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News SGB PTSD Treatment Article

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I don't believe their aiming towards saying it is a cure, because a cure removes the problem permanently, and this isn't what this does. As you stated, my quote is an interesting aspect.

If people think even with the shot, and then lots of therapy whilst the shot is in effect for limited symptoms, that PTSD is going to disappear... they are naive going into the appointment... because it doesn't change the chemical imbalance within the brain. If you went into it with that assumption, you would be setting yourself up to fail. I don't think many really comprehend, or maybe remember / even know what its like, to live daily without symptoms. The sheer amount of work one could achieve in serious trauma therapy would be astounding. The ability to get back into life without the symptoms, would more than likely be enough of a kickstart to completely change even the outcome. Sure... you're likely that once the shot wears off, if working again, that your symptoms will progressively increase to a point of explosion quite quickly, ie. week/s... but there is also a percentage that it might not and that your brain begins to cope with familiarity again and doesn't reject the ability to work or socialise.

I think the only disappointing aspect from this would be the person themself, if they got this and used the excuse they just wanted to enjoy it and did nothing towards healing the problems. Its not long term... so the time to enjoy things would be after it IMHO... after the break and hard therapy period... even a second shot to extend, third if needed... if you have the time period without the symptoms, the brain is quite an amazing thing and can self heal, that is scientific fact... so it would be interesting whether the brain can self repair the chemical imbalance if given enough time without constant retraumatisation!!! That's the real interesting part as I see it...

I do have reservations... but my optimism on something like this with the right person who really puts in with the work during... I see good things. Shit... if it was here I would be doing it without a doubt in my mind.
 
I did a brief web search for this and there's a place in northern California. Any tips on searching for or inquiring about this exact procedure would be appreciated. I'll keep looking too.
 
Well it has been a few days and it is looking really good. My wife is keeping a log of her feelings and what is going on with her and we will post some of it soon. From my conversations with the doctor I wanted to point a few things out.

1. You can receive this shot many more times if needed. This shot is just a local anesthetic (lidocaine I believe). This shot has been used for years to treat pain so there is nothing new about the shot. The new thing is the application to help reduce or eliminate the symptoms of PTSD.

2. The Doctor told me that you can see PTSD with an MRI (I think I read that on this forum also). After the shot you will no longer see the PTSD or the images in the MRI that show PTSD. He called it quieting the brain or resting the mind so that it will function properly. He also knows that this is not a cure but away to get rid of the symptoms so that you can deal with the trauma without all of the cloudiness that can come from PTSD.

Over the past few days I have seen a major change in my wife and I am going to become the biggest cheerleader for this shot. The new thing is she feels weird without the anxiety and stuffiness of the PTSD so that is something she is adjusting too. It will take time and I am sure one day she will wake up and not feel weird. When I ask her how she is doing and her eyes light up and she says great, wonderful and really really good these are words my wife never used before. She is going to keep up with the therapy because she knows she has to deal with the trauma in order to beat this. I wish all of you could have talked with my wife over the past few weeks and got to know her and then talked to her just once after the shot, it would blow your mind.
 
That is awesome mrbarthel, and thanks for posting the additional information on the shot, too. So happy your wife is experiencing real relief from her symptoms.
 
The new thing is she feels weird without the anxiety and stuffiness of the PTSD so that is something she is adjusting too. It will take time and I am sure one day she will wake up and not feel weird.

I imagine that would be quite weird... to actually feel what is considerably normal again after such a long duration with symptoms up and down, it would be pretty mind blowing at best to comprehend instantly.

Thanks for the update... looking forward to reading your further posts on this, and hopefully others venture towards this physician and give it a shot so we can establish more here from various sources.

As I said earlier... if it was available here in Australia, I would be seriously booking in to give it a shot. Even after healing all my trauma... if I am exposed to too much, symptoms literally knock me down ill for hours to a day or two... and that would be great to rid that last final piece that is PTSD... even for a short time.

It would be cheaper for Vet Affairs to just give this to all veterans than pay constant entitlements.... especially if it allowed people to get back to work. If you had to get one every 3 - 6 months... hey, that is significantly cheaper than paying vet entitlements... let alone the majority of PTSD sufferers being sexual abuse victims and the disability payments paid to them vs. getting this shot and being capable of getting back to work. I imagine it would take a good month or two just to get used to no symptoms.
 
I Got The Shot

Hello everyone. I am the wife. I got the shot last week on Thursday. It really was amazing how quickly it has worked on my symptoms. I am having such a difficult time explaining how I am feeling to my husband. It is like the stuffiness in my body has lifted. It is strange to not feel that constant anxiety. To not feel that constantly feel on edge is remarkable.

I was very skeptical about the shot at first. My husband did most of the research because it caused me much unwanted stress reading about it. He constantly sent me emails about things he had learned. I trust him 100% so if he believes in it as much as he believes in me, I figure it was worth giving it a chance. I am glad I did.

This can change the lives of so many sufferers. It has the potential for us to be able to work on the problem in stead of just working on the symptoms. It is like pouring drain cleaner down a sink that keeps getting clogged because the pipes are so old. Replacing the pipes would work much better and be longer lasting. I am now able to concentrate on the trauma and working through it without the fuzz of my symptoms.

The procedure was not so bad. I did not go with the anesthesia that would knock me out because I did not want that to cloud how I felt after the injection. The doctor put a needle in my neck and injected Litacane (sp) to numb the area then injected the solution. The pain was far more tolerable than the pain that I have been suffering over the past decades of my life. It was well worth it. I now have a nice quarter size bruise on my neck, very faint, and a small bruise on my arm where they had an IV in me. They said the IV is standard in case they needed to give me medicine if i began to panic.

I am feeling better than I have felt in a long, long time. I will keep you posted as I progress in my healing.

Lots of Love!!!
 
WOW, this is awesome news I am so happy for you Samyglo and mrbarthel! Please keep us updated on your progress. It sounds so promising ;o)
 
samyglo,

I am SO happy for you - I really am. But I suppose speaking as an ex addict - I have to ask : what are you going to do when you come down? Get another one?

The purpose of MDMA (also known as ecstasy and the example which comes to mind when I read this thread and has now been 'cut' into prescription meds which work to 'up' seratonin levels, etc) was to help psychiatric patients and such to be 'able to talk' and blah blah. I can tell right now - I've tried anti depressants and they are AMATEUR in comparison to a very fine E. Problem with a great E is - its so good you can't stop. I've spent my entire LIFE since the point of 'am I bordering on junkie status' searching for a 'legal E'. I hear therapists talk about how anti depressants affect seratonin levels and I think about the feeling of being on an eccy pill and giggle inside going 'you have no idea - you actually think I'd PAY for that crap!? It's ~amateur~'. I also follow it up with a VERY STERN WARNING - dont take drugs kids! mmmmmk? Not good.

So please keep me updated - cause if this stuff is THAT good and its not harmful to just keep going back for shot after shot - IM IN!

P.S - do you still feel like YOU? Because as much as it pains me to say it, some pain and suffering is, I believe, part of how we grow and shape into the people we are. If I didn't believe that I'd be sitting in a gutter somewhere high off my tits on ecstasy but HAPPY AS LARRY. Who cares if you're sitting in a gutter in pain if you're HIGH? That's the ummm...*coughs*... the 'beauty' of something like E isn't it? You just don't give a toss.

P.P.S - Gosh I hope my mother isn't reading this because I'm ~not~ proud of the fact I used drugs and all the while justified it with words like 'beneficial' and 'recreational' and 'therapeudic'. That was until I realised that ummm, when I came down my solution was not to get on with ~reality~, but rather to just go 'well I'll just get another shot'.

I really hope it works - trust me, I do. I'll be the first one in line if this thing can just 'erase pain' and be given shot after shot for the rest of your life. Maybe my prayers have been answered? I really am dead set on the fence on this one and waiting for the answer. So I hope this doesn't sound anything but impartial.
 
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Another thing I will add and again, with the disclaimer that I am not trying to be a cynic - I'm simply sharing two very real experiences from my life. They're not easy to share but if anyone can relate then I suppose they were worth writing down. They're a tad in opposition to each other, and both equally as important in terms of growing and realising who I am.

1) When I was with my first love we took drugs together sometimes. I was only 19. 'God help me, I was only 19' (hope the aussies find the humour in that). I was desperately in love but I didn't know how to handle love. I'd not experienced love. I was a highly intelligent person who'd been able to grasp everything but love. Anyway, the whole idea of love was very scary to me. And I think drugs helped me to express myself. And you know, it's kinda funny because it's like one of those negative/positive comments that someone says to you that really wasn't a big deal to THEM at the time (they probably don't even remember saying it) but that you stored away and really took to heart. We were on drugs and I was feeling very open and very able to express and I was just talking and she said :

'I wish you were like this all the time'.

Hand me a kleenex folks because when she said that - well basically I loved her so much I thought drugs were good. I thought 'she sees the best side of me when my pain is blocked'. And that lead to me wanting to stay on drugs. When really, I can look back now, over a decade later and understand that she was not complimenting the drugs. She was complimenting ME. I just wasn't able to be me without the drugs at that time. But something in my very young very inexperienced brain went 'she loves you better when you're on drugs cause you're SO nice and no pain shows. You're just NICE'.

That actually lead to a drug problem.

2) My T (and we don't really discuss drugs at all because I quit some time ago - thankfullllllly) said in my last session 'people who think it's possible to just be euphoric all the time are living in a dream world'. It's not real. Nobody can look at you and say 'just be happy' and have that actually be possible. The range of emotions including sadness, pain, etc are how we become who we are. And anybody who looks at you and says 'just be happy' simply does NOT get that!

I really hope you use this period of 'freedom from pain' to understand that it is not the drugs making you 'more yourself'. It's just that you're able to be you. But if you keep taking them to stay that way - THEN it becomes the drugs talking. I sincerely wish you the best, and again, please keep me updated.
 
This is interesting, I noticed they give this shot for pain management for conditions like RSD etc. I was reading in some forums of others who had this procedure done (not for PTSD, but for pain management) either once or a few times and reading the outcomes. Most had several 5-6 or even as much as 8 shots and experienced varying degrees of pain relief and side effects after each different shot.

I think most of the side effects like the droopy eye lids and face, paralyzed arm, loss of vocal cord function, difficulty swallowing etc. for the most part was only temporary. However when using it for pain relief, some people only got relief for 6 hours, others only days or a few weeks at a time, then they would need another shot. I hope this wouldn't be the same when it comes to the effectiveness of the shot for PTSD when they start using this procedure for more people.

I guess this procedure is not just as easy as getting a simple shot, they do use a local anesthetic for it. It was a little scary to read that if the doctor is off in needle placement (which I guess has happened), it could result in some pretty serious and possibly permanent side effects like nerve injury, lung injury, blood clots, spinal cord trauma, breathing problems etc. Looks like these risks are very low though, and even lower with the use of contrast dye and fluoroscopic guidance.

It will be interesting to see what results follow when more people are having this procedure done. I am glad that so far people are able to find some relief with it.
 
I Have an appointment with a local doctor (pain clinic) do discuss this procedure. i want to give it a try.
 
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