Making Progress (and Private Therapists?)

[Echo]

@Liana - we are rooting for you. Let us know how you get on. I know I found my symptoms worst just before finding the right treatment. It is natural to feel scared and that just makes things worse, but there is relief when you know what you are dealing with. Ask away here as you go through the process, or just come here and have a rant or ask for sympathy and a cup of tea, whatever you need.

 

[Deleted member 20280]

Liana, myself and the others have all been exactly where you are right now. We all understand too well how you are feeling.

Please take comfort in one thing, no matter what, you will get loads if support right here whenever you need it. There is always one or more of us here happy to help/support ir just listen.

Kindest regards

Laurie

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

@Echo, I was referred to an NHS psychiatrist for my diagnosis who tried to give me pregabalin which I chose not to go on to and since gave me buspirone. I have also been prescribed Diazepam and Promethazine by the crisis team, Lorazepam, Zopiclone and more recently Mirtazapine by inpatient psychiatric services, I've also had these refilled by my GP who has over the years also prescribed me Fluoxetine, Citalopram, Sertraline, Trazodone and Amitryptaline. I haven't read the NICE guidelines but I was under the impression that although they won't treat the PTSD itself they will treat the related issues such as depression, anxiety and sleep related issues including insomnia and nightmares.

 

[Echo]

@Kas_Can_Fly - yes, I understand that to be the case, too. It says exactly that in the guidelines. They will treat the co-morbid conditions, presumably as they would if you didn't have PTSD. But I am no expert; I was just offering what the guidelines say. I guess we are all individuals each with our own complex make-up. I was just trying to respond to expectations that Liana appeared to have (I may have read it wrong) that may be disappointed.

Either way, I hope it has all helped you.

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

I didn't mean it confrontationally, sorry if it came across that way. In my ignorance, I still haven't read the NICE guidelines despite you providing them for me because jargon stresses me out, what I was saying was what I have overheard or come to understand along the way. I only wanted to say that whatever the guidelines do say, that doctors/psychiatrists in my experience will bend the rules a little if they need to - one crisis team guy said if I explained the benefits of newer american meds to a psychiatrist they may prescribe it off label for me, I didn't chase it up but nonetheless the whole system (to me at least) seems fairly flexible. But I definitely didn't mean to make it sound easy or to set her up for disappointment, because I went through a lot with the NHS first and I would rather not have had all that than had the meds, which quite frankly are too little too late.

 

[Echo]

@Kas_Can_Fly - I didn't read it as confrontational at all. Please don't apologise. We can only speak to our experience, can't we? I have only read part of the guidelines myself, but there is somewhere in all that a very brief breakdown of what we both have experienced at different ends of the spectrum.

For me, I'm glad I haven't been offered meds; my body seems to be allergic to anything, so I've found alternate means of calming myself with the help of a fantastic herbalist. I don't suffer from depression luckily, though some of the flashbacks and emerging memories take me very low for short periods of time. We all have different preferences and constitutions, though, don't we? And sometimes psychiatrists don't give us much choice.

I think your post should be very helpful to Liana. At least she can see what a broad spectrum of care is on offer.

 

[Liana]

Thank you both for explaining the treatment a bit more. I don't want to take medication, I don't think anybody wants to have to take it, but I do want help - with anxiety, insomnia, depression etc. But thanks for clearing it up. It makes much more sense - therapy to 'treat' the PTSD and underlying causes and I guess medication to 'treat' the effects of PTSD; anxiety etc.

I also don't expect it to be easy. I've already had a psychiatrist tell me I'm just being a teenager and therapist think I am fine. So I know it's not easy, however, I am determined to get help anyway I can.

Thank you all for the help. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[Bedbug]

Your determination is a fine thing to see! Don't ever give up on yourself. You can do this!