PTSD & PTSD ~ Dual Support

[LZFreedom]

I'm the wife of a Vietnam Combat Medic ~ and a long time Advocate for Veterans and their families. It's not possible for me to express my gratitude to those that have served, and all of their loved ones!
First, I want the needs of all our Veterans to be met! I'm a Veteran Service Officer, trained by the OR Dept of Veterans Affairs ~ never paid, so never restricted.

Second, I'm actually searching for support for families with PTSD ~ I have my own brand... heck, I hit the shrubs the first time I ever Heard a Helicopter... don't ask me why. Just another  one of my symptoms of PTSD, which have been exacerbated over the past year for some reason. I correspond with a lot of Veterans and their spouses through my page on mySpace, which I only set up about 14 months ago.

I know our active duty, and recently deployed, demobilized troops and their families really need our support.
But I find myself in need of support also. My s/o served three tours in Vietnam as a Combat Medic 68-70. As our relationship progresses, we both realize how much each of our PTSD may impact our relationships, our ability to communicate, to react to current situations, as opposed to stressors, triggers, or (possibly even subconsciously) perceived threats ~ with others, and each other.

Don't mean to sound like a nay-sayer, but quite frankly, I've had self help stuff on PTSD, combat or sexual assault, coming out my ears since the late 80's and don't want to go that route again. Yet, I know that I have a very real need for my own support. I'm open to ideas, if there are other support groups, or forums available out there, please feel free to share. Hopefully, there is something that will serve our youngest troops and their families, and tie in those of us that have been living with PTSD for decades! No one can help a Veteran the way another Veteran can, and I'd never try to take their place! But perhaps there are ways we can support each other ~ and learn & grow.

My s/o admitted the impact of his own PTSD only in the past couple of years ~ and he's definitely not ammenable to any type of literature, or online support. Perhaps there's something else available? Peace & Respect ~ Woshi

[bassetfriend]

Is your S/O amenable to any type of support groups that are not online?
I am in a similar situation, read your posting, and am wondering about that.  Thanks, Deb

[missnanny]

I think those who are medics are at high risk for exposure to the chemical of war and explosions.  The simplest term would be second hand exposure to BUTYL or a commonly used chemical (as in 2-butoxyethanol) in cleaning products and paint ... An injured soldier that you are close to for hours can be breathing the chemical that have been an exposure to them ... and it gets in your eyes.  Often you will hear spouses talk about this.  They come down with 'the syndrome' too

So, in the setting of 'syndrome' of each war era & even for civilians with similar exposures that are non-war, I would look for the pattern .... (CFIDS, CFS, FM, ME) and then would reinterpret the PTSD as the odd thinking that occurs when there is a poisoning of the nervous system.  It also can cause suicidal tendencies, paranoia, depression, improper sleep, and an out of the norm ANGRY response to about anything.

Proof is the FATIGUE and also the short term memory loss, headaches.  Do you each have FATIGUE?  Insist that the doctors find the anemia, but they will need some helps to find it because you have more than one thing goin on that makes 'the numbers' go all over the place and any number can be high or low and be what this chemical would cause.  High white blood counts, for instance, in this setting is an anemia sign (not an infection or lymphoma which doctors would suspect)

Helps I've gathered by looking at groups of people with known or suspected exposure to 2-butoxyethanol (a pesticide, a solvent, a poison, a neurotoxin, a pesticide).  I have no medical background, however, I do recognize the pattern of this particular chemical.


I think you should look into glycobiology for help, as the primary issue with this chemical resulting in these 'syndrome' symptoms is on that is autoimmune.  


Some thoughts I shared with gulf war vets (but I suspect what happened to the Vietnam vets was the same chemical of harm, not AO as gets the blame)

David talks about some of his ailments & my reply