I was officially diagnosed today...

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: TarzanBeta

All of us are.
There's always something that we "should have done different" or that our problems are to small to be considered problems, there's bigger issues out there right?
Wrong, our issues are the biggest issues, because they are our issues.
We have to put ourselves first, to be the best we can, in order to help others.

I don't want to preach to ya or any other bs, just know, you don't need to feel embarrassed talking to me or anyone else for that matter. who am I to judge anyone in this world, beyond myself and my own actions.

A marine recently said that to me. It made me happy.

originally posted by: justme2
a reply to: muzzleflash

That is a bit harsh muzzle.
Not everyone looks at medications as a cure all that fix everything. Anyone that thinks that, needs to re-evaluate their situation.

I can tell by OP's writing that he:
#1 Wanted to be heard.
#2 Wanted to be taken seriously by the medical establishment.
#3 Explore tools w/ the MD to get "better".

Now getting better to one person may mean something completely different to another person. You obviously think that medications and diagnosis' (or labeling as you put it) do not lead to getting better. That's fine, that's your belief, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Medications are just a tool, when used correctly, in the process of healing. Nothing is ever cut and dried/set in stone.

I again applaud the OP for being an advocate for himself. It sometimes can be extremely hard to do so these days - to go to an MD, only to be ignored and "shot down". It takes true courage to keep going, to keep advocating for yourself. After all, nobody knows themselves better than themselves!

Keep fighting the good fight, OP!

"Wanted to be heard" is exactly right.

My wife forced me to the doctor.

originally posted by: angeldoll
I'm glad you found someone to listen, and who seems to understand. Talking is the first step, the rest might take a while.
You do what's best for you, and hang in there. No need to respond or try to rationalize or justify anything to anybody. Everybody has their own path, and everyone is different, emotionally, mentally, and consequently chemically, and respond to different treatment. You find what's best for you, and the others can do the same. (Hopefully without so much unnecessary negative judgment. We need to try and not do that to one another.)

You only sound far too reasonable.

originally posted by: ware2010
you pay your own bill?

And yours.

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: TarzanBeta
Thank you Ricky, but I don't eat pickles and I do drink whole milk... Usually in the middle of the night after a nightmare.

They do make medicines that treat that, either by blocking a process or inhibiting or promoting an enzyme. I hope you do not have a lot of negative reactions to the meds. I was given epilepsy drugs, I could not detox them properly and near the end I did research on what they look for in the blood tests I was constantly having to get done. Put it this way, for a problem to show up on those tests out of bound, you are losing your liver function and it is dying.

I wonder what type of chemistry they will prescribe, anticholine chemistry, antifolate chemistry, or will they try to adjust Seratonin levels. I put my bet on SSSRI chemistry or GABA promoting chemistry with what you said about the doctor. Some meds adjust GABA without messing up choline or folate.

Paxil. I'm aware of the side effects, I read.

I'm willing to suffer for three weeks if it means discovering that it works.

In the meantime, I will be talking with some people to find out if they are idiots or not. But the doctor I went to referred them... So my skepticism level is a bit lower than usual, but my guard is never down.

originally posted by: Spacespider
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Let me be your doctor..

You are just fine..
Remove all the made up labels the public doctors have put on you
Take a deep breath and say to yourself
Life is a funny thing

I assume you are a doctor and not fraudulently trying to practice as one.

***

OP, I am glad you found the answers you were looking for and feel comfortable with the diagnosis you got!

I'm glad you finally found a doctor who knows when to listen and believe what you're telling them.

I felt that way about our GP who was the first doctor ever who actually picked up my medical file which was thick as a hefty novel by the time I got to him and said, "I can see from this that these migraines of yours have been a real problem for quite some time. I don't think this is one I am going to tackle. Instead, I'm referring you straight to a neurologist specializing in migraines. Now let's go on to the rest of the checkup ..."

I wanted to drop on the floor and kiss his feet! Every other doctor I'd had to fight with to get anything. They all either ignored me or had their pet remedy that didn't do a thing to help.

To get someone who knew enough to know he didn't know and that I had a problem that needed more was such a real relief.

As a long term sufferer of ptsd, general anxiety and panic attacks, my best advice is to ignore the stigma (society is becoming aware and more sympathetic), and to discuss it, and to inform the significant others around you.

I find that often people's reaction to the "disorder" makes things far worse.

For example, you're washing a cup in the sink, and a colleague or family member sneaks up behind you.
You have such a fright, you hit the ceiling.
You swear like a sailor and kick something.
They look all shocked and turn away, and leave in a huff, like you did this on purpose because you're moody or don't like them.
Then for days people won't talk to each other.
Meanwhile it could have been resolved in 10 seconds - just let the adrenaline subside.
Eventually the person with anxiety wonders whether they should be around at all, and this adds depression and isolationism to compound the problem.

I just find communicating the problem to key people helps. Also only drinking heavily when you have a recovery day (it's much worse with a hangover, especially if you try to cure it with caffeine products), and commitment to exercise helps (it releases all kinds of feel-good hormones, especially testosterone in men), and some breathing exercises.

It's a struggle.
But ultimately anxiety helped us to survive - it's not really unnatural.
And indeed, I read somewhere that anxious people are less likely to die prematurely (in accidents or violence).
I also think that agoraphobia or fear of bridges and heights is partly genetic (my ancestors lived in dark Germanic forests), and there may be a sensory overload with peripheral vision in some people.
No shame in avoiding some places, or choosing specific places to live and work, if possible.
In my youth it was a pretty flat town, but now all this "postmodern" bullcrap open-plan architecture and high-rise buildings have popped up, and it's definitely not for everyone.
In my youth we still had proper stairs made of stone, and not these glorified wooden ladders. Who thinks of this nonsense? I thought we should save the trees?
In fact, I think the problem of just fear of heights and agoraphobia is so prevalent that we need pressure groups to adjust the architecture itself - or you lose us as customers.

originally posted by: MotherMayEye

originally posted by: Spacespider
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Let me be your doctor..

You are just fine..
Remove all the made up labels the public doctors have put on you
Take a deep breath and say to yourself
Life is a funny thing

I assume you are a doctor and not fraudulently trying to practice as one.

***

OP, I am glad you found the answers you were looking for and feel comfortable with the diagnosis you got!

I wouldn't say comfortable... But definitely hope for a light at the end of the tunnel now. Thank you.

It may or may not be a mirage.... But it's better than what I'm going through now.

originally posted by: ketsuko
I'm glad you finally found a doctor who knows when to listen and believe what you're telling them.

I felt that way about our GP who was the first doctor ever who actually picked up my medical file which was thick as a hefty novel by the time I got to him and said, "I can see from this that these migraines of yours have been a real problem for quite some time. I don't think this is one I am going to tackle. Instead, I'm referring you straight to a neurologist specializing in migraines. Now let's go on to the rest of the checkup ..."

I wanted to drop on the floor and kiss his feet! Every other doctor I'd had to fight with to get anything. They all either ignored me or had their pet remedy that didn't do a thing to help.

To get someone who knew enough to know he didn't know and that I had a problem that needed more was such a real relief.

Thank you ketsuko!

That's exactly how I felt! Without the... Uh... Toenail party.

originally posted by: halfoldman
As a long term sufferer of ptsd, general anxiety and panic attacks, my best advice is to ignore the stigma (society is becoming aware and more sympathetic), and to discuss it, and to inform the significant others around you.

I find that often people's reaction to the "disorder" makes things far worse.

For example, you're washing a cup in the sink, and a colleague or family member sneaks up behind you.
You have such a fright, you hit the ceiling.
You swear like a sailor and kick something.
They look all shocked and turn away, and leave in a huff, like you did this on purpose because you're moody or don't like them.
Then for days people won't talk to each other.
Meanwhile it could have been resolved in 10 seconds - just let the adrenaline subside.
Eventually the person with anxiety wonders whether they should be around at all, and this adds depression and isolationism to compound the problem.

I just find communicating the problem to key people helps. Also only drinking heavily when you have a recovery day (it's much worse with a hangover, especially if you try to cure it with caffeine products), and commitment to exercise helps (it releases all kinds of feel-good hormones, especially testosterone in men), and some breathing exercises.

It's a struggle.
But ultimately anxiety helped us to survive - it's not really unnatural.
And indeed, I read somewhere that anxious people are less likely to die prematurely (in accidents or violence).
I also think that agoraphobia or fear of bridges and heights is partly genetic (my ancestors lived in dark Germanic forests), and there may be a sensory overload with peripheral vision in some people.
No shame in avoiding some places, or choosing specific places to live and work, if possible.
In my youth it was a pretty flat town, but now all this "postmodern" bullcrap open-plan architecture and high-rise buildings have popped up, and it's definitely not for everyone.
In fact, I think the problem of just fear of heights and agoraphobia is so prevalent that we need pressure groups to adjust the architecture itself - or you lose us as customers.

You really have gone through it.

ETA - does it get better?

a reply to: TarzanBeta

Paxil blocks acetylcholine, so maybe you are consuming something with a lot of pesticide or herbicide in it. They actually inhibit cholinesterase so the acetylcholine levels go to high. Paxil would be a promotor of the enzyme that breaks it down.

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Paxil blocks acetylcholine, so maybe you are consuming something with a lot of pesticide or herbicide in it. They actually inhibit cholinesterase so the acetylcholine levels go to high. Paxil would be a promotor of the enzyme that breaks it down.

The story is far far far too long.

It's not my food friend. But thank you very much for your advice. I will consider it anyway.

a reply to: TarzanBeta

Hey we can arrange that, i wont complain any haha, i just had surgery on my clavicle, I'll forward you the bill

a reply to: TarzanBeta

so glad you found someone who listened and you got a diagnosis!....some people do really well on "medication" like my daughter..we found a really great therapist who worked with her anxiety and Ptsd..you might want to check out EMDR

aka eye movement desensitization and reprocessing....it works for soldiers who have really bad ptsd, really helped my daughter....must do with a therapist, they move their finger back and forth while you follow with your eyes after they say something, well that's the most simple basic explanantion

another thing you can do when you have anxiety is this look or pick something up and really look at it..is is soft or hard smooth or rough hot or cold, what color or colors is it, is it light or heavy...this keeps you in the present...most fears come from stuff that happened in the past or afraid of what Will happen in the immediate future or down the road.

a reply to: TarzanBeta

I suffer with PTSD and anxiety problems too, so I fully understand how you feel in your current state of mind. I also saw a wonderful doctor who helped me loads last year after I witnessed and very nearly became a victim to a murder. I still don't feel 100%, but I'm 100% better than I was then.

I wish you the same outcome

originally posted by: ware2010
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Hey we can arrange that, i wont complain any haha, i just had surgery on my clavicle, I'll forward you the bill

Lol. Well, not that much of it.

Best to you, friend.

originally posted by: research100
a reply to: TarzanBeta

so glad you found someone who listened and you got a diagnosis!....some people do really well on "medication" like my daughter..we found a really great therapist who worked with her anxiety and Ptsd..you might want to check out EMDR

aka eye movement desensitization and reprocessing....it works for soldiers who have really bad ptsd, really helped my daughter....must do with a therapist, they move their finger back and forth while you follow with your eyes after they say something, well that's the most simple basic explanantion

another thing you can do when you have anxiety is this look or pick something up and really look at it..is is soft or hard smooth or rough hot or cold, what color or colors is it, is it light or heavy...this keeps you in the present...most fears come from stuff that happened in the past or afraid of what Will happen in the immediate future or down the road.

Good ideas!
I have used chess. It causes me to think about the moment and also forces my mind to think about consequences in chess instead of reality.

originally posted by: Mogzy1977
a reply to: TarzanBeta

I suffer with PTSD and anxiety problems too, so I fully understand how you feel in your current state of mind. I also saw a wonderful doctor who helped me loads last year after I witnessed and very nearly became a victim to a murder. I still don't feel 100%, but I'm 100% better than I was then.

I wish you the same outcome

Rough, Mogzy. I'm happy to know other people are getting better. Maybe I can!

a reply to: TarzanBeta

Very happy for your positive experience. I, too, have an inherent distrust for MD's. Rarely is there one to be found that wants to listen.

The joy you are feeling at being treated like an equal is an amazing experience and rare in today's culture of electronic isolation. Martin Buber in his classic book, "I and Thou", posits that we are never so close to our Creator as when we actually see and interact with another human as though they were our equivalent. The large majority of the time we treat others, even loved ones, as if they were a tool to help us to achieve what we want to achieve, or an impediment to us getting what we want, or simply irrelevant to our needs.

In my reading of the OP, I believe you not only had a medical experience, but a spiritual one as well.

All the best my friend.