New Here & Seeking Feedback

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Hi all. I'm glad this forum is here. Thanks for being here! I'm originally from Brooklyn, NY & moved to the Bay Area about 9 months ago...still feeling culture shock. I'm going to share a lot because I'm having a really difficult time managing my symptoms & I'm hoping some of you might have some suggestions.

I always knew I had PTSD, but some of my former therapists shrugged it off. I experienced a lot of childhood trauma and have a lot of PTSD (& other illness-related) symptoms, including severe anxiety, bouts of depression, hypervigilance, deep sense of shame/guilt, severe nail picking (self injury), dissociation, lots of stress-related health problems (IBS, acid reflux, carpal tunnel syndrome)...the list goes on. After researching online over the last few years, my symptoms seem to be best matched with 'complex PTSD'.

About 13 yrs. ago I took Serzone & Celexa for a total of 6 months...made me very dizzy. Last summer I barely tried Lexapro...dizziness again. 3 weeks ago a new psychiatrist put me on 20 mg of Prozac (without starting at a lower dosage) and I experienced major side effects & got VERY sick...extreme dizziness & nausea, severe diarrhea (I lost several lbs. in 1 week), a feeling like my head was humming, total loss of appetite - this is my 1st semester as a graduate student (at the age of 38) and that 1 week of illness sent me to the ER once & set me back 3 weeks class-wise. And...all that GI stress aggravated another one of my health problems - endometriosis. I feel like my body is falling apart!

I told my psych I'd like to try Wellbutrin (because now I'm scared of SSRIs), but she said it wouldn't address my anxiety.

My psychotherapist (I'm going to a sliding scale place) suggested Bach flower remedies. I tried rescue remedy years ago...never worked for me. I think I'm way too nervous for it too work. My therapist is using DBT with me, though I'm a very slow learner.

I sought help (this time around) because a cruel breakup last year & this recent move (which hasn't gone well) set off my PTSD triggers in a way I haven't experienced since I was a teenager. When I first got here, and a lot of things went terribly wrong, I literally froze and couldn't take care of myself. Then I had a super-stressful job that had me losing sleep (which I had to quit after 3 months)...and then grad school started & sent me over the edge, symptomatically speaking. Psychotherapy helps but it's not enough; I definitely need medication. If I want to make it through grad school, I have to take medication.

Thanks so much for reading my long intro. Do you have any suggestions for PTSD medications that won't make me dizzy or send me to the ER because of gastrointestinal symptoms? Thanks again for your feedback/guidance.

- Leah

 

[Sandra]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Eleanor]

Hi Leah, welcome to the forum. I'm new here myself, and have found there is lots of good information and good support here. SF seems to be a good place to find PTSD treatment (we live just a little too far away...). It is way different than Brooklyn tho! Although equally interesting and nice once you get used to it. Plus, the food is WAY better. :-)

I don't know anything about medications (You might post a question in the "treatment" forum.) I had a thought given your symptoms - Have you done the experiment for being gluten intolerant? My husband is gluten intolerant (though not of the sort diagnosable by blood tests) and had all your symptoms (including the carpal tunnel stuff) plus apnea etc etc. We went wheat & barley free for two weeks and Oh My God he was a different person. After a year he can't believe how much pain he was in for so long. Apnea - gone. Sinus trouble - gone. Reflux - gone. Bloody stools - gone. Cramps - gone. Carpal tunnel - mostly gone. Leg cramps - mostly gone (still have to take lots of magnesium). Lost a good 6 inches around his waist, and probably 15 pounds of water weight from systemic inflammation. If there is gluten in the meds (not a crazy idea - I was once given an ADD drug with SLS in it - which I am allergic to) they will make you sick. Even if it is not gluten - there may well be something ELSE in them you are allergic to - sounds that way to me. If you can figure out what it is - you can find a compounding pharmacy in SF pretty easily that can make you the drug without the stuff you are allergic to.

Wishing you a speedy investigation and happy solution to this mystery!

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Thanks for the welcome, Sandra. Apologies for the over-share. Now I realize I should've posted those details elsewhere. Thanks again.

 

[atl22]

Welcome to the Forum, Leah. There is no need to apologize. This is as good a place as any for that post.

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Thanks, Eleanor. Thanks for all the info. & for taking time to respond to my long and windey post!

I've been gluten free for almost 3 months now. Now I'm dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free & tropical fruit-free. I've had tons of allegies since I was a kid. Since I've been gluten-free for a little while, I don't think that's why I reacted so strongly to Prozac. Every SSRI has given me huge side effects.

A lot of online forums say that people like me with major gastrointestinal issues usually can't tolerate SSRIs...wish I had read that before my 'trial' of Prozac. : ) I'll check out the forum threads to see if others have already brought up this topic. Now I realize everything I wrote here should've been posted in a different forum. Sorry about that. And happy to hear your husband's feeling so much better - that's great!

Thanks again for your suggestions & feedback.

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Thanks for clarifying, atl22. I was worried it might have been inappropriate. Phew. : ) That's good.

 

[atl22]

There are only a few things that are inappropriate here, such as self-promotion and being mean or attacking others. I also have read quite a few people apologize for 'venting' or 'ranting'. I have yet to read anything that I would consider a vent or a rant. I have only read people honestly expressing how they feel at that moment, so no apologies have been necessary, in my opinion.

I do not have any experience with medications so I can not offer you any advice. You might want to check out the Medications, Substances, & Naturopathy section for help. Also, the search function works quite well. Just type in your question or a few keywords and you might find an existing thread that answers your question.

This forum has helped me tremendously in my search for self-improvement and I hope it does the same for you.

 

[shadowchaser]

Well I've been using a form of sound therapy. Maybe you can talk to your mental health professional about it. Here is a link to a thread on it.

[DLMURL]https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/binaural-therapy.21018/#post-282967[/DLMURL]

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Thanks again, atl22. It's good to hear how much support you've found here. It keeps me hopeful. And now I feel less self-conscious about my posts. : )

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Thanks so much, shadowchaser.

I read your thread. It makes total sense for me, I'm really into brain/body/energy approaches. Right now I think I need to start with conventional medication because I'm in a pretty desperate and urgent situation. Binaural therapy could be a good secondary tool for me until I get stable. Then maybe later it could play a larger role in my healing. It's a really great idea, I'll see if I can find CDs where I live; I don't have an iPod but I have a smart phone with a tiny amount of memory left for something like a CD.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your suggestion.

 

[shadowchaser]

If you have a droid system on your phone you can find it on there. Just look it up in the market.