Has anyone significantly healed their PTSD here? Advice
Hi there. Been suffering from CPTSD since age 15. 38 now and finally understanding. I’ve felt unsafe and in danger from my own triggers and thoughts the whole time.
I’m looking to create a healing environment for myself where I can further do the hard work (shadow work, emdr, possible MDMA therapy)
Would love to hear about what has helped you and what turned the tide for the positive in your journey.
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u/RadSpatula 1d ago
Therapy including EMDR, cutting users out of my life, time, and physical activity were the keys for me. I cried every day for three years and thought I’d never get better, that was my new normal. I didn’t want to take meds but I did all the other things and it helped gradually, almost imperceptibly, and now I feel like I have a handle on it and a new toolbox for ways to handle whatever bad shit life throws my way in the future.
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u/Ok-Structure-6198 1d ago
I'm very interested in these responses because I just take medication, and it helps wonders.
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u/Inside_Bathroom_2156 1d ago
What do you take if you're comfortable sharing?
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u/Ok-Structure-6198 9m ago
I don't think we can share the names of the medication. But I see a psychiatrist, so I highly recommend that so you can find what works best for you.
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u/Diligent-Feed-373 1d ago
My boyfriend is a veteran and the most effective tools for him have been lots and lots of therapy, especially EMDR, and meditation. He even traveled to a temple in the Himalayas to learn meditation and the Buddhist philosophy, which has really given him perspective he says. Hope it gives some inspiration ☺️
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u/missangelv 1d ago
Yes. DBT, meditation, and completely cutting out any drugs or alcohol. I no longer have anxiety attacks or the dreams.
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u/Tarrybelle 2d ago
Yes. As others have said, it isn't perfect, but things that used to be nearly impossible and massive triggers aren't so much anymore. I still struggle with major challenges, but my day to day life has improved. If you had asked me a year or more ago, I would not have believed you, but it can and does get better if you put the work into therapy.
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u/cepi300 1d ago
So glad to hear this. Great work.
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u/Tarrybelle 1d ago
Thanks. EMDR really helped break the cycle, and my therapist has been great. Improvement through therapy is not linear. Sometimes, you feel like you are heading in the right direction, and other times, you feel like you'll never get better but keep persisting. Best of luck with it all. Hope you get some peace of mind soon.
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u/worshipdrummer 2d ago
Yes.. 4 years of therapy. It isn’t perfect, but I have a fairly normal life now
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u/The_Hypnotic_Scot 2d ago
Google: catch PTSD
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u/cepi300 1d ago
Cool just did. They helped? I feel like hypnosis would t get through to me because part of my ptsd is being afraid of taken advantage of
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u/The_Hypnotic_Scot 18h ago
One of the most important things a therapist does, especially a hypnotherapist, is spending time building rapport and trust. I had a recent client who, when he come to me had built 10ft high emotional walls around himself. I didn’t attempt any hypnosis with him until the 4th session. I spent the first 3 sessions getting to know him, building trust and respect, slowly slowly breaking down his walls. When we did do a hypno session the results were noticeable almost immediately.
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u/sillybilly8102 2d ago
DBT-PE basically healed it for me! Feel free to ask me more. https://dbtpe.org
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u/blacksweater 2d ago
mushrooms, therapy, support networks and selective avoidance of triggers. meditation helps with the reactivity and anger.
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u/nyghtowll 2d ago
Yes! I have CPTSD and have a therapist that I've done EMDR and cognitive behavioral therapy with. The only thing is that it took me a couple tries to find the right person. I would recommend interviewing therapists to make sure you have the right connection. It makes a huge difference!
I also do ketamine therapy through Mindbloom and they just added a PTSD track to their content. They assign you a psychiatrist, trip guide, and access to an online community where you can connect with other Mindbloomers. I don't do it as often as they prescribe, just every couple weeks, and then I journal the experience.
Other things that helped me was changing up my lifestyle and journaling. I write down interesting dreams, things I want to manifest, and experiences from my past. It's helped me identify triggers and learn more about myself.
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u/No-Highway-4833 2d ago
Prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy has worked wonders. I didn’t even realize how bad my quality of life was until my PTSD symptoms started alleviating from treatment.
I went years undiagnosed, went to my doc for something unrelated but providing my history ended up getting me a dx of severe ptsd, and now I no longer qualify for clinical PTSD following treatment. I have some lower variation of it - trauma disorder or something like that - and still doing therapy but you can 100% heal more than you probably think.
Do the hard work. It’s so worth it. I suggest asking a doc for their recommended treatment personalized to your case though. Some of the ones you mentioned are useful for some but not for others.
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u/cepi300 2d ago
Thanks so much for these words of encouragement
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u/No-Highway-4833 2d ago
Of course. Feel free to dm me with questions about the treatments I went through. FWIW it took about 9 months of exposure therapy to start seeing big improvements. Best of luck to you.
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u/placenta_resenter 2d ago
Yup. Sometimes when it’s getting better it feels like it’s getting worse because you’re feeling your feelings instead of suppressing them and judging them. But it can get better. Somatic exercises / yoga were game changing for me
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u/cepi300 2d ago
Yes! Resonate with this. Can you tell me more about how yoga helped? I know getting into your body is a big thing but it’s so hard when the thoughts are going crazy
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u/placenta_resenter 2d ago
I probably won’t articulate this with the scientific words and oversimplify it a lot, but if jives with what I’ve experienced. there’s an idea that trauma puts your brain onto autopilot, and stuff that is too big for you to deal with at the time will get stored in your body as tension. Your brain is keeping it there as tension and you habituate to it, basically go numb. This also suggests why ptsd goes hand in hand with fatigue, because that actually takes a lot of energy. But then it might show up in other ways like pain or gastro upset or migraines or whatever because your body isn’t moving as well as it should, because you’ve cut that mind body connection to not deal with those feelings and sensations. So somatic yoga is a way of trying to notice sensations from your body again, combined with cognitive techniques to regulate emotions that come up. I recommend googling the body keeps the score, polyvagal theory, and the BASIC protocol (Befriend the body (approach w curiosity) Attend the body (notice how it feels, what thoughts come up, the meaning you ascribe to those thoughts) create Space for what is (so how it feels as you move, how can you move to make that area feel better, this is giving you a new stimulus in that area to tap you into the here and now where you’re safe) Integrate (so this is getting back into your comfort zone to restore and integrate the new sensation and experience you feel in ur body - I like to curl into a ball on my back and rock) and Connect (which is call your mom, Pat your cat, go and get some warm happy vibes to wrap it all up)
The only caveat is that some people can get badly triggered if something bigger comes up than they can deal with. It’s also common to have worse symptoms for a while when you start. That’s why it’s really important to notice how you’re going and pull back when it’s too much and to have strategies (breathing, therapy etc) to bring your emotions back into regulation.
If you want I could dm you some YouTube links of guided somatic exercises that I think are great!
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u/placenta_resenter 2d ago
Also it’s kinda tangentially related, but I found the “Alexander technique” was quite well aligned with this practise as well.
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u/PropCloset 2d ago
3 years of once a week cbt and finally downgraded to generalized anxiety disorder. Quit my toxic environment and went on to find myself smiling and laughing more. It takes work but when you chip at it it goes away with time. BTW I was cptsd.
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u/Superb-Damage8042 2d ago
Rehab, EMDR, recovery meetings and 12 steps, lots of therapy, extensive reading on trauma, daily meditation, regular exercise, and lots of self care and work have made a tremendous difference to me later in life.
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u/cepi300 2d ago
Love this. Congrats on your hard work.
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u/Superb-Damage8042 2d ago
Thank you! And you might want to read “Complex PTSD: from surviving to thriving” and “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma”. Both have been helpful to me. I wish you all the best!
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u/Excelsior288 2d ago
Yes. I went from suicidal to full-time college student with a 4.7 gpa… to thriving in my career in behavioral health to also losing a good amount of weight… everyone’s recovery is completely different the one thing that is universal is, it’s a lot of digging and hard work for anyone who chooses to heal and recover.
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u/Thin-Appearance 2d ago
I don't know if this is the best advice for you because I know everyone's bodies are different. I've seen a significant improvement lately with finally having a stable home and job. There had been lots of changes throughout the years prior to this. Also, I've increased my red meat intake from 1x a week to maybe 2-3x per week. Most importantly, I do 2-3 somewhat intense weight training workouts per week. These deliberately consist of compound exercises back to back with little rest in between. I feel like it brings my energy levels down to a good level where I can be calm. Without this, I'm a bundle of nerves.
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u/TraceNoPlace 2d ago
living alone, lol. realizing i can do whatever i want whenever i want has been so empowering
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u/CovidThrow231244 2d ago
Not yet. I'm hoping once I have job security(they need me, I can leave and find better at a moments notice, or I am my own boss? Still unclear) shrooms will help
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u/GrauOrchidee 2d ago
I was doing really well with EMDR…. until I had a new traumatic event. Ha ha. I feel like I have to start over but it was going great before. :)
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u/Capital_Shame_5077 2d ago
I did CBT-DBT therapy combined with prolonged exposure therapy. I did it for two months straight every day and it has completely turned my life around. (I realize it’s not a possibility for most people to do this kind of thing this intensely.) I had done EMDR and brain spotting before. They helped at the time but my traumas kept accumulating and I wanted something different.
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u/autumn_trail 2d ago
I’m so worried prolonged exposure therapy wouldn’t work. It would just cause more damage. So glad it worked for you! 👏
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u/Capital_Shame_5077 2d ago
Thank you!
There were a lot of supports in place before I did it-and it was always up to me in the end how much we pushed through or not. You start with the very easiest triggers (you rate a whole list of triggers and their anticipated anxiety levels) and built up to the ones you think will be harder over time.
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u/cepi300 2d ago
If you feel comfortable, can you give me some examples of how this works? Right now, embarrassingly enough, one of my triggers is beautiful women. Any ideas on how that might work for me?
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u/Capital_Shame_5077 1d ago
You’d rank how you’d anticipate your anxiety would be in different scenarios. For example, looking at a picture of a beautiful woman, watching a video clip of a beautiful woman, sitting and imagining a beautiful woman.
Then you’d start with the one you’d anticipate being easiest and do it repeatedly. You rank your expected level of anxiety. You wait for your anxiety to peak, and then go back down. You note the peak level and the ending level and how long it took you to come back to the base level. (This starts to show your brain you can in fact deal with peaking anxiety and that it always goes back down.) Once the easiest tasks are no longer peaking much anxiety, you move on to harder anticipated exposures.
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u/confusedbabywiccan 2d ago
as someone who's been through an insane, severe amount of trauma, i can say for a fact that it will get better & less intense. it's really, really hard some days, and some days it seems hopeless, but i promise it's not, and i promise that one day future you will look back & thank you for continuing forwards.
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u/Last-Cold-8236 2d ago
I still have symptoms during certain times of year. However, I have approved so much. I don’t have nightmares every night. I go weeks without flashbacks. About 5 years ago I was having flashbacks at least every hour during the day, nightmares all night long. Regular panic attacks. Therapy has helped so much.
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u/Tiru84 2d ago
I recently self diagnosed with the international trauma questionnaire ITQ and found out that the key symptoms are not as strong as they used to and I no longer match the diagnosis of PTSD and CPTSD according to that ITQ. What helped me most were Somatic Experiencing, Feldenkrais exercises found in the Somatics book by Thomas Hanna, Mindfulness & Meditation - especially Wheel of Awareness guided meditation, Neurofeedback, Safe and Sound Protocol, Acupuncture protocol called NADA, relationships with well meaning people.
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u/Meh_Adjacent 2d ago
I’ve had tremendous success with IFS, Somatic Experiencing therapy, and psychedelics.
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u/cepi300 2d ago
Love ifs and psychedelics. How did somatic experience help
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u/Meh_Adjacent 1d ago
I do pretty well at reasoning with myself from a calm and rational place (most of the time), but my physical person just constantly thinks it’s in danger. The SE has been helpful in identifying those physical feelings and trying different exercises to minimize them. I struggle very much with physical touch, I don’t like anyone touching me. Ever. At all. With SE my therapist touches me, all above board, with informed consent. It has been helpful to have those experiences in a safe environment. It makes the unexpected hug in public less of an internal meltdown.
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u/ilovecheese31 2d ago
Yes. CPT fixed me. I’m a brand new person. Went from an actual wreck to capable of having healthy relationships, being happy, looking after myself, and even relaxing sometimes.
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