Not So Sleepy Daughter...

[Lexi H]

Hi everyone,

I joined back in September as a sufferer (my father got me to join) but havn't really been on due to other commitments.

Just thought that I'd let everyone know that after nearly 4 years of repeated nightmares every night, this has now suddenly stopped so I am having nightmare free sleeps and I am now able to view my old trigger with nothing more than a slight increase in heart rate.

It isn't forever =]

 

[Deleted member 20280]

:hugs for nightmare free sleep :)

 

[Lexi H]

hugs. Thank you. It feels good to finally sleep again.

 

[sun seeker]

Hey, I remember you! Thanks for letting us know you are feeling better. Did you do anything in particular, or did it just come with time?

 

[Lexi H]

Umm I actually had a really bad week where I didn't sleep at all, not sure why though. But after the week when I finally slept it all just stopped.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Yet another person comes on here after symptoms suddenly stop and claim that PTSD isn't forever. If I had a dollar....

 

[illusionist]

That's what happened with me. Well, not quite so suddenly but things did go down to just a slight heartbeat. Like yourself, I was over the moon, thought I was cured.I remember telling my counsellor and her telling me to be aware that it's something that comes back. I'm glad you are feeling better, and getting this space.....just be aware that it can come back. Keep protecting yourself, and looking after yourself in the meantime and hopefully you will get long gaps of staying away from the worst of symptoms. Good luck!

 

[Sandstone]

Yet another person comes on here after symptoms suddenly stop and claim that PTSD isn't forever. If I had a dollar....

There is clear evidence that people can improve to the degree that they no longer meet the criteria for PTSD. From NICE, which is the organisation providing evidence based treatment guidelines for the NHS. My objective is to recover to that degree, and it seems a reasonable one to me.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder shows substantial natural recovery in the initial months and years .. a substantial proportion of these individuals recover without treatment in the following years, with a steep decline in PTSD rates occurring in the first year (e.g. Breslau et al, 1991; Kessler et al, 1995).
On the other hand, at least a third of the individuals who initially develop PTSD remain symptomatic for 3 years or longer, and are at risk of secondary problems ...it is important to note that symptom severity in the initial days after trauma (up to about 1 week) is not a good predictor of persistent PTSD (Shalev, 1992; Murray et al, 2002). Importantly, evidence suggests that the chances that a PTSD sufferer will benefit from treatment do not decrease with time elapsed since the traumatic event (Gillespie et al, 2002; Resick et al, 2002). "

 

[Friday]

Lol... She didn't say cured. A week of good sleep after 4 years of nightmares is a thing indeed to be happy about. The first glimpse of things getting better. They can. They do. Good things. Good to hear, Lexi.

 

[scout86]

I remember you too, and your dad. I was just thinking about the 2 of you the other day, and wondering how things were going. Glad to hear from you! And glad to hear you're sleeping better. A nightmare now and then isn't such a big deal. Weeks on end of not being able to sleep is a much different thing. Glad you're not THERE these days.

 

[Lexi H]

Yeah I won't go as far as to say I'm "cured" but it's been about a month without a single nightmare (the ones I was having 10-15 times every night). Still find it very weird and worry it will come back, but I am trying to desensitize myself of my trigger while it's not bothering in the hope that it will either stop bothering me altogether or, if the symptoms return, they are not as severe.

And Dad is quite relieved, he finds it fascinating.