Posted: 1/6/2013 6:44:30 PM EDT
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Need some help from my fellow brothers. I am a Medic....since 1990. Seen the appropriate amount of crap since and dealt with it since. Problem is I recently began to experience anxiety and "mild" panic attacks (squeezing of the chest, SOB, sense of impending bad shit). These episodes have not been associated w/ calls or associated w/ the normal issues @ my other job teaching Medic School.
Discloasure....44 YO male, PMHx cluster HA. Meds: Verapamil et Synthroid. Social Hx: ETOH, social only, infrequent (q 6 mo) intoxication. 0 illicit. Primary occupation, primary inst. Paramedic School. Part time Metro ALS, Paramedic. Medic since 1990. HPI: Sudden, infrequent "panic attacks". Not associated on the truck. Occurs while driving, at home etc. 0 CP. New onset and freaking me out that I cannot 'hang' with this new development. Anybody else have a similar experience? Can PTSD crop up this.....delayed? I understand the concept of PTSD, but was unaware of such delayed manifestations. You can assume that I have seen and been affected by the normal amount of crap we all experience. Help and information would be appreciated. ETA- appt in the morning to see my Dr. for a full cardiac workup. |
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Google is your friend.
Delayed-onset PTSD Hope you find some relief for this. It's a bitch to have. |
| I've been an army medic for about 9 years now, and I have a couple deployments under my belt. My first tour to Iraq in 04-05 was pretty intense, high op tempo. I lost a good friend early in the deployment and put it out of my head til I got home. I was pretty bad for a couple years after, nightmares, obsessive thinking, and the such. Well, I managed to get over it. Just recently, in the last year or so, I've started with the nightmares again. Im starting to show some of signs and symptoms that I had a few years ago. I don't know if this is much help, but just letting you know it's possible to for your PTSD to manifest long after the fact. I've seen it in myself, as well as other soldiers I've known throughout my career. |
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Quoted:
Google is your friend. Delayed-onset PTSD Hope you find some relief for this. It's a bitch to have. Appreciate the link, it reinforces what I am experiencing. Freaks me out. |
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Quoted:
I've been an army medic for about 9 years now, and I have a couple deployments under my belt. My first tour to Iraq in 04-05 was pretty intense, high op tempo. I lost a good friend early in the deployment and put it out of my head til I got home. I was pretty bad for a couple years after, nightmares, obsessive thinking, and the such. Well, I managed to get over it. Just recently, in the last year or so, I've started with the nightmares again. Im starting to show some of signs and symptoms that I had a few years ago. I don't know if this is much help, but just letting you know it's possible to for your PTSD to manifest long after the fact. I've seen it in myself, as well as other soldiers I've known throughout my career. Thanks a bunch, brother. Many prayers and good thoughts out to you. I always thought I was a 'John Wayne' type....guess it's catching up with me. Like it did with you. And thank you, very much, for your service. All of mine has been civilian. Maybe it still is a burden to bear. |
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PTSD takes on many faces. It can start right away after an incident, it can continue long after it starts and it can crop up seemingly for no reason at all.
PTSD is classified as one of the anxiety disorders and it rears its head in the ways you posted. There are a significant number of fallout issues that arise with PTSD relating to anger, eating problems, health issues, blood pressure, insomnia, etc that are all interrelated on some level. We tend to try to manage our own symptoms in the same fashion we do our jobs--by adapting and overcoming. The problem with DIY mental health work is that our intuition tells us to do certain things and those things aren't really the correct things to be doing. We tend to isolate ourselves, find other things that bring us a rush and help us forget at the same time--except those things can get us into trouble with the law, our health, our spouses/SOs, our kids, our peers, etc. I do a lot of outreach and lecture regularly about PTSD, stress, sleep, and general mindset regarding rescuers. IM me if you or anyone else has further questions or needs some clarification or insight. I don't have all the answers, but I have been there and I know how important it is to get back to the light from the dark places. |