Medication advice recommendation for cPTSD

[Josep]

Hi. I have been taking Sertraline for cPTSD for several months now and don't find it is working. One of the reasons for taking it was due to waking up every night with an intense feeling of stress in my mind as well as constant anxiety. However, I haven't felt any benefit and instead of calming me it's made me more irritable and tense. I don't wish to take sleeping medication rather an SSRI or similar that can help me. Would anyone have any recommendations as to what has worked best for them?

 

[Sideways]

The SSRIs, like sertraline, are still the first in line for most folks. But you may find that switching to an SNRI is more helpful with ptsd symptoms.

I was on California Rocket Fuel for a while. That was some time ago now, but I seem to recall that I took the venlafaxine part of that in the evenings to help me with my sleep (that’s one of your SNRIs).

I currently take quetiapine (an antipsychotic) which helps with things like my anxiety, which helps immensely with sleep as one of it’s side effects. I take the slow release version to keep the other side effects it can have in check. Drowsiness is a side effect of a range of options, so it’s worth talking it through with your prescribing doctor.

 

[Susan Jane]

Hi. I have been taking Sertraline for cPTSD for several months now and don't find it is working. One of the reasons for taking it was due to waking up every night with an intense feeling of stress in my mind as well as constant anxiety. However, I haven't felt any benefit and instead of calming me it's made me more irritable and tense. I don't wish to take sleeping medication rather an SSRI or similar that can help me. Would anyone have any recommendations as to what has worked best for them?

Dear Josep, I have been using Sertraline for 2 years, and to be honest, it doesn't always work for me either. It is a tricky one, when I am in a bad patch, I can take many things and they don't seem to help. My best advise would be to listen to your body, and if the drug is making you worse, then you need to trust yourself. I have also used quetiapine as Sideways mentioned for sleep, and it really helped me. Finding Meds to help can be extremely useful to navigate the condition, but my best line of help is acceptance and understanding of the condition, so that I can be less stressed about what is happening to me. That said meds are important to support me through. Being here and relating to others with helps me a lot, with my acceptance and understanding of what is happening. Susan

 

[Josep]

Hi Susan, thanks for your feedback and advice. I am too on Sertraline but not only does it not work but seems to make me irrtiable. Now, I'm not saying my condition is unique, everyone's is, but my issue is I can't sleep as something happens to my mind when sleeping where it seems to become the opposite of relaxed but incredibly tense. It's so bad it wakes me up and my brain feels tight, like it's being squeezed. I have a lot of nightmares and think the ruminations run away even more when I'm dreaming. It's an awful feeling, like a brick is inside my head and weighing me down. Doctors and specialists don't seem to get what I mean when I explain this to them.

 

[Survivor3]

Hi @Josep i used to take sertraline and it drove me nuts. Its like taking cocaine. A very edgey/anxious high. Made me want to drink alcohol to calm down. Not very good for an alcoholic.

I now take mirtazapine 30mg and olanzapine 20mg at night for calm/sleep/anti anxiety and I take escitalopram 20mg in the morning. The escitalopram changed my life 100%. Highly recommend it. I have a history of complex trauma, depression and anxiety.

 

[Susan Jane]

Hi Susan, thanks for your feedback and advice. I am too on Sertraline but not only does it not work but seems to make me irrtiable. Now, I'm not saying my condition is unique, everyone's is, but my issue is I can't sleep as something happens to my mind when sleeping where it seems to become the opposite of relaxed but incredibly tense. It's so bad it wakes me up and my brain feels tight, like it's being squeezed. I have a lot of nightmares and think the ruminations run away even more when I'm dreaming. It's an awful feeling, like a brick is inside my head and weighing me down. Doctors and specialists don't seem to get what I mean when I explain this to them.

Well the your body is telling you something. When I am at my worst I have nighttime problems, I cannot sleep and when I finally do fall asleep I wake up in a panic that sends me reeling. It scares the heck out of me. So I started to talk to that part of me. Reassure her that we were safe and could sleep and no harm would come to us. It might sound odd but it helps me when I am really suffering. I have plenty of odd symptoms, so the awful feeling of a brink weighing you down in your head, well I can empathize. Did you have this before taking sertraline?… by the way… most Drs. and specialist do not understand my symptoms either, so I …well .. but if you believe it is the drug… you have to demand a change. I had to do this myself. I think, the Drs. are just poking in the dark, hoping the drug they prescribe gives us some relief. That makes it a challenge for us! Susan

 

[Josep]

Hi @Josep i used to take sertraline and it drove me nuts. Its like taking cocaine. A very edgey/anxious high. Made me want to drink alcohol to calm down. Not very good for an alcoholic.

I now take mirtazapine 30mg and olanzapine 20mg at night for calm/sleep/anti anxiety and I take escitalopram 20mg in the morning. The escitalopram changed my life 100%. Highly recommend it. I have a history of complex trauma, depression and anxiety.

Hi Survivor3. Thanks for sharing your experience with Sertraline and other medication you have been taking. I have an appointment with my doctor soon and will research what you're prescribed to put as a suggestion to them. Thanks again.

Well the your body is telling you something. When I am at my worst I have nighttime problems, I cannot sleep and when I finally do fall asleep I wake up in a panic that sends me reeling. It scares the heck out of me. So I started to talk to that part of me. Reassure her that we were safe and could sleep and no harm would come to us. It might sound odd but it helps me when I am really suffering. I have plenty of odd symptoms, so the awful feeling of a brink weighing you down in your head, well I can empathize. Did you have this before taking sertraline?… by the way… most Drs. and specialist do not understand my symptoms either, so I …well .. but if you believe it is the drug… you have to demand a change. I had to do this myself. I think, the Drs. are just poking in the dark, hoping the drug they prescribe gives us some relief. That makes it a challenge for us! Susan

Thanks again, your experience and insight is proving useful. I have had this particular issue on top of the general cPTSD symptoms all my life, long before taking any medication. I know why I have it. It's due to experiencing extreme violence in my household growing up and it would always happen at nighttime, so my brain is wired to this experience. I try and have tried everything over the years, therapy, exercise, positive affirmations etc. But it's like part of my brain cracked as a child and the feeling of being at peace in my mind has never come back, it's always on guard and in fight or flight mode. I am now 50 and don't have much hope of ever resolving this, but would just like to aleveate the symptoms somehow so I can wake up not exhausted and cranky from having only 2-3 hours sleep.

 

[Lost in the Woods]

I take sertraline and it works great for me. I take the adult starter dose which is technically sub therapeutic but it has totally controlled anger and frustration. I hardly ever swear anymore. I also take burspirone to modulate my emotions and that is working great too.

 

[Mach123]

Thanks I don’t know anything about these meds and now I can research them and perhaps go over them with a doctor mine or if I ever do psychiatrist again.

I use oxycodone . It works but there’s addictive behavior of course . Plus I find with everything you can get out to the end with it and need to switch meds and or have backup meds. I was on kratom extract too for sleep I just got off it . It was expensive and not that great. I read a thread here about dmt or cough it’s cheap and easy to get. I want to get some mushroom bars I think there’s a place that’s selling them locally I’m looking into that for micro dosing. Or macro dosing lol. I’d be growing them at home but political ramifications prevent that currently in my living situation. There are from my experience some useful things about the mushroom. Thanks for this thread and talking about this . I still have issues talking about meds probably because I spent so long in program and just everything having to be a secret always .

 

[anthony]

SSRI's only have around 40% effectiveness, which was discovered when a court order allowed full access to all the unpublished studies because the outcomes weren't what they wanted. A meta analysis found they are not what are hyped.

Personally, I think pure anxiety meds are often the best, as treating the anxiety is key, and exercise is the best for depression. Combined, this is the less destructive options for the human body and mind.

 

[Susan Jane]

I feel the best on anxiety meds, but my dr. believes the SSRI are better. Trying to find a new dr. that actually listens to me… might take some time.

 

[Friday]

I have ADHD, in addition to PTSD, so the meds that work best for ME? Only work best for apex 4%-6% of the population. Meanwhile the things that work best for 80% of the population? Usually make me FAR WORSE. As I’m in the 20% of the population that responds in opposite &/or paradoxical ways. (In a nutshell, with adhd, antidepressants cause depression, mood stabilizers destabilize, antipsychotics cause psychosis, and stimulants are soothing & clarifying rather than stimulating & euphoric)… meanwhile certain other drug classes work gangbusters (I can LICK a benzo for the same effect as most people get with the full pill), or with a few other classes? Not. at. all. (Did you prescribe me a placebo? Nothings happening.).

With neurotrophic drugs? It’s ALL trial and error. Unless you have a disorder known to react to certain meds in certain ways. And even then?!? Still trial & error. For example? ADHD has 80 commonly prescribed stimulants. Why??? Because, to someone with ADHD, they all “feel” / “work” differently.

To the best of my knowledge PTSD does not discriminate; it can happen to the (previously) neurotypical aaaaaaaand neurospicy. (A great many disorders at least have a shortlist of things they do not / cannot copresent with; like one never finds ADHD & Bipolar in the same person, whilst both indicate a likelihood of self-medicating, and a high probability of ED. So it parses that PTSD+Autism, PTSD+ADHD, PTSD+Bipolar, PTSD+OCD, et cetera, et cetera), are ALL going to have different meds that help/hurt. Depending on the baseline neurology, altered by PTSD. The bipolar PTSD person & the ADHD PTSD person are going to respond to veeeeeeery different medications. Even though both have PTSD, the baseline neurology trumps what comes next. The effect of meds on brains? Even less.

Trial & error. Zip, nada, zilch is tried and true… for PTSD. Because it can happen to ANYONE. Even if it only happens to maaaaaybe 20% of people who’ve experienced life threatening trauma & sexual assault. Whilst the other 80% with GNARLY trauma histories divert into other disorders & conditions… or? None. Brainz are wacky things we only barely understand.