MADIGAN DOCTORS TRY TO DIAGNOSE VIOLENT SLEEP DISORDERS

The article is an interesting read. It reinforces one of the underlying problem with psychiatric diagnoses. The current taxonomy (DSM 5), like its predecessors, does not address the characteristics of a unique illness. Simply put, are the symptoms described in the article 1) a different presentation of the same illness or 2) a unique illness? How we lab

Neither psychiatry or neurology have advanced as rapidly as many other medical specialties. New technologies offer promise of a better understanding of our brain, but we are not there yet.
 
The article is an interesting read. It reinforces one of the underlying problem with psychiatric diagnoses. The current taxonomy (DSM 5), like its predecessors, does not address the characteristics of a unique illness. Simply put, are the symptoms described in the article 1) a different presentation of the same illness or 2) a unique illness? How we lab

Neither psychiatry or neurology have advanced as rapidly as many other medical specialties. New technologies offer promise of a better understanding of our brain, but we are not there yet.


My hope is that they are truly doing research to further a "cure" for this - rather than to make up some new diagnosis to use to justify a "new and improved" lower rating "cure".

I try not to be cynical or suspicious, but sometimes this system just makes me wanna shake my head.

We've had these problems for over a decade now, and while better late than never, they do seem to be just a tad late to the party.

Especially since they got away with non-PTSD diagnosis for years and years and only recently had to abide with new guidelines.

V/R,
nwlivewire
 
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Very strange IMO. Prozasin has been pretty successful at helping mine, and others I know, violent sleeping habits. This has been a pretty targeted treatment for PTSD since they have found its use.

By and large I think taking medicine out of the realm of psychiatry and into more targetted fields is a good thing though.
 
Very strange IMO. Prozasin has been pretty successful at helping mine, and others I know, violent sleeping habits. This has been a pretty targeted treatment for PTSD since they have found its use.

By and large I think taking medicine out of the realm of psychiatry and into more targetted fields is a good thing though.

Thank you for your thoughts on this.

I still have my doubts....

nwlivewire
 
Very strange IMO. Prozasin has been pretty successful at helping mine, and others I know, violent sleeping habits. This has been a pretty targeted treatment for PTSD since they have found its use.

By and large I think taking medicine out of the realm of psychiatry and into more targetted fields is a good thing though.

Indeed, that's very good hear albeit I was taken off of prozasin about 4 or 5 years ago due to its side effects conflicted with one of my numerous severe/chronic medical conditions while still on active duty in the U.S. military. :(

Since that time, unfortunately, my PTSD combat nightmares had gradually increased back to a daily (e.g., nightly...when I do sleep) occurrence with daily psychotic symptomatology starting over 2 years ago! :(+:(

With that all said, please take care, continue to get well, and most importantly enjoy life! :cool:

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!
 
Indeed, that's very good hear albeit I was taken off of prozasin about 4 or 5 years ago due to its side effects conflicted with one of my numerous severe/chronic medical conditions while still on active duty in the U.S. military. :(

Since that time, unfortunately, my PTSD combat nightmares had gradually increased back to a daily (e.g., nightly...when I do sleep) occurrence with daily psychotic symptomatology starting over 2 years ago! :(+:(

With that all said, please take care, continue to get well, and most importantly enjoy life! :cool:

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!


I was on a whole host of pills early on in this PTSD treatment. Man, I had a bunch of unwanted side-effects from a few.

My nightmares actually got worse with all the pills. So I am glad to read someone (scoutCC) is getting some benefit from one of them.

We have along way to go on really getting a grip on just what is PTSD and how to combat it as the human is such a complex array of physiological/psychological being-ness. And no two are the same!

I ain't well, but I sure am better in some respects anyway. In other respects, I'm not much better than I was 5 years ago - 8 years ago. I manage as best I can, but I do have triggers that can really set me off.

I take all my good days and am glad of them. And every little bit of forward movement is a win.

But I sure do wish I had a more effective "something" that would help me on a deeper level to get some more of my "groove" back - or a variation of it.

V/R,
nwlivewire
 
:D
I was on a whole host of pills early on in this PTSD treatment. Man, I had a bunch of unwanted side-effects from a few.

My nightmares actually got worse with all the pills. So I am glad to read someone (scoutCC) is getting some benefit from one of them.

We have along way to go on really getting a grip on just what is PTSD and how to combat it as the human is such a complex array of physiological/psychological being-ness. And no two are the same!

I ain't well, but I sure am better in some respects anyway. In other respects, I'm not much better than I was 5 years ago - 8 years ago. I manage as best I can, but I do have triggers that can really set me off.

I take all my good days and am glad of them. And every little bit of forward movement is a win.

But I sure do wish I had a more effective "something" that would help me on a deeper level to get some more of my "groove" back - or a variation of it.

V/R,
nwlivewire

Indeed, I totally am in concurrence; another day above ground is another day not being six feet under ground! ;)

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!
 
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With regard to meds, SSRI's still have the best clinical evidence of effectiveness.

http://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/MH/ptsd/cpg_PTSD-FULL-201011612.pdf

The joint DoD/VA guidelines for PTSD treatment are linked above. At 253 pages reading it may cure you insomnia.

I just found an article/interview on a retired servicemember who struggles with PTSD. Ron Capps is his name.

Apparently, he has started a group called VETERANS WRITING PROJECT. It's a non-profit.

Here's the article, published in Cicero Magazine:

http://ciceromagazine.com/interviews/ron-capps-on-ptsd-recovery-and-service-in-5-wars-in-10-years/

Here is Ron Capps non-profit website for the Veterans Writing Project:

http://veteranswriting.org/

From pills to prose, I sure hope he's onto something!

V/R,
nwlivewire
 
Not sure there is a high risk for this FUBARing PTSD ratings. If your sole symptom is violent sleep, you don't have PTSD. If a treatment fixes the violent sleep it doesn't erase the symptoms to support PTSD. I could see this being supportive someday for saying if we can't fix this and you're dangerous to sleep with, that's an additional issue on top of the anxiety that PTSD causes. That makes a world of sense to me.

Prozasin is a pretty new treatment for this, its still off label and only studied by the VA really. I think additional research specific to it as a physical symptom, not merely a mental, is extraordinarily worthy. I know in my case I have never complained of nightmares (no mental symptom), but yet prozasin has helped my sleep incredibly (physical symptom).
 
Not sure there is a high risk for this FUBARing PTSD ratings. If your sole symptom is violent sleep, you don't have PTSD. If a treatment fixes the violent sleep it doesn't erase the symptoms to support PTSD. I could see this being supportive someday for saying if we can't fix this and you're dangerous to sleep with, that's an additional issue on top of the anxiety that PTSD causes. That makes a world of sense to me.

Prozasin is a pretty new treatment for this, its still off label and only studied by the VA really. I think additional research specific to it as a physical symptom, not merely a mental, is extraordinarily worthy. I know in my case I have never complained of nightmares (no mental symptom), but yet prozasin has helped my sleep incredibly (physical symptom).

Again, I'm really glad to read prozasin is helpful to you.

I hope others who may be reading this thread and have problems with violent sleep, will consider talking with their doctor about this.

I'm glad you wrote about this medication and how it has been helpful to you.

The jury is still out on the rest....

V/R,
nwlivewire
 
Not sure there is a high risk for this FUBARing PTSD ratings. If your sole symptom is violent sleep, you don't have PTSD. If a treatment fixes the violent sleep it doesn't erase the symptoms to support PTSD. I could see this being supportive someday for saying if we can't fix this and you're dangerous to sleep with, that's an additional issue on top of the anxiety that PTSD causes. That makes a world of sense to me.

Prozasin is a pretty new treatment for this, its still off label and only studied by the VA really. I think additional research specific to it as a physical symptom, not merely a mental, is extraordinarily worthy. I know in my case I have never complained of nightmares (no mental symptom), but yet prozasin has helped my sleep incredibly (physical symptom).

To supplement @nwlivewire comments, wow indeed it's good to hear that prozasin has significantly help with your sleep regime (physical symptom) at this point! :)

As such, I just hope that another similar medication can be manufactured for my specific medical situation without the side-effects confrontation with my numerous severe/chronic medical conditions in order to help minimize the daily (e.g., nightly...if I sleep at all) combat nightmares with psychotic symptomatology at this point in time! :( Enjoy and take care! :cool:

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!
 
Propranolol, ketamine, prazosin, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine are the latest prescription meds being used off label for PTSD. Time will tell.
 
Propranolol, ketamine, prazosin, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine are the latest prescription meds being used off label for PTSD. Time will tell.

Thanks for this update!

I am going to personally ask about a couple of these to see if they are usable for my own self.

V/R,
nwlivewire
 
1. I don't think Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, aka Ecstasy, is available legally in the US. I was a little surprised to read it is being used for PTSD.

2. Ketamine is available, but I question its use in PTSD. It is primarily used to put people under for surgery.

The other two are available. Propranolol is a beta blocker and prazosin is an alpha blocker. I've used propranolol and found it effective. One of the unfortunate realities is there is no incentive to study these off label drugs for use in PTSD. Once a drug becomes generic the research money dries up.
 
1. I don't think Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, aka Ecstasy, is available legally in the US. I was a little surprised to read it is being used for PTSD.

2. Ketamine is available, but I question its use in PTSD. It is primarily used to put people under for surgery.

The other two are available. Propranolol is a beta blocker and prazosin is an alpha blocker. I've used propranolol and found it effective. One of the unfortunate realities is there is no incentive to study these off label drugs for use in PTSD. Once a drug becomes generic the research money dries up.

Thanks for the add-on data.

I sure don't want to ask my doctor for Ecstasy - he/she might think I've really flipped my lid.

Though I did watch some kind of CNN Lisa Ling 1 hour special on folks (including Vets with PTSD) going into the Amazon (Peru) and drinking some kind of "natural" herb/tree/plant liquid beverage. But it looked a lot like a psychedelic Acid trip from the 60's thing.

Even so, some of the Vets she filmed who were down in Peru drinking this natural stuff reported it was actually useful and helpful to them.

I'd be willing to try it IF it did work AND, if they (the pharma scientists) could isolate the useful compounds in this plant/tree thing that grows down in the Amazon AND, if they could eliminate the initial "trippy" side effects it seems to have in its wholly, unadulterated form.

You know, I know this sounds kinda weird maybe, but I got to wondering: What did the ancient Chinese peoples do for their warriors? What did the ancient peoples in India do for their warriors? Both these cultures are thousands and thousands of years old, both have written texts that go back as far as that, and both had highly developed warrior classes. Plus, they were also very skilled in using and creating all kinds of medicines and surgical techniques.

I wonder if there is anything worth investigating there that can be useful for our times today?

Like you wrote earlier, we still have along ways to go on this.

I appreciate the update!

V/R,
nwlivewire
 
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