A "new" Ptsd Med...that Works For Me!

[Sludge]

Hey gang!

So, even though the VA rejected my PTSD claim, they are still treating me for it...

As most of us have suffered, it takes time to find the right combination that works.

I like many other PTSD vets end up with worse symptoms when benzodiazapenes are used.

So, my Doc actually listened to me and added hydroxozine as an as needed drug.

It works wonders. I have experienced ZERO side effects and it knocks me down to normal (for me) fast. The day he prescribed it I just happened to be at the peak of a serious Beast Bout- on the verge of seizing I was so worked up.

I had to wait until I got home to take it, just to be safe. Popped a pill and in 30 minutes was chilled right out. Amazing since I had been lock ind fear mode for three days straight.

So, here is the mix they have me on. It takes care of my PNES and my PTSD:

Lamictal 200mg twice daily
Levitracetam 1000mg twice daily
Sertraline 100mg twice daily
Quetiapene 100mg before bed
Hydroxozine 50mg as needed up to 150 mg per day

Is crazy I tell you. I haven't felt this good-this even-this normal in quite a long time.
No seizures, no heart issues, appetite returned, general feeling of well being and I'm getting a solid six to eight hours of sleep per night. Still getting night sweats, but no recurring nightmares or night terrors. Been like this for a week so far.

The hydroxozine was is the capstone. It shuts down the issue before the PTSD cascade effect that triggers my PNES seizures. This is the longest I have gone without a seizure in months.

What is really crazy is I am under a massive amount of stress which I am having no problem dealing with.

 

[vikingr24]

Congrats. I tried hydroxozine (hydroxyzine). As you know is an antihistamine derivative. It's strong but I got used to it rather quickly and its effect dissipated after about a week. I did not like the dry mouth like benadryl does to me. But it made me sleep for a while.

Glad it works for you, Sludge. You've had a tough time.

 

[Grizzly]

I am on this. Only as needed. My biggest issue is my functioning the day after. I sleep great, but half a pill makes me unfit for duty the next day. All I can do is sleep.

However, after the second day (no second pill) I feel like a million dollars.

 

[Sludge]

Still interests the hell out of me how differently drugs work on different people. In my case, I suspect this one works well for me without side effects due to my high metabolism and generally high speed personality. Even before the beast, I operated in high gear, non stop.

Funny, I caught a face full of coke during interdiction one time and slept like a baby while the rest of the team played spades for 18 hours straight.

 

[Grizzly]

Still interests the hell out of me how differently drugs work on different people. In my case, I suspect this one works well for me without side effects due to my high metabolism and generally high speed personality. Even before the beast, I operated in high gear, non stop.

Funny, I caught a face full of coke during interdiction one time and slept like a baby while the rest of the team played spades for 18 hours straight.

Did you ever get tested for ADHD? Some of the treatments slow ADHD people down while non-ADHD people it speeds up. I am similar. Energy drinks, coffee and Mt. Dew will actually give me a sedating effect. Some biker guys I rode with at one time used to pop Ritalin to hype them up. They said it was like speed.

I don't know.

 

[Sludge]

Did you ever get tested for ADHD? Some of the treatments slow ADHD people down while non-ADHD people it speeds up. I am similar. Energy drinks, coffee and Mt. Dew will actually give me a sedating effect. Some biker guys I rode with at one time used to pop Ritalin to hype them up. They said it was like speed.

I don't know.

Yeah, been tested for all of that. Verdict is still out and has been for 20 years. One of these days, I'll get another FMRI. Last one had my Docs thinking I was borderline schizoid or borderline austistic. Boills down to the fact noone can figure out what is wrong with my brain, even me.

 

[Kaishi]

Sludge I'm not a doctor or anything, but just from your presentation, I highly doubt you're autistic.

Sides, haven't met many people in the same trades who would be autistic. One of my former comrades was, but even then autism got strongly in the way of a job, and she was on a high functioning end of that spectrum. So I'd think that considered is just bollocks.

 

[vikingr24]

There are many kinds of autism.

Asperger's Syndrome is autism and now not even in the DSM, so technically it is not a disability. So people who have it cannot get help through the ACA. That has to change.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/autistic-surfer-clay-marzo-masters-waves-struggles-land/story?id=10477337

The kid who shot up all those children in Connecticut had Asperger's. A characteristic is a lack of empathy for other people and the inability to adequately communicate. But Clay Marzo is a champion surfer.

Other autistic's are not so lucky. And some of them are the cutest kids you have ever seen.

 

[Sludge]

Well, it has been an interesting few weeks on this mix of meds. Really is strange to feel "decent".

 

[atilla]

Glad something is helping Sludge..It's good to feel "decent" for a change, isn't it...:)

 

[Owingsia]

Klonopin is like my magic drug... it is keeping the anxiety and panic attacks under control. I have just started treatment at the VA and this is only a short term treatment, I am on other medications too.

I too am fighting the VA (compensation) to get my PTSD service connected. My docs and the clinic all say it is, the QTC people sent me to some doc who pawned me off on a life coach in her office who spent 25 min filling out the forms and did not even understand combat zone. She said I was not in combat because I did not shoot or kill anyone.... hello dip shit...... SSTP corpsman. I worked major trauma... I flew evac on a helicopter as well... yeah no I did not fight..... so she says I was not in combat...... I am now fighting that BS fight to prove I have PTSD related to issues that happened in a combat zone.... when they say I was never in one..... hell I got the medals and the service record that says I was..... whatever....

 

[Friday]

@Owingsia This is when I would looooove to put a lazy grin on and take Asslipped f*cktard on a ride out to their "not a combat zone" . Failing that happy little scenario, I tend to stretch my vocabulary and kick things.

Honestly, that's a helluva lot healthier than trying to maintain your bearing and keep it all under lock & key. Having done that for too f*cking long, and reaped those consequences. Then it just explodes at near random. Military we could bleed off stress almost at will, and were forced to just by the nature if the job. Civvie is so locked down all the damn time, that turning all that inward, instead of burning it off? Bad juju. Explosions coming. Gotta find a way to vent that shit in a controlled manner.