Anyone with PTSD

[Brandon Woolsey]

I have PTSD, and have been having alot of trouble with it lately. Any 10th warriors if ya can throw me sum advice on how ya deal please do. Not sure why but its becoming overwhelming. I dont know if its related to the issues Im havin with my bloodpressure or what. Dont reply with go to the Dr either because ive been doing that for 3 fukin years and they dont help. Anytime I have to go to the VA my symptoms increase dramatically bc Im just a number with them. They jus wanna give meds and move on. FFFFUUUUUUUKKKKKKKK

[Joachim Hoff]

Post traumatic stress syndrome?
I'm convinced I have it, but I've never gotten a diagnosis. Meditation helps me, sleeping pills, philosophy might change the way I view the world, and that might help me relax.. A nice girlfriend helps, but a crazy one makes it worse.
I'm just a person, I'm not a doc, and I might not even have PTSD, (but I'm pretty damn convinced) I can't afford time or money to get a diagnosis, I don't bother. I'll go see a shrink when I have a better job.

How does it manifest itself? Anxiety? Screwed up sleeping pattern? Lack of concentration?

There's probably a psychiatrist or someone capable on here that will post soon!
-Oh, I hope you get well soon! It's probably worse in some periods.. then it gets better.

[Brandon Woolsey]

Anxiety for sure, anything lately has been a trigger. Heart starts racing and the panic starts from there. Just for instance something that has never bothered me before, yesterday morning my son spayed fabreeze and as soon as I smelled it I started feeling like I couldnt breathe and then it was on. This morning outta nowhere heart started racing and been dealin with it since 6am and im finally comin down from it now. Just dont know what to do. It has been consuming me for the last few weeks.

[will keppler]

Hey Brandon. I just got back from my second tour to iraq. Total ive been over seas for 22 months. Ive experienced and seen some crazy shit and idk if its ptsd but its always intense and vivid dreams that get me. Wake up in a panic sometimes still think im in iraq. Look for my weapon and dont feel safe without it. What helps me is just to stay busy. I go to the gym practice jiu jitsu work on my truck and just keep reminding myself im not there anymore and im not going back cause i get out in a few months. Im not a doctor or anything either but sometimes it kust helps to talk and know your not the only one. Head up bro! I hope you stay safe. Message me any time. I come on here almost any day.

[Brandon Woolsey]

Thank you Will, it totally does help to just talk and know im not alone. You are so right in tryin to stay busy. It took me a long time to stop lookin for my weapon when I would wake up from the nightmares. Marijuana keeps me from having the nightmares but not being in a medical state I dont have the access to the proper strains. I appreciate your service brother.

[aeg383]

how are your sleep cycles? Are you getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep each night? By quality sleep, I mean not waking up at 2am with your mind racing about random bullshit. My psychiatrist recommended this and it's been a god-send. It has something to do with how your brain reproduces neurotransmitters during certain points along the sleep cycle.

2 weeks of good, quality sleep is what is normally takes me to start feeling better. Without good sleep, the anxiety takes a vicious hold. I can't walk into crowds or large buildings without feeling like the world is closing in around me.

disclosure: aside from therapy, I also take a low dose SSRI (celexa) and a folic acid supplement (Deplin) to help regulate my serotonin levels. 2 years ago, I was just like you; living with the effects of PTSD and fearful of taking prescription meds. I finally found a great psychiatrist who isn't your typical white coat quack. It's made a huge difference in my life. My best advice is to find a capable psychiatrist who does full 1 hour therapy sessions...not 15 minute medicine management sessions.

I wish you the best.

[Jason Hyatt]

There aren't many who practice it, but if you can find a therapist, psychologist, or neurologist who utilizes neurofeedback you might want to consider that. Neurofeedback is broad term for a class of therapy using either a visual or auditory stimulus that the patient can control via EEG. The EEG shows what state the brain is in and the different brain waves are used to control the stimulus. The stimulus might be a tone that changes as the brain waves change or a picture on a screen that the patient controls. The "feedback" part is that the program reads the brain waves and as the patient spends more time in the right state -- particularly alpha-wave -- they get better and better at controlling the stimulus. It's like guided meditation that uses an EEG and a simple interface that tells you how you're doing.

One program that I've seen used in kids with traumatic brain injury uses an airplane flying across the screen. I don't recall exactly how it worked, but it was something like when the child was in alpha-wave the plane went up and when they were in beta-wave it went down. The goal was to keep them in alpha as long as possible, so when the plane was "up" it flew through a series of rings or gates or something. When it went down, it missed the gates. So the kids learned to control their mental state by controlling the plane.

How that relates to PTSD, is that the alpha-wave state is the state associated with deep meditation. When you feel an anxiety attack coming on, you have been trained through the use of neurofeedback to get yourself back to that calm state and suppress the attack. Meditation alone is great, but it takes a lot of practice and unless you have a guide you don't really know how you're doing. Neurofeedback just uses an interface to tell you how good you are meditation.

He's an academic article relating to neurofeedback treatment in Vietnam vets with PTSD:

http://www.neurodynamic.info/uploads/Peniston_2_1_.pdf

[Dustin C.]

neurofeedback you might want to consider that.

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^^This

[Chris Herzog]

Brandon, I was not suggesting Yoga as a option, its mandatory brotha!

Healthy body, Healthy mind, Healthy soul!

[tremper]

Psilocybe cubensis