Fast moving water is my trigger. When I was 10 it had stormed one day and the drainage ditch (4 feet wide and 4 feet deep) in front of the house was full and flowing. We were throwing sticks in it to watch them float down the fast current and would lean over a culvert to pick them up again.
My 4 year old brother was with us and when he leaned over he fell in. I ran to the other end of the culvert and grabbed him by his hair as he came by. I couldn't hold on to him as current was so swift it almost drug me in. His hair slipped through my fingers, I was the last person to touch him alive.
Everytime I see fast flowing water, be it a river or the small ditch in front of our house, I see his face as he slipped away.
I try to avoid water like that, I stay inside if it rains hard. I know it's impossible for a 10 year old to have held on, to save him. When the trigger happens I am suddenly overwhelmed with sadness and despair and see Randy's fear filled face looking at me.
I have to immediantly do something else, anything to take my mind off that. I used to cut or dig my nails into my skin or squeeze my testicles, cause myself pain to such an extent that was all there was. I was desperate to escape his face.
Now when the trigger happens I remind myself that I did my best to try to save him and it is
unreasonable to think a 10 year old can hang on in that current.

I just read this today from NPR : Researchers Discover 'Anxiety Cells' In The Brain

[npr.org]

When Trump started being in the news all the time in 2016 I started having nightmares about my ex. Does that count?

From how it's described & it's name sake , I know I've had it when my dad died . It started with panic attack , which is what I think it is a form of . Combatants get it as a proficiency for survival . But when you get out , & try to return to normal , it doesn't go away that easily , because it kept them alive so many times . Knowing I had it , & disowning my emotional response as unnecessary , is the key to taking off the edges & rounding it down . Easier said than done . Naturally , Valerian , Kava Kava & other natural sedatives can help , but the basics are required of the patient to now what is happening & why . Mind Over Matter , is easier said than done , but that is how I managed .

I had it for years & years after an extremely abusive marriage, complete with "flinch reflex" at sudden moves. Knew immediately what they were talking about the first time I read a description of the syndrome, years later. The other day (this is 45+ years later) a TV show had a 1-second shot of a head-shaped depression in a wall at a murder scene, I got the shakes instantly. The gift that keeps on giving, yessirree.....

I'd be interested in the specifics of the high B complex vitamin regime

I think I have pretraumatic, traumatic and post traumatic syndrome. I threw the antidepressants away and feel much better. They helped me thru my deepest, darkest depression but they don't cure, just keep you in a state of suspended limbo. For me, after a while, throw them away, feel really crappy for a bit, and then gradually start feeling better.

Yep. Managing with meds right now, but I still disassociate a lot and deal with bouts of agoraphobia and panic attacks. I've been managing to stay stable and hold down a great job, but I'm filing for fmla as soon as I qualify because I know I still have episodes where I can't function.

I've never thought so , but as i look at the symptoms, and I think I'm going to talk to someone about it... ?

First off I hear you, and I am sorry you have to deal with it, but I am humbled by the strength it takes to talk about it.

I'm diagnosed with C-PTSD, depression and anxiety. Precipitating traumas were failed childhood surgeries to correct a birth defect, and subsequent denial and mismanagement on the part of my parents. I usually trigger when I am in a patient situation. Sensory recall, flashbacks, heightened fight/flight and anxiety for the most.

It sucks.

As I get older I've had to deal with a lot of stuff almost entirely on my own, so I've learned to control it better (OK, not really, but I can at least maintain an external air of composure. I also script A LOT in these situations, sometimes in a healthy way, sometimes not. Lots of echos.) I also kind of did what you did, in that I enlisted in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and ran as an EMT. In my case I was desperate for answers regarding my own medical history. By the time I got to college I also minored in psych for the same reason.

As a child I had zero family or professional support for this, and was expected to deny my situation and remain stoic. So I began to self-medicate with alcohol from about 8 years of age until my early 40's when I was diagnosed. I was also ridiculously violent and self-destructive, and would fight almost anyone. Primal, lizard brain responses. After I was diagnosed I had a name for the chaos and began to heal. It also allowed me to address my negative coping skills, and finally understood the mechanics of the situation. It is still there, but I wouldn't be alive if I hadn't found positive coping mechanisms. In the past 10 years I've died, had 5 heart attacks, 2x bypass, broke my neck, broke my back and had a few other things I'd rather keep private. These events and either a lack of support or being told that it was all in my head by my spouse left me very broken, but gave me the chance to heal and get stronger.

If it makes any sense, I am very stubborn, and I am very proud of my scars, lol.

Medication, mental stimulation (the creative arts saved me) diet and exercise are critical to my wellness, along with forcing myself outside and into social situations. It is a vicious cycle with both; as I get mentally worse good habits drop, lather rinse repeat.

Having said that, there are over 7 billion people on Earth and usually it feels like I might care for about 4 or 5 of them. Still working on that, but society doesn't handle questions without answers very well, and they treat the people dealing with those questions even worse.

I doubt that is ever going to change in our lifetimes.

I hope some of this helped, it makes one's journey interesting to say the least. All the best to you Ellen, have a great weekend.

Yes.

Not any more, but did suffer for a few years. Constantly tense, hyper aware of my surrounding, anxiety attacks. Time was what really fixed it, but for a short while I went off radar, made me feel slightly safer, but not completely.

No but I'd be curious to know if the B vitamins help you. Good luck!

Yes, I have Compound PTSD.

Short answer:
"YESS!!!!!!"

No

I used some military techniques to treat ptsd from my marriage.
I relived bad memories, except that I imagined events happening as I'd once hoped they would, seeing my marriage unfolding as loving, supportive, filled with kindness, etc.

It somehow canceled most of the horror and anger.

I do. From abuse. Loud noises, screaming, unwanted touching, quick movements. All triggers. I like my meds right now. I’ve got other issues too, so I’m on an interesting cocktail.