Yup - well I used to. Physical limitations mean that I don't dare jump due to pain nowadays. But a few years ago I would go flippo kitty at the slightest noise or movement.

Hugs - I have no help to give. I didn't cure it, I just got physically broken.

Yup, but I am another who seems to be getting a handle on it. It doesn't happen so often these days and when it does, I can typically get it under control in a reasonable space of time. I firmly believe that mine come from adrenaline surges triggered by hyper-vigilance. It is a biological response to a biological agent. Before I even approach the psychological issues behind it, I work on getting the adrenaline out of my system so that I can think clearly before I attempt to tackle the hard part.

But that is me.

Gentle support while you sort your own unique dynamics, Shadow. Welcome to the forum.

Yes, and when I was married I was able to take medication that helped me with it. I'm no longer married now, and with kidney failure it's better that I not take those meds, so it's just as well, I suppose. I could really jump when startled.

Yes I do too. I always startle so easily. It is very annoying.

Thank you all for your replies. It helps to know there are others that do this. I have been jumping for over 4 years. Most people know to not make loud sounds around me. There are some that brush it off when I try to explain it but they learn to believe me pretty quick. Thank you all again. I'm new here and it really helps to talk/write about it.

Hope you find some good healing strategies, Shadow. It can be as hard on the folks around us as it is on us, even when they DO understand. Maybe harder since they don't have any of the inside data. For them, even the good days are an apprehensive guessing game. ???When is she gonna blow??? Never "If." Always "When."

Healing hopes, Shadow. There is lots of discussion on healing strategies here. Hope some of them resonate with you.

I also have a hard time with this. My therapist has recommended meditation so that I`m just less ``on high alert`` at a normal time but I haven`t been consistent with giving it a shot so haven`t experienced any positive results. Here`s a link to the ones she recommended - http://www.mindfulselfcompassion.org/meditations_downloads.php. Good luck.

Yep! Not from the tv, but when people come up behind me, come up to me unexpectedly, loud sounds. I jump too and my heart just about skips a beat and it takes me a few mins for my pulse to calm down again

Yup. People walking up behind me have been really surprised when I startled into a martial arts ready stance...in the grocery store.

The guy in a bad neighborhood who walked up on me fixing my car got a bit scarier reaction-I came up with the wrench very fast and battle-screamed at him.
Then, after a microsecond of looking at each other, we busted out laughing and apologized to each other. I looked in his eyes and he felt fairly okay.

I dunno, I didn't die 2 years ago because I reacted very fast to a truck coming the wrong way over a freeway overpass, in the fast lane, when I was doing 70 in the correct direction.

I was over in the slow lane breakdown lane AND STOPPED by the time the truck passed me. 2 seconds. In 2 seconds I did what I needed to do to survive.
So that startle thing...um, not always a bad thing, yanno.

Sort of. Phone calls used to make me feel like it was a life or death situation. Now I'm better but still hate phone rings.

Yes, I have that, like I'll flinch at anything, and people say but you're safe around me but I'm still hypervigilant and it can be quite emmbarrassing too, someone could throw something at me and i'll throw whatevers in my hand up and scream, like water.

I can remember the last time I had a cringe and duck reaction to angering a man. I was 30 years old. The person whose anger had elicited that response was not about to hit me because he didn't like what I had done (eaten my own sandwich instead of feeding it to him!) so my reaction really told me something about my upbringing. That was 25 years ago. I still have an exaggerated startle response but I haven't been subjected to violence for decades, so it's much less than it was.

Add me to the list...I try to deny it, but it's always there. The other day I jumped because a leaf fell off a tree near me.

Mine doesn't seem to be getting any better.

I solved the phone problem, Rizen...I turned off the bell. OK, not for everyone, I get that. All my calls were something negative, so now they're all cut off...LOL. I feel sooo much better without that thing going off every day. I tell people to send me emails when they want to get in touch.

Yes Bluedragon it does make for some fast reflexes. That's one of the good things about it. I'll miss it if it goes away.

Take it in small bites, Shadow, and you can keep those heightened reflexes. They are worth keeping. Small moves make it easier to avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Some of our PTSD symptoms are blessings after we can sort them from the dysfunctional symptoms.

When one door closes, another one opens. Don't spend so much time looking at the door that is closed that you miss the door that is open.