Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.
Yup, it's true. Not only is it shown to work 89% of the time for PTSD, it also shown to work quickly and, typically, without side effects.
"Results
Eighty-nine percent of the patients were rated as excellent or satisfactory positive responders. "
Excellent or satisfactory response? Wow. That's a LOT better than anything else I've heard of. Plus, those results last. Seriously, you don't have to take more and more over time. Now THAT is cool.
"Discussion.
PTSD is a severe and debilitating disorder. The symptoms can be severe and frightening, causing further anxiety, depression, and insomnia in an already stressed patient.
We feel our results are important because of:
1. The extremely high rate of symptom relief
2. The lack of severe side-effects
3. The rapidity of response to ziprasidone.
That 89 percent of our patients not only tolerated the medication, but reported rapid symptomatic relief is remarkable. . . we strongly recommend that ziprasidone be considered as one of the primary treatments for PTSD patients with symptoms."
Why haven't you heard of it?!?
The reason you haven't heard about it is that no one is talking to the people who can prescribe it. Instead, you are getting antidepressants, which typically make symptoms worse (including depression occurring with PTSD!) and benzodiazapenes (Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax) which have been proven 100% NOT effective on PTSD. They are handy for getting to sleep and work the same way that alcohol does. So, benzos are handy or you can have a glass of wine on an empty stomach. You're choice! ;)
"Cases
The symptoms of severe PTSD included flashbacks, hallucinations, somato-sensory hallucinations, and nightmares. There were 100 female subjects and 28 male subjects. The age range was 18 to 54. All of these patients were treated for dual diagnosis. Moreover, there were no metabolic problems precluding treatment on a psychiatric unit. The symptoms of PTSD always coincided with a ?causal? event. That is, the syndrome never developed as a consequence of the addiction. Seventy percent of our patients had PTSD symptoms predating any substance abuse. The events included rape, molestation, incest, viewing murders, beatings, or burnings, and sudden family death."
Sound like you at all? Maybe you have dissociative PTSD, which means you forget/can't access memories instead of having flashbacks. You may wake up with your heart racing and you *think* you have had a nightmare, but you don't remember it. Guess what? It still works for you too!
Want to get better?
Want your doctor to hear about it?
Well, go here and print out the study info to take with you on your next visit: http://www.psychiatrymmc.com/displayArticle.cfm?articleID=article43
Want your doctor to understand how and why it works? Check out www.CarrotofHope.org. In the articles section you can learn more about the fight-or-flight chemicals ("catecholamines") that cause PTSD and find out about the PTSD cocktail. It has links to the pharmacology of ziprasidone (brand name "Geodon") and learn why using it with propranolol makes it even more effective.
Give yourself a chance to get better and live a happy life again.
"Results
Eighty-nine percent of the patients were rated as excellent or satisfactory positive responders. "
Excellent or satisfactory response? Wow. That's a LOT better than anything else I've heard of. Plus, those results last. Seriously, you don't have to take more and more over time. Now THAT is cool.
"Discussion.
PTSD is a severe and debilitating disorder. The symptoms can be severe and frightening, causing further anxiety, depression, and insomnia in an already stressed patient.
We feel our results are important because of:
1. The extremely high rate of symptom relief
2. The lack of severe side-effects
3. The rapidity of response to ziprasidone.
That 89 percent of our patients not only tolerated the medication, but reported rapid symptomatic relief is remarkable. . . we strongly recommend that ziprasidone be considered as one of the primary treatments for PTSD patients with symptoms."
Why haven't you heard of it?!?
The reason you haven't heard about it is that no one is talking to the people who can prescribe it. Instead, you are getting antidepressants, which typically make symptoms worse (including depression occurring with PTSD!) and benzodiazapenes (Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax) which have been proven 100% NOT effective on PTSD. They are handy for getting to sleep and work the same way that alcohol does. So, benzos are handy or you can have a glass of wine on an empty stomach. You're choice! ;)
"Cases
The symptoms of severe PTSD included flashbacks, hallucinations, somato-sensory hallucinations, and nightmares. There were 100 female subjects and 28 male subjects. The age range was 18 to 54. All of these patients were treated for dual diagnosis. Moreover, there were no metabolic problems precluding treatment on a psychiatric unit. The symptoms of PTSD always coincided with a ?causal? event. That is, the syndrome never developed as a consequence of the addiction. Seventy percent of our patients had PTSD symptoms predating any substance abuse. The events included rape, molestation, incest, viewing murders, beatings, or burnings, and sudden family death."
Sound like you at all? Maybe you have dissociative PTSD, which means you forget/can't access memories instead of having flashbacks. You may wake up with your heart racing and you *think* you have had a nightmare, but you don't remember it. Guess what? It still works for you too!
Want to get better?
Want your doctor to hear about it?
Well, go here and print out the study info to take with you on your next visit: http://www.psychiatrymmc.com/displayArticle.cfm?articleID=article43
Want your doctor to understand how and why it works? Check out www.CarrotofHope.org. In the articles section you can learn more about the fight-or-flight chemicals ("catecholamines") that cause PTSD and find out about the PTSD cocktail. It has links to the pharmacology of ziprasidone (brand name "Geodon") and learn why using it with propranolol makes it even more effective.
Give yourself a chance to get better and live a happy life again.
GP's are not trained to treat PTSD. You need a Psychiatrist trained to treat PTSD.
Flashbacks are not fun, but if one can work through the flashback and PROCESS it, either through talk therapy OR EMDR or possibly other therapy styles, it can help stop the 'popping up' of the flashbacks.
When memories are kept in the amygdala portion of the brain...they will keep 'popping up.' Once processed, they move to a different area of the brain where it is 'stored' but not forgotten, but it doesn't cause all the symptoms it once did before, and it doesn't 'pop up' all the time.
Memories, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts should be PROCESSED THROUGH, IMO. Sometimes talk therapy can help, other times it may not be enough. That's when EMDR may be used, or another type of therapy style.
Having at least one memory is kinda needed for therapy to start. But, not recalling all of your memories is NOT NEEDED to work through PTSD. You do NOT want to recall all those memories if you don't have to. But, if some pop up, you need to address it and PROCESS it.
PROCESSING THERAPY is a BIGGIE in PTSD Treatment, IMHO!
I had no memory too. It's called "dissociative" PTSD. Once I started taking Geodon, my memory came back and withOUT triggers. Pretty cool, eh?
You'll feel the effects in days. I always suggest giving it a try for a week because you can tell if it is helping right away. Since there is no build up of the drug, you can just stop it without any side effects. So, it's totally worth it to give it a try.
xxEmxx:
The drug class is irrelevant. It's like me giving you a random name. What is important about you is how you work! :) Geodon *BLOCKS* PTSD chemicals and that is ALL that matters!
I have low blood pressure and I wondered if I would have problems. I worried about that with the propranolol and I *especially* worried about that using them together. The result? No problem! I suspect that, because of the way it works, Geodon has so little side effects for people with PTSD. It brings us back down to "normal." Other people who have different conditions probably do more poorly on it. Much like the way people with PTSD have a LOT of issues when we take antidepressants.
Meditation is great and recommended, but it's impossible to meditate until the PTSD symptoms are under control. I find that meditation, yoga, spiritual studying, etc. all help "rewire" my brain and make it so I no longer need daily meds, despite the 4 years of craziness that preceded them! :)
Daisy is right, you need a psychiatrist. A GP is useless. It will also be hard to find a psychiatrist who knows how to treat PTSD. Remember, they only *just* started studying it in the last year, so hardly anyone has bothered to learn how to treat it effectively!
My recommendation is to go to Carrot of Hope, print up the pharmacology page on Geodon (that will help the psychiatrist) and also take in the research study that shows it's 89% effective. The worst that can happen is that you try something else in a week. The reality? It takes *AT LEAST* ---TWO--- weeks for antidepressants to work and you *have* to wean off of them. So, Geodon and propranolol are the least problematic of PTSD options. You can always stop them if you find your blood pressure get too low. ;-)
Let us know what happens with your psychiatrist! :)