Agoraphobic dealing with PTSD Support Group

Hi everyone i,m not really sure how this works, never been on a chatline before, i've been in crisis mode and unable to open my mail. i;m running low on my panic attack meds and i,m afraid to leave the house, the isolating only makes it worse, can't get refill till 5 4 really need to learn to use this format to stay in touch with fellow sufferers. i'd like to thank those who responded and apoligise for taking so long. any help i can get would be really apreciated. bearhunter

hey there, i don't take meds but i can totally understand how you feel, the anxiety must be tremendous, keep venting here there are lots of good people who can help you, and is there any family members you might have close to you that might be able to help you out ? .......

Ugh, sorry about the crisis mode. Are you any better now?? I would hate to think how I would be if I ran out of my meds! The agor makes you isolate and the isolation makes us even more agor! It is a horrible cycle, but we CAN change it! It is a slow process and that is something we have to accept. Slow and steady.

Hi anna321, thanks for quick reply, i'm really excited about this support group, I sold my home in upstate NY and moved to NC had to start over,but its been terrifying. New doctor who's only giving me half of my P.attack meds.im not freaked out right now,but they do come on real fast,took a motorcycle ride up on blue ridge parkway today to try to get rid of P.A sometimes it works' it didnt todayand came right home, very depressing. im sorry about errors as im just learning io type.this is all new to me. would you explain what PM and vip means, also devlin posted a reply i would like to respond but there was no reply box. i want to play by the rules,please let me know if this reply is too long etc, hope your doing well. Thanks, bear

I'm so sorry Bear, I should have gotten to this way sooner. Pm means private message, under people's names you should see "new member" or "vip member" or "senior member" then under that it should have "send a pm" and "give a hug" pm just means you can send a message to a person directly. VIP member just means that Anna has been on this site for a LONG time, lol. it's a "title" people get when they have a LOT of posts. at the end of everybody's post you should see a box that says "reply" it's green, and you can click on that and it should take you to a page that you can reply to their post. or you can scroll down and you should see a big white box with a little green box that says "submit" below it, that's the quick reply box. your posts can be any length that you want........your doing fine so far

I'm glad that you are back, bear.

You are doing fine. I liked Erins explanation too!

HI, i hope this post gets on the main board, still not sure exactly how this works.i really need support, so i'm just gonna throw it out there. Last nite i hit on a sight about PTSD it said if you get ptsd before your 20 yrs old it can change your brain,this totally freaked me out, i was up till 3am cryed myself to sleep. first i'm the black sheepscapegoat of 10 kids, i was 11yrs old when my father came in my bedroom while i was in a deep sleep and beat me unmercifully,i slept with 1 eye open from then on. i developed severe stomach pains, but didnt say any thing cause i would have been ridiculed for having 'a tummy hurt' years later it turned out to be ulcers. this was the beginning of many severe whippings , beatings and torture,it didnt happen to my siblings so i must be a real piece of sh#t. i was a full blown suicidal alcoholic drug addict, the booze wsa the only thing that would ease the terror, had bad insomnia. 2yrs ago i lost my 2nd bro. this one a suicide(a gun) i couldnt sleep 6 days doctor gave me serequel,now when i get up im really foggy and spaced out, this has triggered many panic attacks as im not allways sure its the meds, i feel like im losing my mind, like im gonna jump right out of my skin i would rather be diagnosed with cancer. dying is easy, livin is hard please i feel totally broken inside,i wanna throw in the towel is there anyone out there whos been here and can give some insights or hope.Love to all. bear

Yes, it made it to the thread. Good job!

How about we explore the change that occurs in the brain so that it will seem less scary?

When a person experiences a traumatic event the brain responds in a specific way. During a trauma the individual responds to a threat through the following processes:

* the brain gives signals of trauma

* the brain's main function is to get through the event

* the brain helps us survive by activating biologic reactions involved in helping us mount the fight/flight response

* the sympathetic nervous system releases adrenalin (your heart racing and the acceleration of your breathing signifies the release of adrenalin, which readies you to move)

* the brain lowers the chemicals released to help us with regular functions (parasympathetic nervous systems energy is diverted to help you cope with surviving)

* hormones are released to reign in stress response to stop long term damage to your body.

After trauma not all brains reset themselves but they always try to recalibrate. "When things happen to us we don’t go back to the way we were. After trauma, the brain’s job is to remember what happened and develop survival skills for the future. The brain integrates the lesson of trauma; it re-calibrates to do better next time."

So, what hope do we have of recovery?

"The good news is, if your brain can change in response to one environment that is trauma it can change in response to treatment, too. Our brains are capable of change."

It’s very easy to become overwhelmed, despondent and hopeless when dealing with symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Learning about the possibility to recover, however, will help you have hope, belief and above all, the motivation to seek the right help to get you on the path to becoming your next self.

http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/health/neurological/trauma- and-the-brain-understan

There’s a lot to understand about post-trauma recovery. If you’re struggling with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), you’re juggling many psychological and even physical symptoms while you learn to 1) grieve and let go of your former self, 2) function in a world that no longer feels safe, 3) renegotiate your relationship to who you are, other people and the universe at large.

You have to do all of this at the same time that you have to cope with how trauma changes your brain. Don’t worry – you can handle this process. Beginning to navigate the post-trauma maze starts with understanding basic things. Recognizing the science behind your experience will help you accept where you are and what you notice about yourself, plus give you clues about what needs to be done. It’s precisely these biological changes that can lead to the development of PTSD.

Did you know that the experience of trauma can actually cause neurological changes in the structure of your brain? For weeks or even years you may have been thinking you’re crazy, but there are often scientific reasons for much of your behavior, including increased, diminished and killed brain regions, functions and neurons.

Consider the following:

Can’t find the words to express your thoughts? That’s because the prefrontal lobe (responsible for language) can be adversely affected by trauma, which gets in the way of linguistic function.

Can’t regulate your emotions? How could you when the amygdala (responsible for emotional regulation) is in such overdrive that in some PTSD survivors it actually enlarges.

Having problem with short-term memory loss? Of course you are: studies show that in some PTSD survivors the hippocampus (responsible for memory and experience assimilation) actually shrinks in volume.

Always feeling frightened no matter what you do? Understandable when your medial prefrontal cortex (responsible for regulating emotion and fear responses) doesn't regulate itself or function properly after trauma.

Knowing that there’s a biology to trauma let’s you understand in a scientific sense why you can't 'just get over it.' Recognizing that trauma’s effects have been concretely documented by evidence-based data should let you know that PTSD is not a condition completely within your control; you'll have to learn how to regain mental power. That helps, doesn't it? The more we know and understand the more we can figure out how to heal.

http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/health/neurological/trauma- and-the-brain-understan