Yup I'm New

[KBar87]

hopefully I can get some help from you guys cuz the military mental health is joke. Im in the navy but the mental health clinic on my base is really bad so I go to the AF base nearby. I been doing a PTSD treatment program there something like 12 wk program. This program sucks. I been diagnosed with severe ptsd, anxiety, insomnia. Just found out the doc is a psychologist went I asked for a prescription for the panic attacks. Can I stop the treatment and see a real psychiatrist or will that mess up any VA rating when I get out in a year

 

[Jimmy1]

Welcome mate.

Most PTSD treatment programs suck. When I did mine I was bored shitless and wondered how it was going to help.
In hindsight I wish I had of listened intently. The problem is that they broadly pass on as much info as possible in a short amount of time and hope they hit a few people.
You see there are thousands of people returning from all sections of the military with PTSD. At least they are doing something.

My advice on the whole psych thing. Keep seeing the psych you are and try and find someone else outside. Let them be none the wiser. I don't really know how the psych thing works over there.

With panic attacks there is not much they can prescribe. Antivan works but is highly addictive and builds up a tollerance. Do some research. Go to google and look up alpha blockers for anxiety, or beta blockers for anxiety.
They are blood pressure medication that work wonders for nightmares and anxiety. Just a hint.
Most psych's will prescribe antivan or something like that, and you will end up bombed out and not really be able to work on the actual problem.

Good luck mate.

 

[KBar87]

thanks bro i been dealing with this bs since iraq 07-08 and this past deployment to afghan has really made it worse, it just feels like i keep getting shifted from psych to psych. is it ever gonna end

 

[Jimmy1]

Mate, I was misdiagnosed in 02, all it really did was f*ck my marriage, family, and friends. My career was find because I threw myself into work. In 06 when I got back from Iraq my world turned to shit.
I have had a few different therapists, but I had to find one privately who worked for the VA, and that is not even guaranteed as one of them retired. Therapists are like cars mate, you have to find one that is suited to you. You have to be able to trust them and be able to tell them your darkest secrets. My therapist knows more about me than I do.
With medication, you have to try different ones till you find the ones that suit you best too. What one medication does for one person, can do different things for another.

Read through this forum. On here you will find help on every subject and if you can't find it, ask the question in the appropriate area, someone will answer.

If you want to get something off your chest and don't want comments, in the 'Members Only' are write you thread and in the title put 'Venting' you may still get comments, but they will be constructive.

This forum is a living entity with members from all over the world and from a million and one conflicts, even from conflicts that didn't happen.

So ask away mate.

And in answer to your question, No it does not end, but it does get better.

Jimmy

 

[Lee C]

Welcome mate.
Its not easy and it can be rough as f*** at times, not going to lie, but when you get a good or normal day, embrace it and make use as the next one could be, well, f*** knows. (guess who is a poorly soldier at the moment!)
Post away and you will get a better response out of this mob than you will off many wannabe's with PHD's etc.
;)

 

[Sarg]

Welcome Kbar!

Sorry you wound up here, but it's the best damn site I've ever found for PTSD. You got good advice above from folks that have been there and done it. But always keep in mind there is life after PTSD. I think Jimmy is right on about continuing to see the P-doc that they are sending you to and then quietly see an outside Shrink.

The VA cut me loose two years ago and I now get the best care I have ever received.

Keep coming here and post what's bothering you. Most likely one of us have gone through the same and can offer specific help.

Sarg

 

[tho9900]

my take is what was stated before... but keep records of the other outside shrink... sad but because of the multiple deployments in OIF/OEF they are really being hard ass about disability ratings for PTSD because of that.. you will need all the documentation you can get... but that is for after you get out... as a corspman, I will tell you to go to psych where you are right before you EAOS and ask for a copy of your psych mental health folder.. I guarantee it will never be found otherwise.. (do you detect a bitter note here?) It will never be put in your medical record ...and if you write back to the command it never happened... like so many other things when we were in...

Take care shipmate.. good to have another squid onboard... all these ground pounders make us nervous lol (yes kidding everyone here is spot on even if they piss you off at the time)

read a lot, comment when you feel like it.. you will find your own lil support group and go from there.. lots of help on benefits and all if you ask.. some here have been fighting for 40 something yrs for theirs...

Good luck!!!!

ohhhhh reread your post glad I did.. if you go to http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ and either call or chat them and tell them whats up they will take care of you... believe me they rock... tell them you arent getting the care you need etc.. they will help you navigate the system, even make phone calls themselves.. believe me I know..

 

[Zipperhead]

Around here all the shrnks do is hand out the candy. The psycologists do 95% of the therapies. Still, you should be able to see a shrink to get the happy pills and still continue with your psycologist. They aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[Raven]

You have to figure out what sort of therapy works for you and gets through to you the best. Some people want therapists who will coddle them. Some, like myself, need a therapist who will go into D.S. (or, in your case, C.C.) mode to dole out tough love and harsh words. I have always sought outside help because I'm still in the I.R.R. and want to keep the door open for possible reenlistment.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Anglesachse]

The main thing is accepting you have a problem and wanting to do something about it.

The how and when and with whom, you will find as you walk the road. In the mean time there aree plents of folks on here to walk with you.

Welcome to our slightly dysfuntional family.

 

[CAFTT0607]

Kbar
Welcome to the site. Simliar situation here. I've been dealing with this since my 06-07 OIF deployment. Didn't really seek any help and then went back to Iraq in 09. Like you, that wasn't helpful at all. Anyway, put off doing anything for a few more years until recently when I realized that if I didn't do something, I was going to end up dead. Stay strong and you will get through the tough times.

I am still figuring out the treatment part of this. I am seeing an on base psych doc but not sure if I will stick with her. I have a VA appt at the OIF PTSD clinic at John Cockran hospital about 40 minutes away. Not sure how that will turn out. That appt is still a few weeks away.

Anyway, hang in there. Oh, as for anxiety, my doc started me on Zoloft several weeks ago. It is working ok. I see her again this week and we've already discussed upping the dosage. The intital amount had an impact at first but now it isn't doing as much. She thinks more will help. Anyway, the thing here is that there are lots of drugs out there but you have to find the one that works for you. Zoloft has been ok so far; side effects aren't too bad. I am going to go with the docs recommendation and let her up the dosage but if there aren't any changes after that, I am likely going to ask to move to something else.

 

[Squaddiedave]

Welcome pal,pull up a chair up and join in the ramblings!
Lots of great advice here,