Posted by Larry Hoover on September 6, 2003, at 9:04:27
In reply to Re: After shocks of trauma, posted by shadows721 on September 5, 2003, at 22:44:12
> Hi there Larry
>
> Yes, you are so right about this condition. I did not know about the vitamins helping hyperviligance. Which ones help? Currently, I take B's, calcium, magnesium, and C.How much magnesium? You may need substantial supplementation of mag, as prolonged stress causes magnesium to be dumped into urine. You need D3, to ensure uptake.
The B's are certainly important, but they may be of limited effect without concurrent mineral supps, particularly zinc(40 mg/day) and selenium (200 mcg/day). Both are hammered hard by chronic stress. And, niacinamide (the amide of nicotinic acid, B3), has calming effects all on its own.
One of the outcomes of the chronic stress condition is oxidative stress, which has substantial adverse effects. Vitamin C helps, but it's water soluble (2,000 mg/day). You need some vitamin E (800 IU/day) for fat-soluble protection, and alphalipoic acid (protects both lipids and aqueous environments, and helps extend the useful lifetime of both C and E).
The targets of oxidative stress include membrane phospholipids, and their fatty acid adducts. There are four major phospholipids, and three of them are found in good quantities in soya lecithin. I just eat soya lecithin granules by the spoonful. The missing one, phosphatidylserine, is the most critical one, as it is not only a membrane constituent, it is also a modulator of HPA activity. The supplemental form is man-made from soya lecithin, so it's substantially more expensive than the others, but it really helps with the startle thingie.
The other thing is the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. They are bound to the phospholipids, so supplying them at the same time will probably encourage their incorporation into membranes. DHA, one of those omega-3's, helps dampen adrenal stimulation, quite apart from its actions in membranes.
Methyl donors may also have long-term calming capacity. That would be B-12, and TMG (trimethylglycine).
It may sound like a lot, but I have normalized my own startle response. I have a vulnerability (when I get stressed, I can feel it sneeking back in), but hitting the supps gets me back on track. I'm lazy with my supp intake some times, but that's probably because I'm doing so much better (I was totally disabled) that I get too busy, and I forget.
The supps may provide some immediate relief, but more likely, over the long term, your stress tolerance and reactivity will tend to normalize.
There are also herbs that directly downregulate the hyper-reactive HPA axis. Siberian ginseng, Ginkgo biloba. Licorice root tricks the hypothalamus into thinking the adrenals are working up to capacity, and can allow them to rest. St. John's wort can be helpful. I'm not suggesting you try these with the drugs. I'm saying there are options.
> I did try EMDR. Most I have spoken to got their memories with this. I did not. I got a look at the parts of self that felt shattered. At 1st, I did not understand the visuals I was given, but now I am really starting to understand. The pieces are hard to put together. It seems like it has taken me years to piece things together.
I understand that "putting the pieces together" thingie. It was "too much to take" back then, and I stored bits and pieces of the memories all over the place. Maybe you'll find EMDR more useful in the future, if you can start to bring together some memories via other means.
> Now, I am talking to a specialist about trying EEG biofeedback. Have you tried this treatment? Haven't spoken to anyone that has benefited from it.No, I haven't tried it. The only one I ever knew who used it was able to control chronic neuropathic pain with it. It can be a powerful tool. I'd certainly be interested in hearing about how it works for you (or not).
> The other therapist that I went to were experts in the field of DID and PTSD. I do not know why I just did not work with them well at all. I have never figured it out. Perhaps, it was a personality issue.That's always a critical factor. It's all about set and setting. That's mindset and environment during the sessions. How these therapists work might not have been right for you.
> Buspar is helping me now. I was in horrible shape. I was shaking and feel electricity going thru my limbs from nerves. The buspar was hard to adjust to. It made me very dizzy and almost felt pressure in my head. The neurontin works well with it.
> I never thought I was depressed - just anxious. But, I did feel like I was literally going to die, because I felt so bad - felt like weights hung all over me.I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome long before I grasped the idea that I had PTSD. One of the critical supplements for me, with respect to both PTSD and CFS, has been NADH. It's a metabolite of niacin, but the synthesis of it may be hugely disrupted in both conditions. The result is abnormal energy production in mitochondria, throughout the body. Everythings affected. It has been a miraculous supplement for me. Enada NADH. Enada is an Austrian corporation that produces the stabilized NADH, but it is marketed by a variety of companies. It's all the same stuff.
> I did not realize that my depression was really affecting my vision among other things. Now, everything is crystal clear. The buspar has not made me have the typical SSRI symptoms either. It took about 6 weeks to really start helping me. I am on the max dose 60 mg. My family can tell when I haven't taken my medication. They tell me, "Oh, by the way, did you take your medication?"
Feedback helps. I take support wherever I can find it.
> Thanks for writting.
>
> Shadows.
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:253823
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030902/msgs/257541.html