Welcome to the forum,
I'm one of the old guys at 66 but have had PTSD at some level since before I was five. I base that on how I behaved even then. I have a type of memory that "allows" me to remember nearly every day of my life, not always a good thing. I somehow managed to deal fairly well (sort of) with it much of my life until recently when it got kicked into high gear and full throttle. For quite a few years my "dealing with it" wasn't very well at all. I drank on weekends only but it got to the point I was drinking way too much. So about eleven years ago I simply stopped drinking, something I should never have started. I never like drugs much and I strongly recommend you avoid them as much as you can unless a doctor says otherwise. Even in that case you should question closely the need for any particular drug.
I have an excellent psychiatrist that I see every three to four months. He is a special type, a Forensic Psychiatrist. That means he has quite a lot more training in the field than the average psychiatrist and especially in the realm of violence and severe psychotics. I was subjected to severe violent abuse when a very young child and he is very good at working with me in the area of extreme trauma. It doesn't help at all that during my life including after childhood I have almost died at least ten times, including once with no heartbeat and no breathing for a while (flat lined). For some reason the guy in the sky hasn't told me why I am still here.
My psychiatrist avoids the use of drugs as much as possible. He is quite unusual in that respect. It is one of things I really like about him. It's the way to go, in my book.
