Medication and Therapy
Therapy is the most important part in dealing with PTSD, but not just therapy for yourself, but for all those people that love and care about you the most as well.
There is no one thing that surpasses the importance of being able to talk about what is going on and in learning how to deal with your own PTSD or someone you love who is dealing with PTSD.
Recovery is possible, but the goal is to treat it before it becomes a long term disorder. Medication has both it's pro's, con's and risks, but when used "properly" it can play a very useful role in treating and managing many PTSD symptoms especially if it is used in conjunction with other forms of therapy.
There is no one drug that will cure PTSD and nothing can replace therapy itself because without therapy the drugs are only band aids for a wound that will not heal until it is properly treated and cared for. "Re-training" your brain and body is what this whole process of healing is about. Regular or weekly one on one talk therapy is probably the best line of treatment for PTSD. Fitting that into your life is the hardest part.
Support groups can be another extremely useful form of therapy in the sense you are able to meet and talk with others facing the same issues you are. Being able to relate to others facing the same problems you are eases that feeling that you are in this alone and having someone there for you when things get rough makes it so much easier to handle PTSD.
Anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications are often used to ease symptoms so that other therapy can go forward. This is the key....getting your symptoms under control enough so that you can deal with just the everyday stressers in a more normal and healthy way so that you can work on the bigger issues.
VA and Military Medications for Dummy's
No medications has been specifically designed to cure PTSD but can only help treat the symptoms of PTSD. Although some medications commonly used to treat anxiety disorders and depression have been found to be effective in helping people manage their symptoms they will not cure it and are just a band aid to help you with the symptoms until you are able to learn new ways to manage and deal with your symptoms.
We also have to tell you up front that we are NOT doctors and we are NOT advising anyone to stop taking any medication you are on, you must discuss this along with the risks and benefits with your doctor.
NEVER ever just stop taking any medications you are on, doing this can cause serious side effects and withdrawals. Withdrawals can result in death!
What we also want to clearly express is that what we have to say concerning medications is our personal perception and view after spending hundreds of hours researching and reading and talking with doctors, pharmacists and people schooled in the use of medications for mental health issues.
Knowledge is power as we say and being informed is part of that power.
We as consumers spend more time researching to plan a trip or buy a car then we do to take a pill that has risks and you may understandably view whatever we say with some skepticism. But that's up to you, we just want to make you aware of things we had never questioned ourself along with millions of other families. A smart way to address this topic is to remember to never just take any drug with blind faith. Having concerns about what drugs you are putting in your body is a healthy practice as far as we are concerned. There are risks and benefits with any drug. But keep in mind that not understanding what you are putting into your body is just bad practice. Always know your medications, dosages, side effects and what interactions they might have with other things.
Please if you are on more then three medications learn what interactions they may have with each other. NEVER drink, self medicate with other medications your doctor has not prescribed you or take other over the counter drugs until you consult with your doctor or a pharmacy!
Read the labels and learn if your medication might even react with common foods or vitamins. Some drugs will not work if taken with certain foods or drinks. If you think you may forget to take your medications get yourself a pill box, set an alarm on your computer or on your watch to remind yourself daily or better yet have a loved one be in charge of handling your medications. Remember, PTSD or TBI injuries can cause memory issues and forgetting to take your pill or taking to many is easy to do and can have unhealthy results.
List of common medications used by VA or Military and Civilian doctors to treat PTSD. medications.doc(DOC — 30 KB)
Drug Interaction LinkA terrific online link below can be used to type in your prescription(s) and/or over-the-counter medications. It will let you know if there are any red flags you need to be aware of or to talk with your doctor about. http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html
Lastly, if you are a person dealing with or recovering from any type of addiction issue you MUST be informed of what medications you should or should not take! You MUST tell you doctor because many will not ask, nor are many familiar with medications a person recovering from addiction needs to be cautious or need to be avoided all together. The link below is to a terrific website that will give you a printable PDF that breaks down medications that are safe, gray area, or not safe, to include sleeping medications.
We Need Your Help!!!!
If you or someone you know has died or suffered from adverse or deadly effects from PTSD/TBI medications please contact us! We need to find and reach out to other families that have possibly lost a loved due to PTSD medications that have been given.
We have numerous suspicious and confirmed drug toxicity cases, but we believe there are more. If you know of any families that have lost loved ones while taking these meds please email us. Our Goal is:
1. Collect the stories of other soldiers who have died from meds while being treated for PTSD.
2. Lobby Congress to force the DOD and VA to use less medication and more counseling for PTSD, and
3. Lobby for an in depth investigation into why the VA and DOD continues to prescribe the lethal mix of anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and pain killing drugs
