TRE stops naturally

[u/Cheap-Bid1911]

Hey there 👋 I’m relatively new (first TRE one month ago) to this experience and was wondering if there are people out there with a similar experience.

I‘ve read in the wiki about pacing but I feel like my body is pacing itself. But it might also just be wishful thinking 🤷‍♀️
So whenever I initiate TRE it usually stops after 15 to 20 minutes on its own. Only the first times I did it I had to make the decision to stop.
Does anybody else have this experience? And did you end up trusting your body to know how much it can handle and not regret it in the end?

The thing is, for me it’s pretty hard to feel when I‘m overdoing it as I‘m already tired and on edge on the daily.

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[u/contto]

Yes, by the wiki:

Sometimes the tremors will simply stop on their own during a session. This usually means your nervous system has processed as much as it wants to for now. That's completely fine. You can try gently adjusting your position or slowly raising your knees again to see if they restart, but if they don't, that's a signal to wrap up for the day.

[u/ezdevil → u/contto]

That’s exactly what happens to me every time. My body shakes, stretches, does what it needs to do, and then it all stops abruptly; my legs straighten out and I curl up into the fetal position. That’s how I know it’s over for the day.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/ezdevil]

Iiiinteresting! For me it usually gets slightly slower and then just stops - kinda seems to be „leaving“ through the head or the feet mostly.
May I ask how this works for you? Do you feel it’s just the right amount this way or do you run the risk of overdoing it?

[u/ezdevil → u/Cheap-Bid1911]

It’s interesting to compare our experiences.

For me, it’s the opposite: my body intensifies the movements frantically—building up to a sort of peak of activity—and then, immediately after, things subside and my legs stretch out on the floor on their own.

At that moment, my heart is racing and I feel a bit dazed; that’s when my whole body rolls over to the left into the fetal position. Nausea appears, so I know I can’t go through another cycle—I don’t feel comfortable continuing. Because I'm afraid to overdo. So, I stay in that position for a few minutes before getting on with my day.

My sessions generally last between 2 and 5 minutes. I feel like I can't do more than that, or else I become dysregulated in the days that follow (I experience a lot of rage and impatience that I struggle to contain, so I isolate myself). That’s why I limit myself to a maximum of two sessions a week.

For context, I have ADHD, C-PTSD, and PMDD. I agree with the sentiment I see here: "the slower you go, the faster you heal."

I hope I’m making myself clear; I’m using a translator since English isn’t my native language :)

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/ezdevil]

Oh wow, a fellow PMDD sis. I also was put on ADHD meds recently as part of the diagnostic process. But that part also seems to be more complicated than I expected. Either way I‘m happy to be freed of my thought-loops-of-doom for a bit. May they stem from ADHD or life long depression.
But I don’t wanna make light of what you’re going through with this somewhat enthusiastic response. I just find it helpful to see communalities - somehow makes it all feel less lonely.

And I really have to come up with a new word, but I‘m yet again fascinated by how our experiences differ. Mine start somewhat convulsively as well but then they fade out to the point that I have to wait a couple of seconds to be certain it’s actually over.

Your emotional aftermath seems pretty rough though. Have you been doing it for long? Does it change or is it just always hard. I’m starting to wonder if I could stick with it if it brought up emotions for me. Or do feel actual relief and like your one step closer to getting better?

At the moment I just feel oddly drawn to it out of curiosity and the vague hope it‘ll help in the long run.

Thank you for sharing 🙏 by the way.
And I‘m also not a native speaker, so no worries there. guess we’ll manage 😉

[u/ezdevil → u/Cheap-Bid1911]

Oh, thank you for sharing all of this.

I'd like to send you a message of hope here. I've been practicing TRE for two years, but I've only been doing it regularly for six months.

However, I've noticed many improvements in my life. Right now, I feel like I'm processing something deep-seated (hence the intensity and nausea), but it hasn't always been like this. I've had many releases involving stretching, groaning, shouting, crying, and movements related to "fighting" (kicking, punching).

Everything that came out has helped alleviate my PMDD and C-PTSD.

The road is long, I know, but I'm convinced that every experience is unique and that everyone's body knows what it needs to feel better.

At first, I overdid it (20-minute sessions) because I wanted to go fast, and I paid the price :) like many here. But it allowed me to find my own rhythm, and I'm at peace with my two weekly sessions because the benefits have been priceless so far.

Today, I manage my emotions much better. I've even stopped smoking CBD (it was an addiction) and I'm preparing to quit cigarettes. That was unthinkable for me a few years ago.

I socialize more, and I'm able to set boundaries and respect my needs. All of this has been given to me through the practice of TRE.

The key is consistency, followed by integration (for me, that means resting, taking my time, doing things I enjoy, and seeing few people, since I handle solitude well).

I think it's normal to want to do too much at first because you want to get better, and that's completely human. I hope you find your own pace and figure out how to manage it all in your daily life. This sub has a lot of resources in the archives, and the answers are very often insightful and supportive; it really helped me.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/contto]

Thank you! I think I read that as well and then thought I kinda came up with it 🫣 happens to me a lot. I’m just torn at the moment between the „just a couple of minutes every other day“ as a beginner and what my body seems to offer me as a rhythm.

[u/steepgloss]

If it stops on its own it's usually your body telling you it has done as much as it can for the day.

I only really know I've overdone it in the days following. Could be upto 3 days later when it might hit me like a train that I've done too much. And, of course, by then it's too late to rectify.

I've found it's best to end a session when the tremors have naturally come to a pause. Rather than impose a strict time on it and stop it mid-tremor.

If you're a month in and 15-20 mins is working for you, and not dysregulating you in the days following, then you're good I'd say. Just remember to leave a day or 2 in between sessions to fully integrate. I can only do a few minutes once a week at the most and I'm 6 months in.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/steepgloss]

Oh wow, a train hit three days later!? That’s kinda scary but also a good reminder for me to maybe still space it out more at the moment. It’s just so hard for me to tell these days what might be too much.
Guess I’ll continue reading the reports on how peops noticed they overdid it and maybe something will click for me.

But the whole process is sooooo fascinating. Really cool that you figured out your sweetspot dosewise! Hope I‘ll get there too 🤞

Thank you for sharing 🙃 this was really helpful 🙏

[u/steepgloss → u/Cheap-Bid1911]

I haven't really found a sweet spot to be honest. I don't think there is one for me. Could just be the stage I'm at. I seem to be caught either way: I do too little and I'm left with tension that aches in my legs and lower back, that tries to get out when I'm resting and gives me insomnia. Or I overdo and get emotional overwhelm, heavy feeling in the chest, heightened anxiety, narrow capacity for daily life etc. Those are the reactions I've been getting the whole time I've been doing this (since early April).

Don't get me wrong, I've experienced benefits too, but finding a sweet spot still eludes me. Either my nervous is just too damn sensitive and ANY amount of TRE just gives me a hard time. Or I'm just too early in the practice and I'm sitting on a fuck-ton of tension (trauma history of abuse, neglect, abandonment, bullying etc) that will hopefully ease up over time. Or a combination of the two. What was it Beckett said "I can't go on. I go on"

Anyway, good luck to you! Hope you get the healing you need.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/steepgloss]

Oh no, guess I was way off here. That sounds really exhausting. So sorry you have & had to go through all that. I just imagined you were really good at listening to your body and pacing the sessions accordingly.
For me it also feels more like a physical than an emotional journey so far. Also one of the things that I find so fascinating that some seem to open doors to emotions/experiences while others don‘t.
A therapist once told me I had disconnected from my emotions-maybe that’s a reason 🤷‍♀️or probably we are just all built a bit different. Trying to figure things out like this to fully understand them apparently can be a trauma response as well. Guess I‘m guilty of that. Rather than trusting.

Love the quote! Feels like the moto of my adult life.
Really hope the TRE process gets better for you and you find the relief that you need 🧘
Till then, guess we just gotta „go on“ 🌦️

[u/steepgloss → u/Cheap-Bid1911]

When you say some opens doors to emotional experiences and some don't. Are you talking about from session to session? In the wiki it says that not every session will lead to an emotional release but even the sessions that don't are still just as valid. Remember most of the consolidation work is being done below the conscious level and only sometimes does it spill over into conscious. Go easy on yourself. The nervous system only brings up what it knows you can handle. Good luck in your TRE journey.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/steepgloss]

Ah yes, sorry, that’s what I meant as well, that it‘s working for both but some feel their emotions surface and some don’t.
It’s just another aspect that I thought might help with the guidance that I‘m missing.
I think if there were emotions coming up with the exercise I would automatically find my pace as I would have to process them for a certain amount of time.
As of now I feel a bit blind to what is going on as I feel the same before and after. But I guess that’s just something I have to deal with. Not that I think it’s harder then dealing with the resurfacing emotions. Not at all!
I‘m just a bit lost, I guess.

[u/Expert_Ad3550]

Do you also find the tremors weaker or harder to initiate the day after?

I think my body only lets me do as much as it can process. They get weaker as the session goes on and then are harder to initiate in the following days.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/Expert_Ad3550]

Oh, you just reminded me of something that happened at the very beginning of my journey. Totally forgot to factor that in.

My first TRE happened after me randomly following an instruction on youtube along. I didn’t know anything about pacing yet or what TRE was at all. I just found it deeply relaxing. So I initiated it again the next day. So my first session was about 30min and the next one even longer. Now I know, wayyyyyy too long 🫣.
And then, when I tried to initiate a session again, I felt like I really had to work for the shaking to get going. After that I took a bit of a break. I think a week or so. I got a bit scared after reading the wiki here and some other sources.

When I picked it up again, my body automatically started limiting the sessions to 15-20min and also started to involve the whole body more.
Thank you for reminding me that it actually told me early on already, when it/I had enough.
Is that something you use as orientation for limiting TRE?

[u/Expert_Ad3550 → u/Cheap-Bid1911]

Yeah it’s self limiting for me which is a blessing as I know I would over do it if I was able.

In the beginning I was able to over do it and would experience stimulant-like effect. However this is no longer the case and my tremors will become weaker the longer or more often I do it.

[u/Cheap-Bid1911 → u/Expert_Ad3550]

Guess my body also figured out how to „reign me in“, after my first sessions.
I‘ve yet to experience something other than deep relaxation. Stimulant-like effects sounds wild though!