I too suffer from PTSD and have been both abused and addicted to everything possible for about 47?

Hi~Your symptoms are similar to mine. Each person responds individually
to meds so be sure to take that into consideration. Prazosin was developed
for high blood pressure but has been found to be very effective for many
people who have PTSD. It may reduce anxiety, increase quality of sleep,
and possibly increase a general sense of well being. I would ask your
doctor about dosage and timing of taking the Prazosin. Frequently - especially at the beginning of treatment - Prazosin can cause orthostatic
hypertension (light headedness when you stand - sometimes to the point
of briefly losing consciousness). So your blood pressure must be monitored
as you and your health care professional consider increasing either dosage
or frequency of taking your meds. I found that taking 1 mg three times a day
more beneficial that all at once. It also helped stabilize my blood pressure.

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I regret to say that my sleep was only temporarily improved, the nightmares
continue, but a general sense of well being has been a surprise benefit. I, too, take many more meds than I would like. Sometimes they are necessary, but I would check with your pharmacist and your doctors from
time to time to make sure there are no negative interactions caused by the combination of meds. Be sure to let your pharmacist and doctor know whatever supplementation or alternative treatments you are using. Sometimes all treatments work together for an improved outcome - sometimes they cause unexpected, undesirable, sometimes dangerous
results. As already mentioned, with PTSD, having a good therapist
can be very helpful. You may want to talk with your physician about
EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing). This treatment
is used by a qualified practitioner to help the brain learn to respond to the
triggers of PTSD differently. It is a life saver for some. Biofeedback can
also help people respond differently to old triggers. Again, each person
is individual. I wish you the very best of luck - be patient with yourself
and your process. Lack of restorative sleep may be the single greatest
impediment to developing good health, but you deserve to feel emotional
safety and joy in your life... Deborah

For me, long-term therapy with a therapist trained in trauma counseling is what helped. I used to have dissociative identity disorder and had 7 different personalities. I had 15 psychiatric hospitalizations over some 23 years - things were incredibly bad. I tried pretty much every medication out there. My therapist hung in there over the years and finally! I remembered the huge thing that caused the worst of my trauma. It wasn't easy, and I had constant flashbacks there for awhile, but I believe that God won't give you more than you can bear. It's been six years now since I remembered and I don't think I've even thought about it in the last year - no more flashbacks, no nightmares, no being afraid of what I didn't know. It helped greatly sticking it out through therapy with the same therapist through the years.

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It took me 5 years before I trusted him, and through that trust I learned to trust my husband, found God's love and learned to love myself. Just remember - your mind won't let you remember things until it is safe for you to do so. I wish I had known that a long time ago - perhaps I could have gone through the process a little easier. I am so much better now - and what I remember was horrible, but it's over, and I survived. They were memories - all that I was afraid of were memories - and they have no more power. I pray you can say the same thing someday -