Posted by pulse on May 22, 2006, at 14:06:46
In reply to Re: ECT-how much memory was wiped out, posted by omega513 on May 21, 2006, at 23:50:45
from 14 years to 9 yrs. ago, i had 2 full courses of 12 treatments - done BILATERALLY. the 3rd go-round, i was not as seriously depressed as was thought when they were started, so i had only 3 or so. these last ones, i'm not 100% sure were done bilaterally, but my best guess is that they were. (another p-doc did them, in another town, but he was old school and - by now - practiced for 45 yrs, until he retired recently.) seems the older docs prefer bilateral.
i've seen alot of talk here on prior threads re: ECTs and a big warning to not get bilateral. i couldn't disagree more!
i had absolutely no memory loss, no headaches, no side-effects of any kind with the bilateral method. best i've ever felt.
the real problem, imo, is finding the best practicioner to do them, and word of mouth, or a *good therapist/ nurse with many contacts, are the only ways i know of accomplishing this. for instance, when my main ECT doc was out of town, i had to go to the second most "popular" ECT doc at that hosptial; he did them unilaterally, and i got headaches i'd compare to migraines or worse, and memory loss. i walked out AMA asap.
all ECTs are done out-patient now here; i have no way to do this. if i did, i would do again in a ny minute.
best of luck, if you choose to do ECT.
pulse
poster:pulse
thread:637730
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060520/msgs/646922.html