To ask, If you’ve been diagnosed with PTSD, how did you get diagnosed?

[TheCatsPaws]

Mentioned my horrible flashbacks and nightmares on here and someone suggested I talk to my GP about PTSD. I do think I have a problem and I’ve made an appointment for today, however I have no idea what to say. I’m scared I’ll sound stupid.

If you don’t mind sharing your experiences it would help a lot. Thank you.

My PTSD is related to my traumatic ‘birth’ experience. Flashbacks, nightmares, inability to leave my son for even a minute etc etc.
My HV still made home visits to me up till my DS was 5mo as I wasn’t coping and she referred me. The same day they called me and I had a date for my telephone conversation and about two weeks after that I started CBT. I was diagnosed at the first session and nearly 10 months later we are slowly drawing it to a close. Best thing I ever did. It’s incredibly difficult, your vulnerable already and trusting a stranger with your feelings is difficult but i wouldn’t be where I was today if I didn’t have it. Of course things never go away but it helps you deal with it.

Tell your doctor, how your feeling, any symptoms (flash backs, anxiety, nightmares etc) just be honest. You won’t sound silly and they won’t think you sound silly either. PTSD is a real condition, it will be taken seriously. Good luck

Thank you for replying. Mine is due to a very traumatic miscarriage that has turned into recurrent miscarriages, and left me with fears of my only living child dying and constant flashbacks to the initial miscarriage which was very gory and upsetting.

Does it help? I’ll honestly do anything to make these nightmares stop.

I was diagnosed after explaining to my GP the exact symptoms you've mentioned. I was so upset at the the time I had to write some of it down and hand it to him. He was wonderful and considerate and didn't make me feel anything other than someone who was ill and needed help. I was referred for counselling and it has changed my life. It's so hard taking that first step....and things can feel a bit worse before they get better. But they do.

Thank you. I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder (generalised anxiety) that I’ve had since I was about 12, so I think I’m worried they’ll think I’m overreacting.

I had a car accident. Was reliving the crash at all times of the day and night, angry with everyone, hypersensitive when driving, over anxious about my family and road safety. It was the insurance company doctor assessing my physical injuries who asked if I had any of these symptoms and I told him and he said ‘I think you’ve got PTSD’ and I said ‘blimey, I totally do, don’t I?’. It was so obvious but I just hadn’t seen it. I tripped off to my GP with a written list of symptoms and we took it from there.

I might write it down as it seems easier.

Hi op my dd was diagnosed with ptsd aged 13 after a horrific accident. She was diagnosed by a counsellor.

She got better but her conversations with the councillor about my behaviour since the crash led me to being diagnosed too. I became hyper anxious over my family and had intrusive and dark thoughts.

Go to your GP and by all means write it all down but honestly sometimes once you get the initial few sentences out the rest may just come tumbling out too and it will be a massive release.

I was referred from the gp to the counsellor at open minds, a therapist there diagnosed me

Thank you everyone. How long does it take for therapy to help? Did anyone have medication?

No medication for my dd and talking therapy for around a year.

Me beta blockers for certain activities like being driven on a motorway and talking therapy for about 6 months.

Thank you. I am quite scared about talking to anyone about this.

I think you learn strategies to cope with it but you don’t get cured. Well I don’t think I will ever be but dd seems better. Who knows.

Go and counsellor diagnosed me.

Don’t be lovely it’s far more commen then you think xx

I just don’t want them to think I am stupid for getting upset over something that happens to lots of other couples, unfortunately. I feel silly because miscarriages happen yet I can’t seem to stop revisiting it.

Mine was due to an operation that went wrong and I nearly died. Had a massive breakdown in GP surgery who advised suspected PTSD. Counsellor confirmed this.

I also have PTSD following a traumatic birth. I got just had a phone call with my GP, who thought I should speak to the midwife and then she referred me to the local mental health clinic. Had a phone call assessment with them (cried on the ojone for about 45 minutes) and they diagnosed me with PTSD and referred me for CBT. Still on the waiting list though, over 6 months later. Probably going to go down private route which should have done to begin with!

You know what I think there should be a lot more investigation and research into birth trauma and miscarriage trauma. I think there are many many women out there who suffer tremendously and just feel they have to get on as they have ‘just had a baby or a miscarriage’

I am dam sure it contributes to post natal depression

I was diagnosed by a therapist. I had EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprogramming) therapy which was exhausting but changed my life.

You talk about your experience and how you felt while the therapist moves something e.g. a pen or finger back and forwards in front of your eyes a bb your eyes follow it. They don't know exactly why it works but it's something to do with REM sleep and how the brain files memories differently when your eyes move. In PTSD the extreme stress you underwent at the time means memories are stored without a 'time stamp' so your brain then doesn't realise when the experience happened and can think it's happening right now. You are not making a fuss about something in the past, you are literally reliving it. It's truly awful and I hope you get some good therapy as it can really make a difference.

There is a lot of research into why some people get ptsd and some don't after a similar experience. There are a lot of factors that come into play such as personality, past experiences and whether the experience was repetitive (as it sounds like yours was). Don't beat yourself up, it is a real thing.

There's a really good book about it if you're interested called Shattered Assumptions. It's a bit heavy going in places but explains why it happens. Knowing why helped me stop feeling like I was making a fuss and helped me understand why it takes time to recover.

Good luck with the Dr. Don't feel like you're on trial they are they're to help (and if they're not that helpful, see someone else, they are just a person with an opinion). All the best x

TRIGGER WARNING

I suspect I suffer from complex PTSD. In my case it's because of childhood SA. I repressed the memories for a very long time, but I had very distressing images, so I thought I was going crazy. I spoke to a family friend, who is a GP. She said my symptoms sounded very much like PTSD, but because I didn't remember what happened as a child, this made no sense. I also thought PTSD was something that affected soldiers and asylum seekers (I had worked in immigration for a time). I therefore dismissed the possibility of PTSD.

But then when my DSis and I had children, the memories came flooding back and I did EMDR with a therapist, and she diagnosed it for me. The EMDR helped considerably and I no longer have scary flashbacks, and I know what the memories are, which means I no longer think I'm crazy.

But the trauma is still very much with me, and I've been an emotional wreck. This is because, when the memories came back, I realised that my main abuser was my father, who died a long time ago. I had never been comfortable around him, but I couldn't work out why, and when he died I felt horribly guilty. But there has always been a huge knot of anger inside me, which I now understand.

The GP prescribed me with Sertraline, which has helped me to regulate my emotions. So I'm coping for the sake of my DDs, but it's very hard.

Diagnosed myself and psychiatrist agreed.

Did 3 x EMDR and made miraculous recovery.

Lizzie

So sorry you are going through this.

I suffered from ptsd following a horribly traumatic birth of my son during which I nearly died. I knew I wasn’t coping well with what happened and mentioned it to my hv very early on. She basically brushed it off and said it was normal to feel a bit down after your baby was born so I put it down to that.

6 weeks later I was almost suicidal, having horrible intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, panic attacks and basically couldn’t function at all. Went to the gp who told me I had postnatal depression. Prescribed me some antidepressants and sent me on my way.

I had a long, hard think about taking the antidepressants. I was tempted as I just couldn’t face feeling that way anymore but ultimately realised that I wasn’t depressed, I was struggling with what had happened to me and I needed help, not antidepressants. That’s not a dig at anyone taking them, I just knew they weren’t for me and wouldn’t solve any of my problems long term.

I found a talking therapies service through my local council and self referred. I had an initial call with a therapist who confirmed it sounded like ptsd and referred me for 12 sessions of cbt. I was fast tracked as I was a new Mum and had my first session a few weeks later.

I had my last session a couple of weeks ago and I can honestly say it’s the best thing I have ever done. I had a wonderful therapist and feel I am fully recovered. I’ve got my life back which I never thought could be possible again.

I’d suggest going to the gp, and telling them you think you have ptsd and hopefully they can refer you to someone that can help. It’s an awful, awful thing to go through but I have firsthand experience and know you can make a full recovery from this. Stay strong xx

I had CBT. I still have the thoughts and the anxieties start up occasionally but now I am able to recognise when it’s happening and use techniques learned to stop them in their tracks. I am in control again, which I very much wasn’t before my diagnosis.

Thank you, @JoeyMaynardssolidlump that's very kind. Having 2 DDs to look after does keep me going.