u/ReferenceLow9932

hey everyone. ive been struggling with severe anxiety and a specific phobia for almost 13 years; ive tried cbt, emdr, and talk therapies along with many medications to help me recover, but nothing has been completely effective. i still feel like my anxiety has taken over my life, and im so tired from being anxious all the time. now that i have been dealing with this for so long, im starting to experience intrusive thoughts and somatic flashbacks. i havent been diagnosed with it yet, but i feel that my anxiety and phobia are culminating into cPTSD and making my attempts at recovering counteractive. i feel like i have tried everything in my power to recover and im becoming hopeless.

so, i was wondering if anyone here has gone through TMS specifically for their anxiety/cPTSD with less of a focus on depression? i would love to hear your experiences and any other suggestions you guys have that has been effective for your anxiety/cPTSD. thank you :)

hey everyone, i have had emetophobia since i was nine. i had some bad years and then good years where i thought i was fully recovered and now for the past (almost) two years i’ve consistently had the worst anxiety of my life.

i have tried cbt, emdr, and talk therapies as well as medications (buspirone briefly, now on max dose of sertraline, mirtazapine to help me sleep and eat, and as needed propranolol zofran and hydroxyzine) to help me recover, but unfortunately nothing is working completely effectively. part of the issue is that i have been getting anxious to the point that i wake up in the middle of the night and vomit even on medications (does this count as exposure therapy?? lol) i feel so exhausted from being anxious all the time and like my anxiety has taken over my life. sorry to trauma dump lol and i dont want to discourage others at all but my vomiting these past couple of years has only made it worse. i see so many people post about how they finally vomited and realized it wasn’t as bad as they thought, and im so happy for those of you who experienced this!! i just have a different experience.

so, the point of this post is to ask if anyone here has tried TMS therapy for emetophobia, and if you have, what are your experiences like? also, if you have any other advice for me, feel free to let me know :)

EDIT: thank you for the replies about ERP. i understand that it is the treatment option that is considered the most ettective, but unfortunately it doesnt work for everyone. it is hard for me to have effective exposure therapy when my baseline anxiety is already causing me to vomit often and enforcing my anxiety. because my emetophobia is bordering on ptsd with many traumatic experiences and flashbacks rather than just a fear, exposure hasn't worked for me and only made me more anxious. i am so happy for those of you who it did work for! :)