What Medication Helped You With Ptsd??

[trappedinlife]

I have had ptsd for two years now. I tried cymbalta made me sick for a week and I lost a lot of weight so my doctor put me on Pristiq. Pristiq did help quite a bit stopped the racing thoughts and in the end I was completely off valium, I could drive again, and I never experience attacks on it but I was a very cold person on them and a bit heartless. I thought I was ready to come off prisitq after 6 months but I clearly wasn't, as soon as I came off I started having panic attacks again, quite frequently. My new doctor put me on Mirtazapine 30 mg, I have been on this now for 4 months and it is not helping. I have also tried Zoloft but that didn't agree with my just like cymbalta. Mirtazapine is making me sleepy all day and i still have attacks on it, I can't face my fears and I just don't feel "right" in the head.

I am just wondering what medication out there has helped other people with ptsd? Thanks

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

I'm not sure but I think it's a bit of a journey in discovering what suits you well. I've been through a pile of meds, most of which didn't work that well, but some of them did. Also what medications doctors prescribe depend on the nature of the symptoms you're having, I suposse, so it differs from person to person...

What works for me now against anxiety is oxazepam, although I've been warned to be careful with it as on the long term it can be addictive. You can use it but take care to decrease gradually when stopping. I'm also on seroquel which is working for me to cut the edge off the "hallucinations" or intrusive images. Both medications make you sleepy, and both are kind of heavy duty so driving would be out of the question...

For depression I used to have paroxetine. Worked like a charm as far as I can remember (can't remember very well though) and when I was off it, I felt this immense hapiness for quite a while. It was fun :giggle:

 

[Lost Pup]

I tried several for short periods of time.

Inderol (Propanolol), a beta-blocker which seemed to help my nervous system find balance when activated and calmed my anxiety.

Prazosin, an alpha-blocker, which worked wonders for nightmares and sleep disturbance for about 6 months.

Seroquel, for sleep but too sedative and screwed with my metabolism. Not recommended.

Ativan (lorazepam), a benzo which was extremely, extremely helpful for anxiety but..which ultimately screwed with my short-term memory and was a pain to go off of as you have to taper off it extremely slowly or it makes all your pre-existing symptoms much worse. Benzos are really quite helpful for emergencies but long-term use is yucky.

I tried two antidepressants but they did very little to nothing, for me.

 

[Tobacha]

I am on a new anti-depressant called Viibryd that seems to help a lot more than Zoloft ever did....I've been on a ton of anti depressants and I don't like feeling like dead on the inside so I take 1mg every 12 hrs as needed of Xanax which helps out with the panic attacks which I have frequently. But am thinking of changing onto something else for the panic attacks as I have been getting them a lot recently. :)

 

[Tympre]

I have tried every ssri with no luck. I am on pamelor I think right now it helps with the depression but doesn't touch the anxiety. I am also on propanol to get rid of my burning crawling skin, trazedone to sleep. I am on others but they don't treat this. I just started my med journey 3 months ago. As none of mine actually treat the anxiety I know I am not on the right ones yet. Good luck with your journey;)

 

[Lost Pup]

Wow, I forgot about Buspar which did nothing. God I tried alot of meds in the past few years.

 

[DMerish]

I started Zoloff (again) for depression in August 2013. I've tried other SSRIs but non of them worked or they caused unacceptable side affects. I started metoprolol (a beta-blocker) in Dec 2012. It causes my heart to beat regularly, thus greatly lowering (my) panic attacks and hyper-tachycardia. My life has changed incredibly since starting it. Yoga and meditation also help me also.

 

[DharmaGirl]

I am down to Paxil and Ativan. I do meditation, I stop and do deep breathing when I start to feel panic. I was on Prazocin, it worked very well for me. I stopped it when I felt out of touch with my inner self. I will still take it if my nightmares become really horrid.

I think I'm doing much better since I had the realization that there wasn't a pill that would fix me. I had to work on myself. It has been hard, but I have been able to cut down on a lot of meds.

 

[trappedinlife]

Thanks heaps for the replies guys, I guess its just a trial and error as everyone is different. I'm hoping after I see my psychiatrist he will put me on something to get my life on track. Goodluck to you all out there :) We can do this and beat this :)

 

[DharmaGirl]

Amen!

 

[wild_danimal]

The only medication that has helped me has been adderall because on it, I can actually stop zoning out.