Prazosin for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder User Reviews (Page 3)

• BlueL...
• February 12, 2016

"I know you have to wait at least 3-4 weeks. So far I'm on week 3 and still unsure if it works. First few nights on 1mg a day, I flipped up out of my sleep several times. Dr increased it to 2mg a day and I still can't get consistent sleep patterns. Some days yes and others no. One night I stayed up like I was on drugs. Finally passed out around 1am. Week 3, I've now gotten the "gotta go to the bathroom #2" side effect which my doctor says happens. It's like a sore stomach with diarrhea but not full blown diarrhea. The one good thing is my BP has responded to the meds. Less nightmares but then again I'm not really sleeping either. I'm still going to continue and see where it goes."

• Stefi...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 3, 2020

"I'm finding that Minipress 2mg at bedtime helps me get a better night's sleep and reduces my nightmares and anxiety in my dreams. I'm considering requesting a higher dose and possibly getting a better result. But, I can say that the 2mg OPD has made a measurable improvement/reduction in my PTSD/nightmares."

• Junior
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 24, 2019

"Suffered years of PTSD post defence and then paramedic career, tried to manage medication free - poorly. Problems getting to sleep and staying asleep would wake regularly in a distressed state that would wake my wife and kids. Commenced on 1mg dose and also mirtazapine 15mg, after a few months of adjusting I am now on 2mg nightly and 30mg mirtazapine. On taking I am asleep within 30 mins and am sleeping through for 6 hours. Can’t remember when I last slept like this. Wake a little wonky but no thrashing kicking and talking, shouting in my sleep the wife tells me. So it’s working for me when others didn’t."

• Escaped
• October 16, 2015

"I use this for nightmares related to C-PTSD. I was getting nightly terrors, just screaming nightmares every night related to flashbacks, I couldn't tell the difference between being asleep or awake and would wake up exhausted and stay that way throughout the day. With this drug, my nightmares have stopped, but I feel very dizzy and lethargic the next morning, and often more depressed. My sleep is much better, but the mornings are a write-off as I end up in tears for hours after waking. I guess the stress needs to escape somehow and instead of through sleeping, I get more of an effect upon waking. The drug does work to get rid of the nightmares, though."

• Wildw...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 4, 2019

"Took prazosin for PTSD, 1mg. First night, I actually had a restful sleep, ZERO dreams, super strange. But I woke up not knowing what day it was. Anxiety kicked in pretty hard and my heart has been beating like a drum. Not the most comfortable feeling, as I have had issues with my heart racing in the past which required surgery. I suffer from GAD, panic disorder, illness anxiety, PTSD, OCPD, mild depression and some physical illnesses. So, I am hoping these feelings pass. I'd like to continue sleeping comfortably, and wake up knowing what day it is. Hahhaha. Will update once I've been on this longer. Take good care everyone!"

• epikb...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 8, 2015

"Yikes! I took this medication for PTSD nightmares . It increased my pulse rate from 80 to 116. I had to stop taking it after a week of using it. it did not work well for me at all, and I was still having nightmares."

• Missy
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 3, 2013

"I have had horrible, gory nightmares for years and years. With the first dose of Prazosin 2mg they are gone. I know I have been dreaming but don't remember the content. Lately the dreams are back so increased to 4mg. but have total urinary incontinence in the morning so will have to go back to 2mg. This is a miracle for me."

• PTSDa...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 13, 2014

"I started taking this medication and was finally able to sleep. Prazosin has little side-effects and makes a huge difference with my nightmares and sleep disturbances. I find the nasal congestion difficult to manage. I started taking nasal decongestant spray against doctors recommendations (due to risk of dependence) but it is the only thing that has helped me."

• jayelle
• July 17, 2013

"I have been on the Prazosin for 4 weeks, I started on 1mg and after the first week I went to 2mg. I'm still having nightmares and I'm exhausted during the day. I've also gained 9lbs since starting it. I'm very frustrated. I haven't had any other side effects like dizziness."

• So...
• December 23, 2015

"I've had ongoing PTSD for the past 15 years, including nightmares almost every night. My neurologist finally started me on prazosin to see if it would help me get any sleep. I had to go up to 4mg to make the nightmares stop. I tried to go back down to 3mg but had nightmares so went back to 4mg. After 2 months at 4mg I'm back to not sleeping well and having nightmares 4-5 nights a week. I'm concerned that I will continue to build up a tolerance and it will become less effective. I did have one incident where I got up in the middle of the night and passed out, remaining unconscious for over 40 minutes. I have to really watch out for low blood pressure when taking any BP altering meds like this. A salty snack before bed seems to help."

• Cinde...
• November 26, 2017

"I have had PTSD since childhood. I have had so many different remedies and prescriptions. None of them have ever stopped the screaming and fighting completely. This has done the most instead of every night now it’s just once in a while. I agree with others alcohol will only make your PTSD worse. Exercise is well help angling with this pill. Don’t take if you need to get up in a few hours...."

• ptsd
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 28, 2016

"Went on this because I was looking for something non-habit forming to replace Ativan to help w my bad anxiety and flashbacks/nightmares at night. Sadly it did absolutely nothing to reduce the severity of any of my symptoms and also messed with my blood pressure which made me dizzy and almost pass out when I'd wake up :( I was taken off of it pretty quickly because of what it did to my blood pressure."

• theco...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 20, 2017

"I take prazosin for PTSD-induced nightmares. It WORKS for me. Everyone is different but this medication has prevented nightmares and waking up in a panic for me. I have not had any side effects whatsoever."

• trisha
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 9, 2020

"I was on Prazosin a couple years ago and it works great at low doses but when the DR upped the does to 50 mg I had a strange experience that landed me in the hospital. Felt like I was asleep in dreamland, and dialed 911 not knowing what was happinging and then when the police car showed up, he left the drivers door open and I sat in the front seat of the cruiser as I did on the job many times before, but this time was not a dream. I was dreaming but I was actually doing what I was dreaming in real life. I didn't realize this in tell about 3am in the morning when I woke up handcuffed to a stretcher in my local ED. Prazosin works great for PTSD flashbacks at low doses but careful when they try and bump the dose up."

• V2Vic...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 3, 2018

"I've been prescribed (thankfully) a pretty low-dose. It gives me migraines and stuffy nose. My suspicions were correct: I'm within that 1-10% of people who are affected with this sinus blockage problem everytime I take this pill. Of course, this is counterintuitive to my sleeping issues since not being able to breathe wakes me up from sleep."

• Bizzy
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 8, 2023

"I was initially put on Prazosin about a year ago for sleep disturbances, nightmares, intrusive flashbacks, as well as to help lessen the physical effects of C-PTSD throughout the day. At first, in the first month, I didn't find it to be as helpful as I had hoped. Dr. recommended allowing time for levels of Prazosin to reach its peak, which is a full 4-5 weeks. I'm thankful I stuck with it and would absolutely"

• Lisakay
• July 26, 2016

"It really did help with my nightmares. (And lowered my blood pressure haha). I used to has nightmares almost every night and I have only had 3 on the 7 months I've been on it. My boyfriend thinks this is the best medicine ever created because now we can sleep peacefully. Didn't really help me fall asleep but didn't keep me awake either. And when I slept I would sleep though the night with no nightmares. Just really weird dreams."

• 4Gotten
• March 11, 2021

"I’ve had PTSD since 9/11. I’d wake several times a night in a jump scare state, or as soon as I’d begin to relax my mind would wander back to that day and my heart would be racing. It was hard trying some sleep tablets, Valium, even Ambien which puts everyone to sleep! Years of night terrors went on until I couldn’t even work anymore. My psychiatrist suggested minipress it was a wonder drug! In hindsight I now feel the name brand minipress was a bit too heavy for me in the daytime or maybe I should’ve taken a lower dosage But when my pharmacy told me that TEVA began manufacturing a generic under the name prazosin its amazing it’s changed my life. I’m still able to think and function without feeling weak & sad I can sleep at night & I had even begun having pleasant dreams. Only now my insurance won’t cover it and I’ve been forced to get the Mylan brand. The headaches and weight gain, nausea and dizziness are so bad that after 3 months I just started paying out of pocket."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 26, 2012

"I used to have terrifying, gory nightmares. Now I sleep through the night with very few times having to deal with horrible dreams. It does make me pretty dizzy though which in the middle of the day at work does not help."

• Dmh
• October 10, 2015

"I was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety five yrs ago, been on many meds for it, trying to find one that works for me better than Valium because of its addictive behavior. This Prazosin didn't work at all, I got severe headaches, diziness, nausea, and still couldn't sleep"

• My Ni...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 19, 2019

"This is the first medication in several years that I’ve actually taken. At this point, I figure there’s really not much to lose. Started last week on 1mg. This week I am bumping up to 2mg. Last week, almost instantly, my dreams changed. I’m still dreaming. It seems I can remember more details once I awake. But the way I wake up.... AMAZING. Last week I didn’t awake once in a murderous rage ready to fight. I also haven’t woken in pain. Which I’m not sure if it’s the meds or just coincidence. This week however, after bumping up to 2mg, I can’t wake up! And I’m not staying asleep. Holy crap, it’s either stay up until 0330, or fall asleep before 2200 and open my eyes, seemingly every 20 minutes. I do hope this passes. Good thing I have nowhere to be during the day."

• Heather
• August 14, 2016

"I've been on prazosin since beginning of March 2016. I have Cptsd, anxiety, depression, ADHD, insomnia, and a number of physical problems(such as nerve damage ext.) Anyhow, this prazosin worked great for the first 2 months I'd say. I started at 1mg at night, I'm now up to 4mg at night it does nothing! Absolutely nothing that I can tell! I had a nice little PTSD flashback two days while driving and last night it was nightmare after nightmare! My doctor only seems to want to up my dosage instead of trying other things too! I don't like it anymore though and don't find it very useful. I have absolutely no side effects from it, other than it doesn't work."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 5, 2021

"I was prescribed prazosin for PTSD induced anxiety, insomnia, and nightmares (daily dose: 4 mg). It completely took care of my symptoms. But I developed cardiac symptoms (dangerously low heart rate and irregular heart beat) that remained after I stopped prazosin and that are still an issue that requires medical supervision years later. Also, when I discontinued prazosin (using the recommended gradual protocol), I experienced horrible withdrawal symptoms (sky high anxiety, severe daily panic attacks, intense insomnia and nightmare rebound) that lasted for three weeks. Because of my heart symptoms, it was not safe to use alternate medications to ease my symptoms during that period. I went through hell. Bottom line: using prazosin to treat PTSD is a new trend (it's conventionally used to treat high blood pressure) and it has risks for people with healthy hearts which are still mostly unknown. As I learned at my cost, anxiety is awful, but those risks are not worth it."

• JJano
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 5, 2020

"Prazosin is a great medication for PTSD. I take it once or twice a week and it helps me process PTSD flashbacks/thoughts/feelings much more easily. They still occur for me but I'm able to work through them in a more manageable way. Works great in conjunction with talk therapy. I take it an hour before starting therapy sessions."

• Wolve...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 9, 2019

"I've been on this drug for the past two months and have finally hit 3 mg (my goal is 4) and while I still have vivid dreams, they're not as nightmarish and I don't wake up with instant anxiety nearly as often. I've found it to be super helpful although having low blood pressure can definitely make me dizzy at times. Definitely can be worse if you take it while super drunk."