Posted by JahL on October 10, 2006, at 10:32:17
In reply to Anyone had luck on ECT?, posted by invisibleman15010 on October 10, 2006, at 8:43:55
Hi there.
I don't like to be negative but my experience sounds a little like yours.
I had 14 treatments about 3 years ago and I'm yet to recover. I had a fairly positive response after treatment 3 but things went steadily downhill from there.
I'm left with a permanently worse baseline depression as well as the type of memory loss - both short and long term - that some of the more recent studies (see English Journal of Psychiatry 2003. It was published a mere week after I finished frying my brain...) discuss.
The Lamotrigine that had been so beneficial previous to the ECT is no longer as effective. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I couldn't take it as regularly because of its anti-seizure properties. Upon full reinstitution it just didn't confer the same benefits.
For a year or so afterwards I was a complete vegetable and needed a lot of care and attention. Apparently I bought a house 3 months after treatment but I don't remember a thing about it. Your comment about 'just surviving' rings true with me. Before treatment I would regularly lift weights and practise martial arts but it was a good year or so before I started on the punchbag again.
Having said all of that, there's no doubt it can be an absolute life-saver for some, else it wouldn't be prescribed. I have been told of people that have been brought back from the brink of suicide. Unfortunately I also personally know people - two friends with a similar condition to my own - who were, like myself, *ruined* by it.
The pdocs I have spoken to about it consider it a treatment of last resort, or as a treatment for people that pose a very real danger to themselves. I guess that's why the potential side-effects are 'tolerated' by the medical establishment. I suppose it all comes down to a simple risk/benefit analysis, but there are so many unknowns to be factored into this.
What's your dx? From what I've read it's particularly effective for psychotic depression, with the efficacy for other disorders somewhat more ambiguous.
Sorry I can't be more positive about ECT. Please bear in mind though that, obviously, one person's experience (ie my own) is no indicator of success for anyone else.
I wish you the best of luck in whichever decision you make.
Take care,
Jah.
> Hi Group!
> I just had my 9th bisided ECT. It seems to be leaving me in a worse state than I was prior to treatment and just on meds. My sleep, mood, thought patterns all seem to be getting worse since I started. And I had such high hopes? Anyone else had luck or unluck like I am having? It is such a painful trying experiance to keep doing it with no success! Any other relative experiances to share would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to decide if I should continue. I feel like I am doing more damage than good at this point....at least before I was exercising and thinking about getting a life back together.....now I am just surviving the treatments........
poster:JahL
thread:693527
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061003/msgs/693541.html