Ptsd

[readyforhelp]

PTSD is an anxiety disorder. Have you been diagnosed with PTSD? What therapies or medications have you been prescribed? And, have you experienced what I call "the break" where your mind sees everything/everyone as similar to the cause/perpetrator of your trauma due to some antecendant event that you may or may not be aware of.

Thoughts, please.

[nandm]

Some good questions presented. I am just scanning threads right now but will come back when I have time to reply

[scott]

Yes, i have PTSD. I have been prescribed xanax for anxiety and EMDR therapy to treat the whole issue which I find extremely effective. I'm glad you started this thread cause I was about to ask a similar question. The EMDR so far is somewhat effective, but the xanax seems to be the key to me. So far, whenever I take even just one (0.5mg) a day it seems to get rid of the flashbacks which I was having in excess of 15 per day. It was life consuming before the xanax but now I am out, and the flashbacks are back. I was prescribed 7 pills at my appointment with my next appointment in 14 days. I took one each day for anxiety but now am out yesterday but have an appointment next friday. I had nightmares again last night and flashbacks already this morning. The problem I come into during this treatment is that I do not want to be addicted to xanax but also, nothing else I have tried can work for anxiety and as soon as I do not take it the symptoms come back. I'm going to ask my doctor if she will write me a script to halfway through my EMDR treatment to see if that helps with the anxiety but for right now I would have to say that the only thing that helps me is a dose of xanax.

Basically my symptoms are that every little thing I see reminds me of my childhood trauma. I won't get into the details of it per board rules but I will say that it was very traumatic. EVERY thing I see, I'm currently living in the house where it happened, sleeping in the room where it happened and feel comfortable here except for when I'm having a flashback. The trauma happened on holidays like easter, thanksgiving, christmas etc. when family would come over to visit and now I hate holidays. With easter coming up my flashbacks are increasing and I am dreading the day when easter is here and then thanksgiving is right around the corner. AHHHHHH!!!! I hate being trapped in this never ending circle and hope the EMDR frees me.

I hope this helps.

[Jrock75]

What is EMDR therapy?

[scott]

Eye movement desensitization reprocessing.

[historyteach]

I've heard very good things about EMDR, Scott.
Have you started the therapy yet, or are you going to?
Please let us know.

Shalom!

[readyforhelp]

Scott,

Thank you so much for responding to this thread. My objective is to hear from others who have been diagnosed and their perspective. Of course, any input is appreciated and relevant.

I was diagnosed in 1999, have found EMDR very helpful along with CBT and keeping track of my nightmares. In fact, I have recently noticed that even though my nightmares are still there, my interpretation of them is changing. I still sleep with a light on because the night terrors come outta nowhere sometimes and it's too disturbing. For some reason, the light helps.

I'm glad you are here........

[Morning Glory]

Circumstances triggered my flashbacks, but mine were different. I got them all up and out at once over a period of 5 years and never dealt with them again after each incident came up. This happened with me after I recovered from panic and anxiety attacks.

My daughter had severe flashbacks like you have Scott and she is fine now. She still has some flashbacks, but she copes well now and they don't interfere with her life.

There is a lot of hope so just keep taking it one day at a time.

[scott]

Yeah Teach I started my therapy last Friday. I got my "happy place" established and then we stopped to do my add/adhd testing. I have my full hour session that is actually the beginning of it all beginning of April.

I will update others of my progress and medications in this thread if it's ok with the OP or I can start another.

Just an update for others if they've been following. I have been taking Xanax but it does wear off towards evening if I take it in the afternoon. I'm going to have a medication adjustment this Friday. I may be starting stimulant therapy for my add then which my therapist believes will help with my chronic anxiety. I am out of xanax right now and am finally off of Suboxone. Took my last dose two days ago!!!! WOOT! Had a bit of withdrawal but not bad at all. Abilify seems to have lessened the frequency of the flashbacks but the nightmares are vivid as ever. It's like you're awake but hallucinating in your sleep. It's hard to describe those dreams. I spend the majority of the day yawning but can't take a nap or anything. I'm much more hopeful now though than I was the last two months as I'm sure HistoryTeach can vouc for. I owe it to my new stack of meds.

And it's really good to know that the EMDR works and that these flashbacks and nightmares end eventually. If I had to deal with them for the rest of my life I think I would go crazy.

[readyforhelp]

Originally Posted by scott

I will update others of my progress and medications in this thread if it's ok with the OP or I can start another.

Please feel free to post here, that goes for every one of us.

[jamdls]

I was diagnosed with PTSD in '94, up until that point and until 8-1-07 my preferred medication was alcohol and of of course that didn't work out so well. During periods of extreme difficulty I've been on Clozapine, Risperdal, and Zyprexa-not at the same time. Zprexa worked the best for me, although it as well as the others caused me to gain weight it sure makes life better.

[nandm]

Originally Posted by readyforhelp

Have you been diagnosed with PTSD?

Yes, approximately 3 years ago

What therapies or medications have you been prescribed?

As I am currently being treated for bipolar disease the medications I take for that are also considered medications to treat the PTSD. Although the Klonopin (as needed or prn) is primarily for the anxiety related to the PTSD. My current psych meds are Cymbalta, Lamictal, and Lithium.

As far as non-medicine treatment. I have tried EMD, bio-feedback, counseling, therapy that focuses on staying in the present and awareness of my surroundings (dont know the name of it), therapy based on forming a safe place in my mind for times of anxiety (don't know the name of this either), and several other types of therapy that I can not remember. None of these was very effective for me.

And, have you experienced what I call "the break" where your mind sees everything/everyone as similar to the cause/perpetrator of your trauma due to some antecendant event that you may or may not be aware of.

Yes, I have experienced flashbacks, nightmares, etc... The PTSD diagnosis stems from more than one incident in my life. Sexual abuse as a child/teenager, sexual assault as an adult, a major accident that nearly killed me, the firing from two jobs (due to my issues with men in power related to the childhood abuse), and my work as a paramedic. I tend to have the most nightmares about my work as a paramedic and the sexual abuse. I have had some vivid flashbacks while hiking related to the paramedic job where I felt like I was relieving an incident and it was difficult to stay in the present. I have had flashbacks related to the accident while driving. I have also had flashbacks in stores when I see men that remind me of my father. That has also happened when shows come on television that deal with the topic of sexual abuse of children. I still experience night terrors although fortunately, they are not frequent.

Sorry it took me so long to respond to your post.

[scott]

nandm I feel for ya. Coming from a fellow sexual and physical abuse victim. Has your flashbacks and/or nightmares decreased in intensity or frequency since taking a benzo or other meds or treatments.

Xanax is the only benzo I've ever been Rx'd. It works pretty well taken twice daily. It gets rid of the flashbacks and mostly gets rid of the nightmares. I'm scared to take it daily as I don't need another addiction so I'm curious if you are aware of other meds or a form of benzo that is least addictive. I've considered Xanax XR which is fairly new. Any help is appreciated.

[jaggede]

im this will **** everyone off but i say suck it up....sorry

[Morning Glory]

im this will **** everyone off but i say suck it up....sorry

With all the things I've gone through here today I would consider that a "fluffy" remark. Not much there to **** me off.

[readyforhelp]

Please share your experience with an episode that may have occured where everyone looked like your perpetrator (for lack of a better word). I don't like that word because I don't like thinking of myself as a victim, former or not.

For example, about 5 years ago I was working in a hotel and I could swear I had seen my x walking across the lobby to check in. Next thing you know, everyone looked like him. I remember looking across the dining room (I was a food server) and every single person appeared like him. I remember it so vividly. I had to go home because I was practically hysterical and convinced that he was there to kill me. It took a couple days and some work with my psychologist, but it finally went away.

After it all settled and I figured out what had happened in my brain, I was in awe by the whole event, still am. And, I wonder about others and their experience with this..........

[readyforhelp]

Oh yeah,
Morning Glory, you're the best. I love a good laugh early in the morning. Thank you.

[ananda]

I was diagonised with this in 1987. Things were real rough for a few years....now i seem to be having big problems again, and am off to counceling again. Right now my biggist problem is that I get in rages and that I often react to situations based on assumptions from my past history.

This thread should be helpful to me as i search for a decent therapist..I've discovered a bad one can really mess you up and make things worse so i am being causious.

[Jrock75]

Originally Posted by ananda

I was diagonised with this in 1987. Things were real rough for a few years....now i seem to be having big problems again, and am off to counceling again. Right now my biggist problem is that I get in rages and that I often react to situations based on assumptions from my past history.

This thread should be helpful to me as i search for a decent therapist..I've discovered a bad one can really mess you up and make things worse so i am being causious.

I've never been dianosed with PTSD. But controlling rage has been a problem for me as well. I've gotten a little better at controlling my emotions after losing a few jobs and more then a few friends.

[scott]

readyforhelp

Most of the reason I have PTSD happened around holiday times like thanksgiving/christmas/easter. Around those times especially when I've been out shopping I start seeing him and/or his family and believe that people in his and his family's age group start becoming HIS family. That in turn sends me into a panic attack and I have to get outside so that I can breathe. So yes, this has happened before to me but not since last Christmas probably the week before when I was out shopping at Dillard's.

[pinkgurl87]

I have PTSD as well. I tried going a trauma program as IP but I lsted three weeks and ended up relapsing with drugs and my eating disorder and got kicked out of the program, I guess I wasn't ready to deal with it.

[GailJ]

Hi I've been around here quite a while and don't post in other threads often but I'm glad to see PTSD being discussed again.:ghug2 I have had chronic PTSD going on 15yrs now. I have full recall and that was in the form of flashbacks "severely" cycling in the beginning about 18months and then slowly on through about the same as Nadam about 5 years before gaining full recall. I went through that blind with no help and no meds, and no internet to research. Our small hic town library was not the greatest help either. Bits and peices of memories, of emotions, of body senses, it's like a jigsaw puzzle and will come together.
Since then I have had four major trigger relapses over the years. Going through a small relapse now at the moment. Tragic and traumatic events are a sure trigger.

Having full recall helps me understand where the anxiety, panick and physical symtoms are coming from. Each relapse gets shorter in time as I think accepting myself as a survivor and not a victim helps. Knowing PTSD is as real an illness as cancer and not just some garbage blanket term helps too.

The medical profession has jumped leaps and bounds over the last seven years in dealing with, diagnosing, and in medications. I am on effexors and seroquels which usually work very well for me. I was on others that didn't work at all and made things worse but staying up to date with doctors and mental health professionals corrected the problem.

Too me the flashbacks were letting out the victim who had been locked in silence inside for years. Letting that victim be angry, yell, scream, just be heard "ON PAPER for me". Call it your inner child or your first major trigger. My family, friends and work couldn't understand. They often judge, feeling compelled to parent or guide, ridicule, critisize, or ignore what they have no understanding of. All you really need is to be heard and your memories all to surface and come together. It's something only you, other survivors and the mental health professionals can understand. It takes time and patience with yourself. There are no quick fixes for PTSD. Be patient enough to let that subconscious person out and give him/her all the love, strength, courage, and justice you can. Not to throw them away but to carry them with you in your heart protected and secure. Let them out Surviving as one together.

OK I'm getting a little too philosophical there...sorry works for me...

It does slow down and come together in time, Your conscious mind is feeling strong enough to let those deeply buried subconscious thoughts and emotions out. Your ready to be a survivor. Not everything works for everybody as you will find out quickly here, we are all uniquely different, some use meds, some use herbals, many different types of therapies are available now. Meditation, yoga, religion,

For me the quest for knowledge, to understand and know as much as I can to battle my illness and have the tools at hand necessary when those PTSD triggers hit. I accept that I need meds long term, that was tough for me and took a long time to accept.This forum and knowing other survivers is one of my biggest tools I do meditate and when strong enough keep busy.........
Hope this made sense to you Good luck to all. :ghug

[NeedingHelp7]

Have you been diagnosed with PTSD? What therapies or medications have you been prescribed? And, have you experienced what I call "the break" where your mind sees everything/everyone as similar to the cause/perpetrator of your trauma due to some antecendant event that you may or may not be aware of.

I had been diagnosed with PTSD years ago. I took antidepressants and therapy. I was sexually abused as a child and raped as a teenager. I felt I was healed of it until AH cheated on me with a prostitute. I felt more sad for the prostitute, and angry at him that he would use a womans body that way. Whether a woman or a child, it hurts to be used for sex, it's traumatizing.
It made me think AH only used me for sex. I thought he loved me. This is where the PTSD kicked in again.

I came to view my AH as just another sexual pervert.