Posted by Thrud on October 30, 2002, at 4:51:34
Hi all.
I've been on medication continuously for 12+ years for severe depression and anxiety...and I'm tired of it.
Medications work for me but I am at breaking point with their side effects: insomnia, fatigue, mental fuzziness and impotence amongst many. How long can we put up with them before something snaps? I am at that point.
I need a vacation from medication. My pdoc and I have been talking seriously about ECT. We are considering unilateral only in order to minimize cognitive side effects.
At present I am researching all I can about unilateral ECT (I would consider bifrontal too but there dosen't seem to be much information on it). From what I have read, I consider the possibility of catastrophic memory disruption to be low but at least some mild to moderate amount to be high.
I am very nervous about taking this huge step: I am afraid that memory problems will not allow me to remain in a professional career, or that I will be severely stigmatized if people find out.
But I desperately need a vacation from medication. The last 12 years have been a twilight life: a joyless, (sub-optimal) functionality.Forgive my ramblings: I'm not quite sure what I want people to say in response to this but please feel free to say whatever comes to mind. I haven't decided yet to take this enormous (and disastrous?) step. Maybe you can swing me one way or the other...
Yours in being sick of medication,
Thrud
poster:Thrud
thread:125772
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021025/msgs/125772.html