Another Amongst The Ranks.

[Bradley Cochran]

Hey there everybody.

I'm brand new and I've already made a post or two.

I served in the Marine Corps and suffered from Combat PTSD, hypervigilance, insomnia, fear, anger, the whole nine yards.

I served a total of two years before being medically discharged from my unit due to a back injury that rendered me unable to work. I served in Camp Pendleton and did a tour in Afghanistan as a field armorer. Shortly after coming home from deployment I was already suffering from the effects of PTSD. This caused my injury and medical discharge.

Recently I have been able to overcome my Combat PTSD. They say that it is incurable and that it can be reduced, but will always be present. This is not the truth. There are many ways to help and make things easier, and there are ways to get to the cause and remove it completely.

I want to help. I want to put across everything that I have learned and be able to actually communicate with my brothers and sisters that are suffering from something that is to one degree or another creating ruin. It is a sad sight to see and I hate it.

I do not hold a PhD, and I do not have a doctorate or college degree. I do have experience and first hand knowledge and proof that no matter how hopeless it seems, it can be overcome. I want to share that. By no means am I demanding that you listen to me. Just know that I want to extend a helping hand to anybody willing to listen.

Oorah.

-Brad

 

[JarHed]

Hey Brad

May I be the first to Welcome you to the Forums. This is a great place; good people and a ton of info.

Semper Fi

JarHed

 

[Bradley Cochran]

Appreciate the hell out of it, brother. I look forward to gathering even more info and conversing with the others.

 

[reddevil1111]

Semper Fi and Welcome. I was stationed in Lejune/Geiger But I did boot in San Diego and AIT in Geiger. Was part of 2mardiv 6.5 years. 0231

 

[Jimmy1]

Bradley, firstly welcome to the forum.

Be careful how you say things mate. PTSD makes physical changes to your brain and there is no cure for it. That is medical fact.

You can however manage it and live with it.

Think about asthma, my mother is a chronic asthmatic, but she can manage it by steering clear of certain pollen's, making sure her house is warm in winter, etc, etc. But sometimes when the wind is blowing a certain way she can have an attack, usually due to things out of her control.

PTSD is a lot like that mate. For instance, I can go months and people you talk to wonder why I am not working, apart from my physical injuries, but mentally I appear fine. All you need though is for my stress cup to get to the brim and have a few people push the wrong buttons and wham. I can be back down the bottom of the well.

A lot of veterans isolate themselves, move out to the boonies and become self sufficient where there is no stress from everyday life. A lot of those veterans you could almost mark down as 'they have overcome their PTSD'.

Not trying to burst your bubble and every little bit of help is accepted on this site, but if you are truly cured from PTSD and your PTSD was diagnosed by the military, take yourself into a psych at Walter Reed. They will want to know how you did it.

So Brad, if you really think you cured yourself, I could go out on a limb and say that you didn't have PTSD in the first place or else your PTSD has just been suppressed like a lot of Vietnam Veterans experienced, they had the nasty effects re-appear later in life.

Jimmy

 

[reddevil1111]

I am an isolator and it works for me. I vent and stress a LOT but I found a way to function. This is for LIFE and there is no way to change the way your brain has been altered. you can help by isolating triggers and through therapy but there is no way you can cure yourself brother.

 

[Spock]

Welcome Marine...look forward to having you share more. Stay Strong...
ColA

Here's just one article about how PTSD permanently affects the brain as Jimmy noted:
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/PTSD-leaves-physical-footprints-on-the-brain-3275618.php

 

[Jimmy1]

I once thought marijuana was gods answer. They genetically altered some overseas to target nearly all symptoms. They can even control the percentage of THC. The biggest issue for all is dosage though and how it is taken.
Smoking is damaging for the lungs, so there is ingesting or vapor. I saw a couple of interesting documentaries about a lady with cancer. Her liver had shut down due to too many medications, so the only way she could really take pain relief was via a vaporiser. She had 3 months to live and was the happiest grandma I had seen.

Anyway, I purchased a grow tent, lights, and even rigged up air conditioning and a great hydroponic set up all while it being illegal here in Australia.

In the end my ingenious answer to PTSD cost me thousands of dollars and could have cost me the custody of my son and either jail time or some serious fines. Lucky I saw the light.

The bottom line is it's whatever works for you. If you can do it via natural remedies and meditation then good luck, or else there is medication and therapy and that does not always work either.

I would still like to hear your solution though Brad.

 

[Bradley Cochran]

I understand where you're coming from. I do.

I will have an outline of the basics of everything that can be done and how it can be worked with.

By no means is this an overnight result. By no means is this only going to take a couple days. It took me years, but progress is notable. There is no overnight solution. but there is one that works.

I know it seems strange to see or hear of someone saying the things that I'm saying, just bare with me. I know that PTSD alters the brain physically, but those alterations are not irreparable and you don't have to go into surgery for it. Outlandish? Yes, I know.

I will have a forum up before too long in the Medication / Therapy section giving an outline and basic data. I will draft it and have it up tomorrow.

 

[Jimmy1]

Well Brad, forgive me for being so skeptical, but you have to understand that many of us have read nearly everything there is to know on PTSD and the founder of this site even more and there is NO CURE for PTSD.
I tell everyone that with the right therapy and medication you can manage PTSD extremely well. And if you can actually talk about your trauma and work on the trauma over and over, you can actually live with no bad memories of the event or events ever coming back, but you will always have the exaggerated startle response and a be easy to anger if you stress levels get too high.

Don't beat around the bush publish an outline unless it is going to cost us????

 

[Bradley Cochran]

There is no cost to this as I've said a number of times.
I'll get it put up tomorrow as I need to consolidate all the data I have. I've got notes and shit all over the place and I am currently working on multiple projects. I'll try to get it up tonight.

I'd say you were an idiot if you weren't skeptical which is why I am so willing to help out and talk.

 

[Zipperhead]

Okay, I've now read a dozen or so posts about how this miracle cure is coming. Just around the corner. Only 2 more wakies. I haven't seen is much of a build up since Eyes Wide Shut, and quite frankly that film sucked. If you're hell bent on getting this info out there, get on with it. The suspense is boring the hell out of me.