Sufferer I'm In Constant Fight Or Flight Response.

[franciemarnie]

I sure know that fight or flight. Years and years of sitting up at 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning with all the symptoms of imminent mortal danger with nothing whatsoever in my environment to warrant it. The constant exhaustion from all the adrenalin wore me down something fierce.

Debbie's lifestyle changed were the answer for me.

I also noticed the pain I would get in my feet, lower legs and head plus nausea were often related to buried emotion. That's a whole other story getting that out but again Debbie's changes were also mine and they helped get the pain out considerably, particularly mindfulness meditation.

You are not alone. You are looking for solutions and will find them. And welcome!

 

[freeman]

I did some research and I've got some news. This "head pressure" is also called tension headache, and it's not sure whether it's caused by anxiety or something else. However the treatment remains the same: a tricyclic antidepressant (I read amitriptyline is the most prescribed for this condition). So tomorrow I'm gonna call my Pdoc and set an appointment for this week, I'll let you know how it goes.

I wanted to paste a link in my post but it seems I don't have enough posts on the forum, just search tension headache on healthcentral.

 

[WillyKat]

It sounds as if you've sought treatment, and that's the good news. In addition to medications, I would find a psychologist with experience in PTSD. Getting an accurate diagnosis is very important.

I'm going to give you my personal feeling based on my experience. Obviously what kind of treatment you seek is your decision.

With that out of the way, my experience is that medications didn't deal with the core issues of my PTSD. I took meds for depression and while it is true that depression is part of PTSD, it's not the only thing and ultimately, the meds were not doing me any good.

It's also important to understand that some physical symptoms may be the result of psychological problems. Up until recently, I was having some numbness down my legs and all over my back. I realized one day that a lot of that comes from having anger issues where I get very tense all over.

Welcome to the forum. We're here to support each other.

 

[therapybankrupt]

Welcome

I know physical pain can be trapped in the body from trauma. It is also important that you seek a trauma therapist that is knowledgeable in exposure therapy. This will help get rid of the spinning in your head that is related to the trauma that caused PTSD. I would personally suggest a EMDR therapist because that has helped me with body symptoms sleep and pain.

tb

 

[cdg]

Thank you for the recent posts. They helped out a great deal. I have looked into EMDR and sounds good. I definitely have physical issues trapped in my body.

 

[freeman]

Hey everyone, I've got some news. It's been 2 weeks now since I've seen my Pdoc, he prescribed me amitriptyline 50mg every day and valium 20mg every day too. I'm definitely better now, my tension headache is almost gone, yet I still have some tension in the neck and the shoulders. My pdoc said that maybe I will need more than 20mg valium because "I'm young and strong", so I think he will increase the dose and maybe I'll be more relaxed.
I'll keep you updated.

 

[freeman]

Hey it's me again =). My Pdoc increased the dosage to 40mg valium per day (20mg in the morning and 20mg at night) and my muscles are totally relaxed, also I'm much more calm. In fact I think the amitriptyline is kinda useless, and it makes me constipated, maybe I will stop it.

I know the valium will cause dependance but I can't handle the pain anymore =(