Success stories?

Sky: By and large I have had good doctors (that is, good people practicing western medicine) throughout this debacle, they've just been trained by flawed medical ideologies. Never once did my doctors tell me that there was anything I could do for my head injury problems, they'd just repeat the same song and dance "get lots of sleep, don't drink too much alcohol, don't overexert yourself... blah, blah, blah". Well, when you haven't had a drink in a year, have been sleeping late every day, and haven't had a job in months, and yet you aren't healing at all, obviously their treatment plan isn't working.

The truth of the matter is that there are many forms of therapy that have been proven to be wildly beneficial for both PTSD and PCS, but doctors won't mention these because they're either too arrogant to recognize those therapies as being valid or they're entirely ignorant that those therapies exist in the first place. Most doctors have been trained under the defining creed "When all else fails, prescribe anti depressants", which could not be a more preposterously stupid philosophy. So yeah, I have problems with western medicine, not with the individual doctors that I saw.

The reason that I'm a "fascinating case" in the eyes of my therapists is that I didn't have any trauma to speak of growing up. My parents could not have possibly been better, I never sustained any serious injuries growing up (never even broke a bone), I was never in a serious car accident, my social life was healthy throughout my youth and adolescence, and to be perfectly honest I was having the time of my life when my trauma took place.

The only theory that makes sense in my case is that something happened to me before my memory was operating entirely that my body held onto, then that memory from my infancy synced up with my falling and hitting my head, setting off a catastrophic psychological chain of events. Basically, I was a walking time bomb with a very specific fuse that I just happened to ignite. In all likelihood my birth is what that root incident was, as it was an entirely traumatic birth by all accounts (I stressed several times, my mother's heart stopped at one point, a cesarian had to be performed, it was just a big mess), and the fall that I took was on my birthday as well.

So yeah, like I said, I'm a weird case.

it almost sounds like you are having some OCD problems, my hubby goes through cycles when he fears going out and then times that he thinks he has a brain tumor because his head aches for 2 days

I don't think I'll dignify that theory with a response.

I'm sure that nothemama8 meant it with good caring sincerity, PTSDeez. It is possible that the head trauma caused some issues that look like OCD also, you know?

Yes, well, in reference to not receiving enough, proper care for head trauma, I can understand that. The place to get real help is with a brain injury center. I was doing many things on my "own" to try and cope with my head trauma, when I realized that the local center could have helped me more and faster. (It took me years to figure out how to cope with some things! ) I still think I could learn more if I were to visit one.

It was difficult, to differentiate between the results of head trauma, and the PTSD, for my own case. In fact, with all of my difficulties, what causes what has no longer become an issue: it just is. I find it easier to regard a symptom and then seek ( with my "team's" help) the best solution for me. I'll give one small tidbit of a larger example: out of sight, out of mind = putting sticky notes on cupboard doors with what's inside.

Once you can gain some control over your life, then you can put more energy into solving the problems of living, rather than reeling from the frustrations I know are there.

TC!

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Thank you Sky for your response, you are very understanding, our response was not intended to hurt, it was just an opinion, if we offened we're sorry, am trying to control alter because she senses your reply as an attack, in no manner we're we trying to offened (sp)
Iris

yes,,,, OCD can cause all kinds of things... yepper... I too have suffered from things like you describe your husband goes thru... and suffer is the word... it is not.. not.. "fun"... taking a med has helped me control some of the OCD... like this... so it is valid... there are other people... like your husband... me for one... that has the same problem....

I didn't know OCD... by it's name until a few years ago when I saw my first pdoc.... and thank goodness he was able to help me... with the med... and also by explaining it.. so I could finally know it by it's name... OCD... and that I wasn't alone....

so it may be worth checking out...

Uggh, this is about as worth listening to as Andy Rooney.

Look, I came onto this site looking for new therapy options, but obviously I've come to the wrong place. You folks are clearly more of a support group for a condition that you've resigned yourselves to having for the rest of your lives, and that's fine, but it's not for me.

Please do not try to play amateur psychotherapist with me, I've seen plenty of very good people with very strong pedigrees and the opinion is in consensus: I have acute PTSD, complicated by the simultaneous introduction of a mild brain injury. That's it, and that's all. I am not bipolar, I'm not obsessive compulsive, I'm not chemically depressed, I don't have an anxiety disorder, I'm not schizophrenic, I'm just your not so average PTSD case.

pedigrees -we are not animals
We have dx and are very human
this is a mental health support forum
could your dx be nuerological (sp)?
We are trying to support you but it does go both ways

Some of the people who have tried to help you have had a life much harder and more traumatic than anything you could ever imagine. None of these people have become resigned to what has happened to them or to their future and struggle heroically everyday to live life as fully as they can and to get better. They have tried many things over the years, some help them some dont. If you are going to be immature, obnoxious and arrogant, perhaps you need to find a new sandbox to play in.

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heyjoe said:
Some of the people who have tried to help you have had a life much harder and more traumatic than anything you could ever imagine. None of these people have become resigned to what has happened to them or to their future and struggle heroically everyday to live life as fully as they can and to get better. They have tried many things over the years, some help them some dont. If you are going to be immature, obnoxious and arrogant, perhaps you need to find a new sandbox to play in.

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I have no doubt that most (if not all) of the people on here have had far more difficult lives than my own - the first 21 years of my life were absolute bliss, and I am more than happy to admit that. That said, I would put the last 5 years of my life up against anything that anyone's had to go through. That's not the issue here though, and I have no interest in making it an issue.

I have yet to read anyone other than myself on this site who has any sort of aspirations of doing away with their PTSD entirely, rather they hope to make their lives as good as possible despite their condition, as such I think it's perfectly valid to say that most people here are resigned to the continuance of their condition (this is not to say that they're resigned to not living a good life, they are just resigned to living the rest of their lives within the parameters that their PTSD allows, however wide those parameters may be). This is a perfectly fine decision on their part I'm sure, but like I said, this is not for me.

I apologize if my tone was caustic, but I have run afoul of about 3,000 amateur psychologists over the past 5 years, so I have little tolerance for people who want to craft nonsensical solutions to the trauma that my body is dealing with (like I said, this trauma is likely less than the traumas that most people on this site are dealing with, but it's still crippling my ability to live a life that's worth living, so I would ask you to refrain from undermining anything I've been through in the future).

In closing, if you are going to be immature, obnoxious and arrogant, perhaps you should take your precious sandbox and shove it up your pitooty.

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nothemama8 said:
pedigrees -we are not animals
We have dx and are very human
this is a mental health support forum
could your dx be nuerological (sp)?
We are trying to support you but it does go both ways

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I apologize if it seemed like I was attacking you, I did not intend for that to be the message that came across.

I think it's pretty obvious that you folks are not being of great help to me, and I am not being of any help to you either, so I believe I'll just be moving along.

If anyone comes along in the future who is looking for things that they can actively do to try and cure their symptoms, please feel free to have them PM me. Though I'm not entirely out of this mess just yet, I have found some therapies in the past couple of years that have been exceedingly beneficial for me, and I'm certain that these therapies could be of great help to others as well.

Adios.

Well, because people I care about here may be upset by this thread, I'd like to point out a couple of things even though this person has gone his merry way.

1. He asked for people's own stories and they offered them. It's unfortunate that it wasn't what he was after but that doesn't justify insulting others. And if people offered advice or insight he didn't like, he could still respond with civility and respect.

2. This is a support site. That's all we do, support. We aren't here to provide answers but rather encourage each other as we try to deal with very complex illnesses.

3. Judging other people's attitudes and their approach to healing is inappropriate for the same reason as listen in number 2, this is a support site and most people here have trained professionals guiding their recovery. It's not his place to say what people's goals should be or to state that anyone here has resigned themselves to anything.

4. Ill or not, being nice to others isn't that hard to do. Since he doesn't seem to care about his tone when dealing with others, I agree that this site is not for him.

My two cents.

Cyran0

I'm just shocked by the whole thing. It's true, sometimes people don't realize the tone in which things come across and how wording is all we have to see past the email screens.

I have known people with head injuries and know how their personality can change as a result. It saddens me but does not surprise me. Too, I don't know that PTSDeez spent much time here on PC getting to know the type of community it was or getting to know anyone. He has only posted in this one thread. I would not take his comments "personally" because he doesn't appear to want to know any of us in that way.

Agreed, Perna. I just wanted to leave that post to reassure a couple people whom I could see were upset and one in particular who PM'd me directly.

Cyran0

A success story was asked to be shared and several were...even if that success to an individual means partial healing or just "making it".

Success might have several different individual meanings, and when we make a public post, we should be able to accept the responses given with good intent.

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I don't care what it looked like (catharsis or something more gentle) or how you came to find this resolution, I just want to hear about someone making it out. Someone waking up one morning with a completely different body and mind than the one they woke up with the day before.

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I'm a success story. I am one who is seen as "making it out. Someone waking up one morning with a completely different body and mind than the one they woke up with the day before." I've seen much healing, but to achieve what I consider success, I also had to accept that events in my life had changed me. I worked to heal what I could, then accept and manage what I couldn't. I don't know that you'd want to read about my success story, though, considering it was BOTH healing and acceptance then maintaining that saw my success.

It seems that you possibly only want to hear about what can be healed by an eradication of all symptoms, as opposed to maintaining what it is you're dealing with presently as best you can.

I'd say that would be just one form of success...one not often seen with PTSD as it's created by life events...life events change us emotionally, mentally and physiologically, and become a part of who we now are. Almost everything that we do, or that happens in our lives change/affect us in some way...in lasting ways...from the simple, food we put in our bodies or change in exercise, to the complex, traumas.

Due to the unsupportive comments in this thread, I will be closing it.

In the future, when publicly posting, please look to the intent of the poster (which is to share and give support), take the sharing/support that can be taken into self and leave the rest that might not apply *without* attack or clearly unsupportive comments.

I appreciate all who contributed to this thread, and thank you for the contributions.

KD