u/AnnoyingAlchemist

Hi there, so I'm pretty new to the neurofeedback journey and have a pretty sensitive nervous system. I first did four amplitude protocols to reduce high beta at C3. Overall the protocols were nicely calming and put my body into a non-anxious, parasympathetic state pretty quickly - side effects were tiredness and feelings of 'not caring' / feeling a bit slow. When I mentioned this to my provider she "graduated" me to a z-score protocol. This gave me some executive function back and made me sharper, but seemed to affect my appetite and sex drive negatively. It would also put me into a kind of hopeless/apathetic state in the early afternoons. After two sessions of this I was moved to a central/temporal z-score protocol which only made my symptoms worse. I would have waves of emotional dysregulation, panic, feeling 'trapped' etc. Even a short 4-minute protocol would invoke these feelings. I self-advocated and told her I didn't want to keep putting myself through this - despite some anxiety I was pretty functional before neurofeedback and this level of severe dysregulation just was not worth it.

I took a week off and my provider put me back on the amplitude protocol. I did one ten minute session which was nicely calming but also seemed to affect my executive function a bit. In the days after the session I'm still having waves of anxiety/feelings of hopelessness and feeling 'trapped' which can persist for hours. Things generally get better in the evening but mid-day tends to be a wash. I was never like this before neurofeedback and feel like something in my brain has gotten screwed up.

Should I back off the neurofeedback and just chill for a bit?

Hi there, I've begun doing neurofeedback recently and have some questions/concerns. I started doing neurofeedback for anxiety/ADHD a little under a month ago. I started with a basic amplitude protocol to reduce high beta and that protocol was very good to me. My cognitive ability and executive function did take a hit, but on the flipside I was able to experience a profound sense of calm and presence like I've never felt. My appetite and libido also went up significantly.

When I reported my spaciness and loss in executive function to my clinician I was 'graduated' to 4-channel z-score training. I felt generally sharper on this protocol, but also more anxious. I also felt periods of flatness/grayness/emptiness as well as periods of irritability and feeling 'trapped'. The latter I could usually silence through tea/theanine and weight lifting.

After I reported my symptoms I was then moved to a targeted central/temporal protocol (also z-score) which felt good the day of the session (calmer, more balanced, appetite/libido back, etc). However, in the days after the session I felt waves of dysregulation that I'd never experienced before. They would hit between waking up and until around 3-4pm. They made me feel completely hopeless, anxious, scared and 'trapped'.

Are these normal reactions, or is something off here?