Does Anyone Else Suffer From Tbi And Ptsd Need Med Advice

[Doc B1]

Hello everyone,
I am diagnosed with both a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. The meds I'm on for both seem to aggravate the other condition has anyone had any experience with this

 

[tnkg1rl]

Doc

My husband has PTSD and tbi, it seems one medication needs another for side effects and so on. Between his trials and with medication and my trials with medication and seeing a lot of medications I've had to give the clients working in mental health I seen everything is really just trial and error. Not everything works the same for every person so it's really just got to be what works for you

 

[Jimmy1]

Hello everyone,
I am diagnosed with both a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. The meds I'm on for both seem to aggravate the other condition has anyone had any experience with this

Mate, there are hundreds of meds out there and it took me a while to find the right combination. In the end they are just a bandaid fix for the PTSD. Therapy is the only real way to deal with it. Meds just take the edge of the anxiety and the anger.

Find yourself a good MD and a good Psych and talk to them about it.

You could always post your list of meds on here and get some suggestions.

 

[Psd43]

Doc.

I been on several meds for my ptsd and tbi and nothing works for me.

 

[Jimmy1]

PSD43??? How can you offer advice on our forum with no intro??? Be polite, go to the intro section and introduce yourself.

Now as I stated before, there is no medication in the whole world that will fix PTSD, medication on helps take the edge off the anger, the depression, the anxiety. The only true thing that will help with your PTSD in therapy. Therapy will you help deal with the nightmares and give you the necessary tools to help you function in society.

Now for TBI. There are no meds that can help with TBI, why, because its an 'Injury', just like skate borders get, boxers, football players, people in car accidents, etc. Depending on the severity of your TBI will determine the host of other physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral effects you will suffer, it is these effects you have to try and help with medication and also therapy.

 

[bemental]

I am diagnosed with both a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. The meds I'm on for both seem to aggravate the other condition has anyone had any experience with this

Doc:

***CONJECTURE AND PERSONAL OPINION TO FOLLOW***

I am currently working with a very similar diagnosis. For me my PTSD is by far the primary, with minor TBI/concussive syndrome taking secondary.

Jimmy's got this one right, as usual. From my personal experience, PTSD is behavioral in nature, while TBI is due to, as the name suggests, physical trauma to the brain.

For me, my TBI manifests itself in some pretty wicked headaches, linked to vestibular and ocular issues associated with the injury. While the brain is a wonderful and mysteriously awesome healer/coper/manager of our bodies, and while your brain has the potential to heal itself over time, for me the TBI is about symptom management - the reduction or minimization of the effects of the TBI on my daily life. Medications are the primary means to manage these symptoms, with behavior modification (avoiding things that cause your symptoms to get worse, i.e. bright lights) a no brainer. Just as you can't whisper sweet nothings to a broken arm to make it heal faster, no group therapy on earth will heal the physical trauma our brains have experienced as a result from our TBI. In short, a TBI is not something you "get over".

PTSD, as we all know, does not have to be associated with a physical trauma to our bodies (although it most certainly can be!). Our subconscious gets 'stuck' on an event(s), situation(s), or belief(s) and does any number of things to avoid that perception - including those behaviors we know to be unhealthy (for me, primarily avoidance). We all know what THAT is about (hello mycombatptsd.com).

The primary reasons we take medications with PTSD are to temporarily reduce symptoms to allow us to peel back another layer of that onion. If nightmares are causing us to get 2-3 hours of sleep a night (raises hand), we need to get that under control before any legitimate expectation of normalcy can return to other parts of our lives. If we can't sit through a 30-60 minute session of therapy without having a panic attack or worse (raises hand again), then perhaps a mood stabilizer is in order, temporarily, to help take the edge off and allow some progress to be made.

This is why a good provider is worth their weight in <pick your element>. As with many other disciplines where people are involved, it's that subtle melding of art and science to get the result that works for you.


If this is what we're dealing with:

Then it only makes sense to systematically approach the management of everything involved - symptoms, medications, etc.