Posted by chiron on November 12, 2006, at 17:21:10
In reply to Re: Meds opposite effects » chiron, posted by blueberry on November 12, 2006, at 15:54:32
> Tell me about your ECT experience. I recently had some treatments which turned out with sweet results, though they crashed away in short time without maintenance followup, and absolutely devastating memory loss that would be something right out of a Twilight Zone movie.
>
> I would go back to it, and will be talking to my doctor about it, if they can promise me a way to customize the treatment now that we know how I respond and what the problems are.
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> I would love to hear the full story of someone else's ECT.I'm 33, depression since around 11, always wanted to die. I have tried almost every drug. About a year ago I tried Adderall. Loved it initially. Felt good, could study all day, etc. Then my downs got further down. Then we added Abilify. I don't know if it was just the Adderall, or the combination, but I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. But after the hospital I was still a mess. Anxiety/agitation/depression mix (which I think was made worse by the lithium I was on). My mom had a couple of friends that had been helped by it, so I went in to shock my brain. After only 6, I felt great for about a weeek. I actually felt like doing things, it was amazing. Then I slowly went down.
My dr upped my dose of Cymbalta, but I was feeling blah, and ready to feel good again. So about a month later, I went in for I think 5 more. But I didn't get the same results. My hopeful philosophy is that I didn't do as well because I was on a higher dose of Cymbalta, which I have found to make me more depressed & irritable. And on my second round, I would wake up feeling irritable. My dr. doesn't think antidepressants effect the ECT results, but I'm not convinced.
I did have some memory loss. It does suck. But when you are at the point that you just want to have no pulse, I guess it's a fair trade. I just hope it works this time again, and that the memory loss doesn't effect my job perforamance.
My mom has a friend who has maintenance ECT & is a nurse. I also just read "Shocked" by Kitty Dukakis- she goes in about every 8 months for her bipolar stuff.
I think I have gotten so far down again partly becuase of the drugs that I have tried. I'm not against drugs, but they just seem to mess me up worse lately.
If it works again this time, I am planning to make it an ongoing part of my life. I don't want to be miserable anymore.
poster:chiron
thread:702837
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061110/msgs/702941.html