Which medication? what has been your experience?

[Mona Mona]

Hi Everyone!

I recently understood my situation had a name by " PTSD".
3 members of my family had been diagnosed with bipolar on medication. However, I have read that people with childhood abuse are normally misdiagnosed as bipolar.

So, I thought I could go without medication and stick to supplement and life changes. But im not sure anymore so have registered with a GP and about to go in and ask for help. I think what im going through is manic depression, anxiety etc...

My question to you is: What medication out of your experience, do you recommend? What had been its side effect? And how easily were you able to come off them eventually?

hope to hear from you soon!

 

[Friday]

Unlike a lot of disorders, there is no basic medication “for” PTSD, nor is there any kind of baseline neurology (like people with ADHD tend to respond well -if atypically- to stimulants; whilst people with bipolar disorder tend to respond well to a cocktail of 3 meds -antidepressant + mood stabilizer + antipsychotic; whilst people with GAD, with depression, with schizophrenia, with SAD, etc so forth and so on).

The treatment for PTSD isn’t medication, it’s therapy.

That said meds are often extremely useful for a lot of people, but unlike most other disorders

- meds are used for a short period of time > to allow for therapy
- meds are matched to the person’s worst symptoms (nightmares, anxiety, depression, etc.) &/or to any other comorbid disorder (like MDD) to ease the weight.

So you can very nearly thunk down the entire durn list of psychiatric meds... people with PTSD are on most of them... as one person is taking anti anxiety meds because that’s their worst symptom, whilst someone else is taking an antidepressant because they’ve also got major depressive disorder, whilst someone else is taking beta blocker to lower their blood pressure, etc. etc. etc.

It’s a very individualised thing.

 

[Calendula]

I was on cipralex for 2 yrs or so for anxiety (I had not been diagnosed with PTSD at the time, even though I did have it.) Cipralex didnt do much for me. Now, I'm on Sertraline and it works wonders. It definitely helps with depression and general anxiety. Medication is great for when you need a break to figure things out and to allow you to go through your day, however therapy is a must to help you process your trauma.
Everyone is different so my type of medication might do nothing for you. It's all about trying and seeing what works for you. Talk to a doctor and make sure to follow up with them regarding your medication. For cipralex, I was just given a year worth of prescriptions and no follow up so it was hard to establish that it wasnt working out for me.

My current doctor gives me a prescription for one month of pills at the time and I have to go see him monthly for updates and that's definitely helping in making sure the meds are working for me.

My advice: talk to your doctor, be patient, and make sure to have therapy.

 

[Mona Mona]

Thank you both, this is very helpful actually.
I have started therapy, EMDR, and looking for group support etc...so its kind of the beginning, but like u said - certain times, it feels like im losing my mind and afraid to lose track of what is the most important for me...and here, im actually considering medication for the first time.

My main fear to be honest...is

- How do we know if the medication is the right one for us? There have been so many times, we have heard of there being misdiagnosed.How do you not waste more time and be accurate...just for the sake of making progress....I've been stuck in this for 2 years already. Do you research the GP, the medication....what?

- How can one make sure the medication is only meant for short term with minimum side effects and not buy into, this is a lifetime solution...or worse yet, agree to being numbed..

 

[Snowflakes]

@Mona Mona @Friday calls it right on the meds. I can add that getting the right med, combination of meds, and correct dosages takes time. There is no “take this if you have this.” A great doctor, preferably a psychiatrist, will start out based on your initial diagnosis, which may change as they try to get it right. A great doctor will explain everything to you including the side effects. Very often you and the doctor may have to decide if the benefits outweigh the side effect you’re experiencing. Sometimes a doctor will run a DNA test called GeneSight to help them with the drug selection. The test doesn’t directly tell them what to prescribe but it does help them find good combinations. The point of this is that it will take time.

My sufferer spent over 2 years with a psychiatrist trying to nail down meds that would help. By trial and error, he found the right combination and now just working on minor tweaking of the dosages. The change in her was pretty dramatic as he found the right combination. Remember that different meds affect different people differently. What works for one may, or may not, work for you, As @Friday wrote, my sufferer has also been in therapy with a psychologist at the same time. The goal is to reduce her meds as her therapy progresses. It is understood that she might be on a maintenance dose eventually as her therapy reaches a good place for her.

I hope my story helps you. Take care.

 

[EveHarrington]

Any med can pretty much be used for short term relief.

Depending on your symptoms, medication may be needed for life....many with ptsd don’t need meds for life, but some of us do. It’s good to go in with the idea that meds are a temporary situation, but be open to the possibility that you may need them for life. Again, we’re all different and you wont be able to tell ahead of time if meds are only a temporary thing.

I’m concerned that you mention manic depression.....this is the old school name for bipolar disorder. And, when dealing with bipolar disorder, meds are more of a necessity as I believe I’ve read studies stating that every subsequent manic episode can cause more damage to the brain, and makes future manic episodes more likely.

 

[Jonnyhi]

Risperidone really worked for me, alot, but i was took off it because of the results on my blood test.
I think this drug is mainly prescribed for psychosis, however I actually found it helps for ptsd too, i don't think many doctors knew this, but hope it helps everyone ells :)

 

[Mee]

I just swapped on to Zoloft yesterday. I’m hopeful.

I have also agreed to take sleeping pills solidly for ten days -2 weeks without a break to try and break the habit of tight time hypervigilance

 

[Mach123]

Pills pills pills. I'm not on any. All of my issues are less severe. I don't think any of the medications actually helped me and in fact, I think the side effects on my behavior actually made me worse. I love pills so the fact that I won't seek them shows me really how afraid I am to go back on them. It's hard, but it was harder on medications. Klonopin was great but getting off those was one of the worst experiences I ever had. Pain meds were always my favorite because they make the pain go away. I do have actual physical pain that is more than sufficient for me to be on hydrocodone but, I just keep going without it. All that said, I believe in medication, but only as a last resort. If I were suicidal or otherwise so wrecked emotionally that I was not functional I'd do it but only then. I question how they prescribe the stuff and why and in general think they are doing more harm than good. The ultimate goal for me is always to learn how to do things differently while on the meds and then learn how to implement those changes without the meds. Would that it always worked out that way. Just my opinion. Hope you feel better.

 

[Mee]

Mach, I am glad you do ok with out your pills. And I agree, it's best yo not need them. Problem is some of us do feel suicidal it suicide ideation :( . Recognising when I need more help is part of the process for me.

 

[Nessa7]

Do you know what medications your family members take? That can be very helpful in giving them a starting point of some medications might have less side affects. I have been diagnosed with different things than my father, but we still react well to the same antidepressants.