It helps the worst of the depression. I wouldn't say it does much for the pure PTSD. [flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, hyper-vigilance etc] Only therapy helps with that.

I was on efexor a year. Bad news. Then coming off it? Don't ask. I survived efexor withdrawal...

I'm on remeron [mirtazapine] and have been for a year and a bit.

I'm supposed to take propranolol prn for panic attacks [read flashbacks] but have pretty much weaned myself off it, as it just suppressed the feelings and made my depression worse the next day.

I use Bach flower remedies a lot. They're great.

I suffer from DESNOS (chronic ptsd) (more from the panic/psychosomatic and dissociative side of the symptom spectrum than the depression or lack of anger control side) and have tried lots of SSRI and one NASSA (fluoxetine, sertraline, mirtazapin, citalopram), from a few days to 2-3 weeks, and felt so much worse than before, I really thought "this is the end" a lot of times, side effects, panic, pains, dissocative symptoms increased a lot and a became very aggressive and near-suicidal (which I both wasn`t beforehand) so I ceased taking them.

I tried St.John Wort (600mg/day for 2 months), which worked ok and had no side effects on me but increased insomnia and aggression, but even those effects made me want to taper off, which I did subsequently.

I have to add that I do hours of training (dancer) every day, and with the meds this was no longer possible.

And the dance training, relaxation and Body-Centering techniques (Body-Mind-Centering, Ideokinesis, Dance - Imagination) and T'ai Chi Ch'uan, which I all do daily (mostly), does more to help my symptoms than anything else I ever heard or did - I can only recommend these, although it may be difficult at first, but it does more in creating your own (not traumatized) body image, to replace the traumatized one, that you can possibly imagine.

So I only had a very short med experience and now use the above training and techniques, together with a DBT group (Dialectic-behavioral-therapy,invented by Marsha Linehan, only empirically validated successful therapy for individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, very much recommended for DESNOS/complex PTSD fyi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavioral_therapy), which I can also not recommend enough, and am looking forward to starting cognitive behavioral (1-one-1) therapy soon.

As far as meds helping with PTSD. I don't think so cuz the "pros" give use meds to control the symtoms of PTSD not the actual PTSD. For myself at least all my "mental junk" has 2 parts. #1-it is genetic. My depression and the off spring of it ARE genetic. My mother's side has almost all of the family with this, then add unknown cause of PTSD and the "PROS" have no idea how to drug me up. So I take 200mg of Zoloft daily for depress ion and 0.5 mg of Xanax 3xdaily to control the anxiety/panic attacks. I am a zombie most of the time because of the drugs, but the other option is not a place I care to go again. Tryed no meds for a while on my own----NOT A WISE IDEA. EVER! ! So do the drugs help with PTSD--yes is you want to control the symptoms. Do the drugs make PTSD go away--- no, the drugs only mask the feelings

Guess I am lucky in a sense, I only take Paxil 25mg CR once a day. TheDr. gave me some Xanex for the bad times and I have taken it maybe twice and it didn't really do anything. I still go up and down on the Paxil mood wise, sometimes I get depressed but I don't go ask for changes to my meds I just weather the storm and everything usually evens out again.

In the words of The Verve, the drugs dont work!

Well in my opinion anyway! but I have been adament since the beginning. When I first started getting ill I pleaded with my friend that I shouldn't go to the doctor because they would just prescribe me pills and that would be it. I'd get reliant on them and possibly addicted. I needed to be better without drugs. Then I would know it was me getting well and not the drugs. Exactly as I'd feared when I first tried to explain to the doctor what was happening to me (I didn't know anything about PTSD at the time) sure enough she wanted to write me a prescription. When I saw a psychiatrist he wanted to do the same. There's been times that I really wanted to accept but I feel very lucky that I haven't espeically after reading peoples experiences on here. I cant see how it would do anything other than add to my problems and confuse things even more.

Believe my family are better off without the damn drugs.

Drugs Evie has taken have either masked her feelings entirely, or made her suicidal. Despite recent difficulties, she does much better on her own, unmedicated. She has been virtually drug free since December, weathered many storms in that time, all on her own efforts. She has much to be proud of in that regard.

Brian was on Lexapro when he died, having only started taking it within days of his death. Can not help but wonder if the Lexapro helped to bring about his tragic end.

Jim.

Jim, I'm sorry for your loss. I understand all too well the emotions one experiences with some of those drugs. I remember how Paxil, Depakote and Risperidal almost killed me. It was destroying my liver and made me suicidal.

Much appreciated cactus jack, thank you.

Jim.

Hey guys. While I appreciate your experiences with the different meds in your lives, some of us would not even exist without them. Meds DO NOT cure us. Along with therapy the drugs HELP manage our symptoms. Some times it takes some trial and error to find the one that works for your situation. The key is to incorparate therapy with meds. One without the other is like baking a cake without all the ingredients, the outcome is somewhat disappointing AND it doesn't taste very good either. So there it is-----My opinon HERC

You're forgetting though herc that the whole point of this poll/thread IS for people to share their personal experiences with medication, not to have a debate on whether or not medication is effective.