What Meds Work For Ptsd?

[Hiding the Pain]

I am starting this journey because I just lost my mother. It has triggered my past traumas to all come flooding back. I have been spiraling out of control at an alarming rate. My T has even gone so far as to stay late just so I can see her every week without interruption. At today's session she wanted me to come in Monday to see the doc to get on meds. I am so scared about taking drugs because my biological mother is a drug addict. She is addicted to her prescriptions and it totally shows. I never want to be like her. I miss my mother so much. She saved me from the drug addict and her boyfriends. But I would like to know what meds are usually prescribed for PTSD and what works best for you.

 

[Bilby]

I don't have any direct experience with medication for PTSD, apart from what my husband takes (he is the one with PTSD). I have however, got a truckload of experience with medication for depression and anxiety - sometimes the medications are used in both conditions. For example, he takes Seroquel as part of his PTSD medication, and so do I - I just take it in a lower dose.

Before I say anything else, I just want to say how sorry I am to hear about your Mother. The loss of a precious loved one rattles you to the core. My sincere condolences.

Try not to worry about becoming addicted to your medication because your biological mother is a drug addict. Such things aren't really hereditary. That said, some medications can have side effects and some can require tapering off if you need to stop taking them. What will work for you will be dependent upon a number of things and I'm sure your doctor will have some suggestions for you - make sure you let them know that you are anxious about commencing medication and would like to arm yourself with as much information as possible.

 

[EmFelis]

I have struggled to stay off any form of medication during my PTSD. Everywhere I turn people have tried to get me to take them. I dont understand why as I have been seeing a counsellor and I thought that medication was really only meant to be a temporary measure to help you hang on until you could get to see a therapist. I have had friends tell me how medication helped them cope but I notice that all of these friends relapse and have to keep on taking the medication. My husband, who is a recovering alcoholic and has just got 92% in his Psychology degree, has encouraged me to hang on and NOT take medication. He says that the brain's stress system is so overloaded that taking medication (which is like a class A drug) will get you very addicted to them. There are also all sorts of side effects such as increased suicidal thoughts and I have seen a paper that offered evidence that medication helps in the short term but increases the likelihood of relapse later on.

Its a personal choice - I am teetotal, vegetarian and the thought of chucking drugs into the mix isnt appealing to me but I will be honest and say that its been really very very tough at times and I have felt like I have been hanging on by my fingertips day after day with no light at the end of the tunnel. Meditation and prayer help and all I can do is paint (I have always painted) so if there's something simple you can do to occupy yourself like crocheting, sewing, walking, cooking, listening to the radio...hang on to it like a life-jacket. The despair is horrible and overwhelming and you feel like you will be this way for ever.. You wont. I have done voluntary work one day a week at a local Soup Kitchen - I dont know how at times - but it gives me something to think about and there's no responsibility. Progress, however, is VERY slow and you need a counsellor to help. I have found that EMDR is good but exhausting...I hope you can find your way through this dark time. Bless you. xxx

 

[anthony]

But I would like to know what meds are usually prescribed for PTSD and what works best for you.

There are vast arrays of meds prescribed for PTSD. The simple truth, is that you really need to be extremely careful in regard to just taking what physicians want to offer patients nowadays. Often physicians prescribe what some representative is giving them kickbacks for, or pushing you into some trial as free samplers and such, providing feedback for them. None of that is about what is best for you, but what is best for others.

Anti-depressants and SSRI's, any med claiming to treat depression + anxiety is nonsense. A lot of counter data to all this was released years ago exposing some very large holes in pharmaceutical credence and prescribing factors.

You will often find all you need for PTSD is something to treat the anxiety. Treat that first, and you often find the depression will subside / reduce to little. You can then treat that minority of depression with daily exercise and good diet. Anxiety is the key treating requirement for PTSD, and you will find if treated with a real anxiety medication, not SSRI's / SNRI's in large, cumbersome dosages with addictive qualities, you find improvement quite fast and rapid, allowing you to get focused on therapy intervention so you don't need meds.

Then hey... some people love to just throw medication down their throat to!

 

[safenow]

Sorry for the loss of your mother. I agree with Anthony on this one.

Breathing is a big help for anxiety, and a light medication for that can help when you need it. But not the kind you have to take rather you are anxious or not. The kind where you only take it when you need it. I've never found any medication that helps ptsd. In fact, for me, they have all made things much worse. All medications have side effects of one type or another. PTSD, depression and anxiety all go hand and hand. Depression, while tough, will go away in time. Anxiety is a bit tougher, but you can go longer and longer between episodes as you start to heal. PTSD can settle down and, unless you get re-traumatized, go dormant.

For me, and those I've been able to associate with, we have found that breathing, grounding, talking, and a good therapist help the most. Sleep, fresh air, and staying busy are good ways to calm yourself. Reach outside of yourself and you'll find it helps better than any drug. Keeping a journal of positive things and ways to lift yourself can help as well. Some people only keep journals of the negative stuff. I don't think that is good for anyone.

These are all just my opinions. Ass holes and opinions. We all have them, don't we?

safenow

 

[Shellbell]

It all depends on whether it's just PTSD as to what medications are required. It depends on what symptoms you have.

I have severe PTSD and MDD and chronic insomnia, so need strong anti-depressants, otherwise I would be suicidal and in hospital. One of them gets me to sleep each night (Mirtazapine) and good sleep is necessary to dealing with PTSD and therapy. If I didn't take that I would probably get 2 hours sleep a night at the most. That isn't enough to deal with severe PTSD, complex trauma and be a wife and mother to young children. I missed one dose of Mirtazapine after taking it for months and was wide awake at 3am still. I also take Effexor for MDD. I need anti-depressants that treat 'all' the symptoms, not just the anxiety. Plus I need mood stabilizing drugs also.

If you only have anxiety with mild or no depression, then yes, anxiety drugs may be all you need.

 

[who am i kim]

Interesting reading all.:)

 

[safenow]

During the time frame I was depressed, they refused to give me anti-depressants because they made me worse. And I'm glad they did. I probably would have taken the entire house full of medications if I'd had any there. They even rationed my insulin for a few months at one point. A home health care nurse would come give me a shot. I'm glad I got past the need for that.

 

[Hashi]

I was also worse on anti-depressants. The side effects were very bad, and I needed more problems like a hole in the head. They try to give you anti-depressants for OCD too, which shocked me. I'd rather keep working on the cause than try to mask the symptoms.

I'm very anti-medication for myself, but I agree with others that occasional anti-anxiety medication can be very helpful. I can also understand that some people need anti-depressants because their suicidal ideation is so bad. I think if you must take something you must, but only if you must. And then use them in order to keep working on recovery and on other methods of coping.

I've been under a lot of pressure from doctors and therapists to take anti-depressants. They were concerned about me. I think if a medication's being recommended and you prefer not to take it, it's good to be able to show that you're committed to alternative ways of coping.