedicas a pensar en el dolor y en las soluciones para aliviarlo?

 

I’m going to reply once more and then step away, if you want to discuss more shoot me a private message.

I think you need way more structure than what you’re doing currently. Which a TMS program can provide. Any program, doesn’t matter which one, doesn’t matter whether you think the emotional stuff is irrelevant, just do one and stick with it. I get the vibe that you’re doubting the TMS diagnosis even if you won’t admit it here. I know we discussed this previously but I think you should really start meditating, and dedicate to doing so everyday even if it’s just 5 minutes.

frankly it sounds like a lot of what you’re engaging with is running away from feeling anything. The having the phone while walking. The talking to AI. I mean, I found safety in endlessly researching my symptoms, going to doctors, berating my self, do those things sound conducive to actual healing?

You need to find some joy in your life, not as it relates to your family, but to you. Are there hobbies you’ve lost, things you’ve wanted to learn, favorite shows or books anything. Honestly anything is better than talking to AI about symptoms for large bulks of time, I don’t think you are grasping how much symptom talk with anyone ( whether here, or AI or internally) is perpetuating your situation. In my case there is definitely an element of repressed emotions, but a lot of my issues stem from a lifetime of treating myself like absolute trash. Do you realize that by obsessing about the symptoms and chasing treatments you’re not treating yourself well? You’re not some damsel in distress. You need to be the hero in your own story.

 

To be honest, I’m not surprised by what you’re telling me. I know many members of this forum are probably tired of my posts. I guess they come from moments of desperation that push me to write.
Maybe I’m just hoping others will remind me that the process is slow, that it’s normal not to see improvement at the beginning because the work is happening beneath the surface, that the path isn’t linear, and that I don’t have to do this perfectly.
I know this didn’t happen overnight. It came after months—even one or two years—of a lot of stress and emotional struggles. Not things anyone would choose to go through, just difficult circumstances. I’ve tried digging into my past and writing about it, but I don’t think that alone will free me from what I’m feeling now. Of course, it may have predisposed me to develop this condition, but I don’t see it as something directly tied to my present.
And honestly, did you discover those repressed emotions and then, magically, all your symptoms disappeared?

 

What the emotional work does, to put it simply, is much like what you do around the symptoms themselves in that it generates safety within the brain. Even Alan Gordon talks about this in The Way Out when he discusses worry, pressure and self-criticism as more broader factors which keep the brain on high alert. If you repress emotions and don't have the self-compassion to be accepting of all of your emotions, then your brain will feel unsafe (much like if you think it's a structural problem, the brain will feel unsafe - it's just a different cause of feeling unsafe). It's all about generating safety.

The thing I've noticed, and I'm not questioning your understanding per se because a lot of it is sound, is that you seem awfully sure about how this all works whilst still being in the process (probably more than anyone I've ever seen who is still healing). I have healed and I'm a coach and I'm still learning. It just seems like you're telling yourself you have it all figured out, so of course if you don't see the progress you're after you're going to be depressed and panic - because then it's a clear sign that this work doesn't work (whereas if you don't have it all figured out - then maybe there's just more to learn and not all hope is lost - vs if you understand it fully and it doesn't work, then there's a problem with the entire theory itself, it falls apart).

I would urge you to keep an open mind, especially with the emotional side. You've essentially summarised Sarno's theory (the godfather of this work - with great conviction I might add) in a way that aligns with your understanding and have left no room for debate. What you said is true, but Dr Sarno also healed people purely from them reflecting on their emotions and allowing themselves to feel what was built up - that doesn't make complete sense based on your interpretation (because you haven't left any wiggle room - Dr Sarno himself I don't think would agree in full with you based on his focus on repressed anger). What you seem to be doing is saying "I don't understand it so it mustn't be relevant/true/helpful" or "that doesn't align with my understanding so I'm going to interpret it in a way that does, even if that's not really what the original person was getting at". Ironically, that's a major reason why people reject the notion of TMS (because it doesn't fit with their current understanding of the world). When I read your posts and they come across as you being crystal clear on how TMS works - I sit here and think well if you are that sure about how it works and the mechanism, then why do you need our help/what is there to discuss further?

You might be completely right in your understanding, but what if you're missing something? Simply getting curious (and opening yourself up to other interpretations - why wouldn't you try everything if you really want to improve? How badly do you want to get better? Is your pride more important?) could save you a lot of future pain