Who to talk to

#52
Yasherka said:
I made it through the night. Took a fistful of Zoloft and a glass of bourbon I could feel the pills kick in about 0200 and the anxiety subsided, but an unfortunate side effect of them is they turbocharge my brain, making it feel like a pachinko machine of thoughts. Ergo, I am running on zero sleep in two days.

A member pm'ed me asking what goes on during these attacks. I'll post later after I've had some coffee and get my shit together. Maybe my experience will help someone else.

But thank you guys for being the cavalry. I have five good friends but the nearest is 2000 miles away. I've seen y'all come together for others and you didn't disappoint here.

-Sam
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Sam, you may already realize this, but you've got a ton of friends here and we all would be happy to help, however we can.

I'm a civvie and have no .mil experience. But, I'm a reasonably nice guy (With a lot of years of life experience). If you'd like to chat, just PM me and we'll connect up. :)

Oh, and yeah, ping Foul Mike. He's top shelf. So's Powda. ;)(y)

edit; check your PM's.

TC
 
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#53
Yasherka said:
Ergo, I am running on zero sleep in two days.
Click to expand...

Please be careful about going too many days running on zero sleep because of your mind not letting you sleep.
I've seen friends and family have episodes of starting to lose their grasp on reality and start getting serious paranoia from going too many days without sleep because either their mind wouldn't let them sleep or they were too terrified of nightmares to go to sleep.
(It's a well documented thing that can often start to happen around day 3 to 4 of no sleep in a row)
 
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#57
Like so many others, I'm hoping you can hang in there and get this sorted out. This is always a tough time of year, 27 years of military never made me as miserable as one ex-wife. When things really sucked, I picked up a shift working the door to a bar on Christmas Eve. If you want to see some truly miserable people go to a bar on Christmas eve and wait to see what's left after the after work crowd heads home.

We had one miserable bastard walking around the joint whining to anyone who would listen and failing to see that they were all as miserable as him. Finally, as I walked him to the door, he turned and yelled, "If there was a bridge near here, I'd jump off it!" As one, the dozen or so patrons turned and yelled, "Six blocks down take a fucking right!!!!!" I was both appalled and impressed. They all knew where to go, sadly.

That being said, I worked through my misery and got this miserable bitch sorted and out of my life once and for all. I gave up that part time job and do not hang out in bars anymore. I'm not religious but I picked up one of those daily prayer pocket calendars from the free shit table at a local church and kept it in my lunch box for most of the next year. Having a positive though to ponder daily helped me grind thru my misery. I've had misery in my life that has made me want to sit down and die, very little of it was related to my military career. My war zone adventures tended to be endless hours of work and people dropping rockets and mortars on my location in a vague sort of way.

I won't bore you with stupid sayings or shit from a plaque in some idiot's office but there is one that pretty much summed up the miserable parts of life and how I resolved them.

What is the best way to eat a shit sandwich? One bite at a time.

Find discreet help that will not ruin your life and get it sorted. Take a few minutes and look at the good things before you let the bad things win. You have a wife who hopefully loves you. You have dozens of random assholes on a random shooting website that hope you get this resolved.

This is the darkest, coldest time of the year and that has an effect on people's mental health. Turn on more lights in your house and brighten up the place, it honest to God helps some people. So does going to bed and waking up at regular hours.

Until you find the right group or person to help you, do what you can to help yourself.
 
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#60
Yasherka said:
I made it through the night. Took a fistful of Zoloft and a glass of bourbon I could feel the pills kick in about 0200 and the anxiety subsided, but an unfortunate side effect of them is they turbocharge my brain, making it feel like a pachinko machine of thoughts. Ergo, I am running on zero sleep in two days.

A member pm'ed me asking what goes on during these attacks. I'll post later after I've had some coffee and get my shit together. Maybe my experience will help someone else.

But thank you guys for being the cavalry. I have five good friends but the nearest is 2000 miles away. I've seen y'all come together for others and you didn't disappoint here.

-Sam
Click to expand...

Hey,

Start slowly getting off stuff like coffee for a while and if you need to sleep use melatonin as it is natural and won't fuck you up.

If your brain is running a million miles a minute, coffee won't help you.

Just take a while to slowly get your body chill and happy as much as possible. This will help you a whole bunch.
 
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#64
MK20 said:
Hey,

Start slowly getting off stuff like coffee for a while and if you need to sleep use melatonin as it is natural and won't fuck you up.

If your brain is running a million miles a minute, coffee won't help you.

Just take a while to slowly get your body chill and happy as much as possible. This will help you a whole bunch.
Click to expand...
The brain thing is a 1-time issue from eating the Zoloft like Tic-Tacs. My primary concern was getting the anxiety turned down.
 
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#67
Yasherka said:
I made it through the night. Took a fistful of Zoloft and a glass of bourbon I could feel the pills kick in about 0200 and the anxiety subsided, but an unfortunate side effect of them is they turbocharge my brain, making it feel like a pachinko machine of thoughts. Ergo, I am running on zero sleep in two days.

A member pm'ed me asking what goes on during these attacks. I'll post later after I've had some coffee and get my shit together. Maybe my experience will help someone else.

But thank you guys for being the cavalry. I have five good friends but the nearest is 2000 miles away. I've seen y'all come together for others and you didn't disappoint here.

-Sam
Click to expand...
Please don't do both at the same time.
I saw someone that did and they tried to wash their hands in a running blender.
 
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#68
Haven’t read all posts, but…

BEFORE getting any third party(ies) involved — especially .GOV entities:

1) Assuming you own guns, remove all (or all but one) from your personal property / control. Anything you share could easily trigger a confiscation visit. Head that off now.

2) Everyone WANTS to help, especially those who love you the most and would lay down in traffic for you, but they just don’t know how and can easily make things worse for you without meaning to. Brush it off.

3) Stay humble. There really is “nothing new under the sun.” You’re neither unique or special and thousands are successfully dealing with exactly what you’re going through. There is no “right way” to handle this, but there are innumerable WRONG ways. You’ll know your right way when you see it.

4) Openly seeking Bear Pit Wisdom means you’ve hit rock-bottom and don’t know where else to turn. You might get lucky and the right person reaches out to you, but it’s always proper to seek help from those with the most to lose of you do NOT get yourself straightened out.

5) Know thyself. Avoid putting yourself into situations or ingesting information (including daily news, etc) where you know it adversely affects you. Garbage in, bad things out. Fill yourself with edifying thoughts and uplifting input.

6) PM me your mailing address. I have a very small, easily readable book that will fulfill #5 and start the long process of rewiring your brain.

Merry Christmas, brother.
 
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#69
The D said:
Op, this isn’t about an immediate need. This is about a type of therapy that is working and it’s working well for lots of people suffering from a range of mental health problems. I know it seems like a bunch of Colorado hippy-dippy bullshit but don’t laugh it off

sanctuarywellnessinstitute.com

Psilocybin Therapy Denver | The Sanctuary Wellness Institute

Discover the benefits of psilocybin therapy in Denver. Learn how this therapy uses magic mushrooms for mental health & well-being. Explore options!
sanctuarywellnessinstitute.com sanctuarywellnessinstitute.com
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He can't go near that shit with a clearance! Quickest way to loose it.
 
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#70
stefan73 said:
He can't go near that shit with a clearance! Quickest way to loose it.
Click to expand...
Depending on how much he takes, the effects wear off in a few hours and it doesn’t show up on a drug test. So unless he’s dumb about social media and/or accidentally tells someone he should be ok

But op, make your own decisions
 
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#71
@Yasherka

When are where did you serve? There are plenty of us who might have either chewed some of the same piece of ground or been in the same theater at the same time.

I would suggest you relax on the drinking if your taking pills. The alcohol will screw up your sleep more and compound the problem.

I was command directed to see mental health for anger/hostility issues. It didn't effect my clearance.
 
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#72
stefan73 said:
@Yasherka

When are where did you serve? There are plenty of us who might have either chewed some of the same piece of ground or been in the same theater at the same time.

I would suggest you relax on the drinking if your taking pills. The alcohol will screw up your sleep more and compound the problem.

I was command directed to see mental health for anger/hostility issues. It didn't effect my clearance.
Click to expand...
Most everywhere except Afghanistan: Westpac-85, Desert Storm, Bosnia, OIF2. A dozen or so shorter rotations.

82-86 Navy. VS-37/CV-64
87-05 Army. Every fucking Cavalry unit out there
 
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#74
As promised, here's an in-depth on what happens...chime in if you have similar circumstances:

During the peak, it's Fight or Flight on steroids nonstop for hours, sometimes days.

However it does not happen instantaneously as it would normally. Early on pressure builds and mood worsens. Concern, depression, panic. And at least in my case, it just takes something small to set it all off. I have no idea what it was for this event.

Anyway, during the last portion of this phase Rational Thought gets it's ass kicked and locked in the janitor closet.

You know you have to do something, but there is no threat and you can't calm down. Rational Thought is yelling from the closet that there is nothing to fight and no need to run, but fuck him...he's just along for the ride. Me and Irrational Terror got this

Up until 2 this morning when the happy pills kicked in I was staring at the ceiling thinking how cool it would be to run my truck off Pikes Peak with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a Davidoff Aniversario in the other. About that time Rational Thought gets out of the closet and starts telling me what a phenomenal dipshit I've been and it's hard to argue against it.

This is shorter than I wanted, but I am exhausted and heading to the sack.

Guys, thanks again for being there.
 
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#78
reubenski said:
Tom Spooner talks about a treatment for this. It's a nerve in your neck that gets triggered in combat and stays inflamed. It won't relax. They can give it a shot of something that calms it and it mellows a person out. Eliminates the fast, sudden, over the top anger.
Click to expand...
A nerve?!?!? Shit I never would have thought that.
 
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#82
reubenski said:
I'm going to fuck it up, but if I remember the briefing correctly it runs up into your brain. It gets blown up and inflamed during the event that originates PTSD. It can be calmed down with this treatment and mellows a person out. It was one of the big things that helped Tom get off all the meds. It can become inflamed again in another incident but the treatment can be repeated.

Hope you get some rest tonight. Call warriors heart in the morning. It's free. It's non-attributal. It can't hurt.
Click to expand...
Wait, can injuries cause/magnify(for lack of a better word) the same sort of issues?
 
#83
I’m an Army combat vet. Active duty from 2000-2007. Was part of the initial invasion of Iraq. Did some shit, saw some shit. Learned to deal with the shit. Am I a doctor? Nope. Psychologist? Nope. I’m just another brass nut, shit talking, gun toting, vet who gets it. I’m reaching out brother. My unit’s 20th anniversary of the invasion is in March and too many of us aren’t around anymore to be there. I’ll PM you.
 
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#85
UKDslayer said:

83% success.
Click to expand...

Interesting & anyone else notice that was Don Bolduc in the latter part of the 60 min clip. The clip was 3 years old so he wasn't hated yet.
He just ran and lost for US Senate in New Hampshire.

@Yasherka - Glad to see you speak up here and ask for help. We all have our crosses to bare & sometimes they get heavy.
It's pretty amazing to see so many members here offer help so quickly. This is a special place, even the Bear Pit.

Sad to hear your best friend is across the country. That's not going to cut it. We need human interaction although dogs are a close second.
I've got a couple close friends that really struggle with PTSD.

PM sent. I don't care what time it is, if you ever need to talk give me a call.
 
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#86
Yasherka said:
152GE and 152DG
Click to expand...
You played in the air, that's awesome. Always wished I could fly. I played in the dirt with a RSTA later a Cav Squadron in the 506th, I was Infantry. I have a couple of pilot friends that have jacked up backs, something about the loading or oscillations doing weird stuff.

I still remember going to SERE at Rucker. That was a fun time I am glad I don't have to repeat but it was the best school I have ever been to.
 
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#87
stefan73 said:
You played in the air, that's awesome. Always wished I could fly. I played in the dirt with a RSTA later a Cav Squadron in the 506th, I was Infantry. I have a couple of pilot friends that have jacked up backs, something about the loading or oscillations doing weird stuff.

I still remember going to SERE at Rucker. That was a fun time I am glad I don't have to repeat but it was the best school I have ever been to.
Click to expand...
The back thing came from the hi freq vibrations from the tail rotor gearbox. The 58D was a converted 58A/C model that weighed about a ton. The D model got pushed to ~5000 lbs with accompanying upgrades in the power train. The seats in those bastards were basically 3/4" plywood with a slight covering of shitty foam that absorbed somewhere about 0% of the vibrations

RE: Rucker (aka Ft. Death Star). I'm sorry. I lost a total of two years of my life in UCLA (Ugliest Corner of Lower Alabama)

Here's a photo from happier times when I was a fairly newly minted WO1 doing Team Spirit in (I think) 1989
Scan221221185651-0001.jpg
 
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#89
UKDslayer said:
Based on the physiology, very likely, especially a TBI.
Click to expand...
I used to have a contact with a neurosurgeon that was doing some research on TBI's. He is a really cool guy, I sadly lost contact with him.
Yasherka said:
The back thing came from the hi freq vibrations from the tail rotor gearbox. The 58D was a converted 58A/C model that weighed about a ton. The D model got pushed to ~5000 lbs with accompanying upgrades in the power train. The seats in those bastards were basically 3/4" plywood with a slight covering of shitty foam that absorbed somewhere about 0% of the vibrations

RE: Rucker (aka Ft. Death Star). I'm sorry. I lost a total of two years of my life in UCLA (Ugliest Corner of Lower Alabama)

Here's a photo from happier times when I was a fairly newly minted WO1 doing Team Spirit in (I think) 1989View attachment 8027063
Click to expand...
That is so cool! Totally jealous. I had a friend that I used to ride motorcycles with that was an Apache Instructor Pilot.
Rucker was definitely a different:LOL: place!
 
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#90
UKDslayer said:

83% success.
Click to expand...

That is fucking outstanding.

When they started talking about stress affecting certain nerves and muscles, It was like an 'aha' moment. From a severe upper neck injury at about 6, to severe emotional abuse at home, you learn to tense up "Waiting for the next blow." both physically and emotionally. I've tried every therapy known and so far the only thing that lets me rest well is narcotics, but they are problematic at several levels.

I'd love to try this.

Sam, I'd look into it.
 
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#93
Stellate center reports an 80% efficacy, but they are selling their wares. https://stellacenter.com/?AdGroup=S...ptsd&msclkid=668a8d4b317315afc96deeefbec5349c


www.clinicaltrials.gov

Stellate Ganglion Block for PTSD - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Stellate Ganglion Block for PTSD - Full Text View.
www.clinicaltrials.gov www.clinicaltrials.gov

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effect of Stellate Ganglion Block Treatment on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Randomized Clinical Trial - PubMed

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03077919.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Not all studies have shown it to be effective but it is definitely worth a shot. Know the pros and cons and the fact that it might or might not work for you and that appears to be the reality at the moment. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27187898/

There is a lot of information out there.

Worth a shot, imo.
 
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