I wanted to start out by telling you why I chose this topic to be my first written blog without any video.
My husband was drafted in The Vietnam War and he was stationed in Fort Da Nang. This image shows the military spraying Agent Orange over the fields.
He did his tour and fought for this country. When he returned he was not greeted with the same respect that we currently give to our soldiers. Which is a shame but I am glad to see that this public support has changed for the better. You see I come from a long line of a Military career family. So the current public support is something that I am very pleased with. However the after support that the returning soldiers got back than is not much better than they get now. Which is a shame. Many return changed forever.
For many that have physical injuries these injuries are obvious. And I say this because I am not trying to disreguard their injuries however many do not realize that the disorder they refer to now as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) has been known by many other names with previous wars. And it truly is a lifetime issue and struggle. To this day over 40 years later most still struggle with this. My husband is no exception to this.
WHAT IS PTSD LIKE:
For each person the triggers are different but the panic is REAL.
My husband does not like woodsy like areas. We can not even go to a park and enjoy it if he has to walk more than 10 feet into woods. A scene like this will surely send him into a panic that no reasoning will calm him down. He only wants OUT.
Forget about crowded areas. That means no theme parks for the family, no shopping trips and no huge parties or gatherings. Yes this even means the gatherings of family members needs to be kept to small numbers.
Loud noises are also a major trigger and this is the most common one that most people suffer with. Even a back fire from a vehicle will trigger a panic attack. This one is also the hardest to control as they usually come without warning and the panic can take longer to calm down from.
So what happens during a panic
A panic attack activates your flight or fight response. It raises your blood pressure and sends extra oxygen to your muscles to get ready to fight or run fast. It is a primal instinct that we all have. It effects your whole body, You hear better and see better. Your muscles tense up and you feel a sudden burst of energy. If you decide to choose the flight response over the fight you will feel like you are much lighter than you really are. This response is meant to be a short response designed to get you out of a dangerous situation.
However it does come at a great cost. When you start to calm down you are depleted of your stored energy and your system will go through a crash like state. Some will develop a sudden headache. And others will have a carb/sugar craving. This is your body's way of restoring the energy it lost. For some it will cause them to be very tired. Yes this same physiological changes happen even if you stand there and do nothing physically. This is why it can take some time to calm down from a panic attack. I have noticed that it usually takes my husband around 30 minutes to go back to a calm state and sometimes he needs to sleep the rest of the day because he is spent.
The major issue of a panic attack is if the person already has a weakened heart. As I stated the very first thing that happens is their blood pressure rises. The sudden rise and fall of their blood pressure can cause some people to end up with feeling heart palpitations. Or feel like their heart is pounding out of their chest. This will usually be followed by a clammy feeling when they are going back to normal. If this happens they will feel dizzy and weak. They will most likely feel like they are going to pass out. This needs to be monitored and if it happens they need to see their doctor.
Other issues with being in the war:
While he was fighting he got exposed to and became addicted to heroin which he struggled with for years after he left the military. He was turned down for support for this when he applied while he was going through rehab and trying to get his life back together. He also became an alcoholic during this time and it ruined his life. He lost his wife and kids do to his drinking and drug use. The reason they gave for turning him down was that it was his choice to start using the drugs so it was no fault of the military. It took him over 10 years to finally get clean. And thankfully he has been clean ever since. Almost 30 years now.
He continued to live a normal life and worked hard and managed to get by. When he was 62 he decided to go to the VA and see a doctor. He had not seen a doctor for over 10 years and never went to the VA as he was insure if they would even see him. But he was accepted to go to the VA for care. Once there they informed him that he should apply for VA benefits based on where he was stationed and he had COPD and other health issues. Not to mention PTSD that he still struggles with to this day. You see where he was stationed the military was using Agent Orange. And based on this information alone he would get the benefit. So he went ahead and applied.
They said that he had to go see a different doctor so he did and after it was all said and done they denied his request for benefits. We have appealed twice and both times they have denied it.
Basically they claimed that even though he has other issues he does not have any of the issues that they claim is associated with exposure.
The other thing is our daughter has had issues since she was born that I am unsure if it is related or not. No doctor knows exactly what is wrong with her but every doctor says there is something wrong and this has been the case since she was born.
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THANK YOU!!!!!!!