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Medical Could i have ptsd. please help!

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Katereach

Hello,

I hope you can help. I am trying to find out what is wrong with me. A few years ago (aged 34) I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This obviously came as a big shock but for some reason as strange as it sounds i didn't feel I was particularly traumatised about it. I had more of a "what will be, will be" kind of attitude about it and I just got on with things. I finished treatment (I am now clear of cancer) and went back to work and I felt fine. Then suddenly 20 months later I woke up one day with the strongest fatigue ever. Up until this point I was very happy and would say I didn't think too much about the breast cancer anymore. This fatigue continued and it was so severe that I lost my job. At this point my hair started falling out, I had constant heart palpitations, dizziness and ringing in my ears. I thought these were all symptoms of my "illness" but now I've just realised that you can get these from stress!

I've been like this for 2 years now and I'm pretty much bedbound/housebound most of the time. Had endless scans and blood tests. Everything was clear. I've also been sent to the chronic fatigue syndrome clinic/ME clinic who said they wouldn't diagnose me with this as I didn't really "fit".

So I'm wondering if this sounds like PTSD? Can it leave you so chronically tired that you are mainly housebound/bedbound?

Can you get it when you've had a traumatic event (in my case cancer) but you didn't feel that traumatised about it at the time?

Appreciate any replies. Thank you!
 
Have you had blood work done recently? I'd certainly check your thyroid and B12 levels.

It doesn't sound like PTSD. Though I'm not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV or here or anywhere. ;) So I'm not qualified to make a diagnosis.

Here's the criteria for diagnosis for PTSD.

Congratulations on being free from cancer. Although it is a stressful time, illness does not usually cause PTSD.

PTSD is caused by (as stated on this website at the above link) "war, threatened or actual physical assault, threatened or actual sexual violation, being kidnapped, taken hostage, terrorist attack, torture, prisoner of war, natural or man-made disasters, medical (waking during surgery, anaphylactic shock), and severe motor vehicle accidents." Extreme violence or an abnormal event not considered normal within life is usually the cause.

I hope this helped in some way.
 
Hello,

It doesn't sound like PTSD to me either. It sounds like it could be anxiety/depression. A sort of belated reaction to your illness.

Any kind of depression/anxiety/mental illness can leave you bedbound/housebound, and it can make even getting up in the morning feel like a mammoth task.

Speak to your doctor tell him/her how you feel. Try not to self-diagnose (which is easier said than done with the internet right there!). But your doctor is more qualified to tell you what's up than any of us are.

I hope this helps!

Congrats on kicking cancer in the backside! :hug:
 
I've had B12 and thyroid tested but thank you!

Thanks for your replies.
 
Could just be the stress of it too then. My husband had that after his cancer. Very fatigued for a long time.
 
Hi, you don't describe any ptsd symptoms.

The truth is that stress can cause just about every disorder out there. Stress is the #1 killer......manifested in many forms (diagnosable or not).
 
I agree that it is probably the stress. I also agree that stress can cause almost any and all illnesses. I would try getting treatment for the stress while you might continue seeking treatment for the fatigue. Less stress can only help.
 
Hello,

I hope you can help. I am trying to find out what is wrong with me. A few years ago (aged 34) I was diagnose...
I have read that yes any type of threat to your life or a loved one can cause it. Also people should not discount what has traumatised you because it does not fit into their little box of acceptable traumas. I would also see if you have fibromyalgia which is a reaction to stress and can occur way later. We try to be striking when sht is happening to us and it gets us laterb
 
Get all of your vitamins tested. Follate, B6, Ferritin, the works. I have hound dr.s rarely do this unless you push for it. I would also see a naturopath. They are M.D.s who who also specialize in alternative medicine and look beyond what regular Dr.s look for.
 
Also a doctor may say that your B12 level is fine when it's in range. I had a nurse practitioner tell me it's one of the levels which does better over the top of the range. That's where I keep mine and I feel better. Last time the range top was 1000 and mine was 1250. I stopped taking them then and the NP told me to keep taking them and keep over the 1000 mark and you'll feel best.

And I'd ask for copies of your test results and check them with what's normal on lab tests online. It's an informative site for checking on your lab tests.

I hate when doctors say everything was normal. Normal based on what? What's normal for one person isn't necessarily normal for someone else. A thyroid test, TSH, is a good example of that.
 
Also people should not discount what has traumatised you because it does not fit into their little box of acceptable traumas
I agree that different people find different things traumatic but for PTSD to develop there must have been a Criteria A trauma, which is very clearly defined in the diagnostic criteria, no qualifying trauma means no ptsd. That's not to say people can't be very affected by their experience but PTSD is a specific disorder that most people don't actually develop.

It's not about fitting trauma into carefully designed boxes, it's about knowing what can develop into PTSD.
 
I have read that yes any type of threat to your life or a loved one can cause it. Also people should not discount w...

Nobody dismissed the OP based on her trauma.

The OP described zero PTSD symptoms and that's why she is getting these responses.

Trauma /= PTSD.

PTSD is not a catch-all disorder for the fallout of a traumatic event.

PTSD is a very specific disorder encompassing a narrow set of symptoms. It centers on the fact that the mind doesn't know the trauma is over and therefore relives it in various ways. This is not what the OP describes.
 
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