ECT
Susan Baird
Thank you,
Susan Baird
--
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way
its animals are treated."~Ghandi~
vernon
"Susan Baird" <scbki...@sprint.ca> wrote in message
news:hDuK4.10917$Bq2.1...@newscontent-01.sprint.ca...
: Personal experiences and recommendations please.
: Thank you,
: Susan Baird
In the early 70's for very severe depression lasting for several
months,
3-4 treatments at state hospital, several months later perhaps 6
treatments at veterans hospital. I did not have any big issues with
memory loss after each treatment-------Any memory loss was
temporary, and I don't recall it to be anything worrisome. I can't
say that i got any miraculous relief, maybe some placebo effect:
"here we are getting some serious treatment and every thing is going
to be ok, thoughts"
The procedure is generally considered safe (except by anti-ect's)
you are under a short acting anesthesia, and other meds for
muscle relaxation and atropine to avoid possible problems with
choking on body fluid. A Pdoc administered my treatments assisted
by an RN. You go under quick with the anesthesia, and feel nothing
till you wake up not long afterwards for breakfast (npo night before)
I was disoriented for a couple or 3 hours, but it cleared up, some
memory loss/confusion but no big problems.
Would I do it again under the same circumstances, you bet you. But
only after exhausting all the other choices.
I have heard of people having sucess with Parnal an MAOI
Anti-depressant, the MAOI's have been around a while but fell into
disfavor because of dietary interaction, have to avoid certain foods
while taking them. Supposed to be good for intractable depression.
Vern
: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the
:
:
:
João Cláudio
I have had ECT 25-30 times, spread out over a period of several years. Some
of this was as an inpatient, receiving a treatment every other day; the most
recent was as an outpatient receiving "maintenance ECT" once per week. In my
experience, there has always been an anesthiologist there to manage that end
of things while the psychiatrist handles the actual ECT.
I always had bilateral ECT, i.e., with electrodes placed on both sides of my
head. I have heard anecdotally that there is less memory disruption with
unilateral ECT, but that it tends to be less effective in relieving the
depression. The actual subjective experience of having ECT is actually rather
benign since you are asleep the whole time.
Of course we have all heard horror stories of ECT from the old days. I
believe many, if not not most, of these may be true. These days, it it given
with much less frequency during a given treatment period (for example, three
times per week as opposed to three times per day) and is given at lower
voltage.
The first time my psychiatrist suggested ECT to me, I just looked at him in
absolute shock (no pun intended) and horror. I said there was no fucking way
I would every do that. And so I left his office drove home in rush hour
Washington traffic, and all I could think about was that Vince Foster, the
White House aide, had killed himself that day, and how much I wished it were
me. I envied him.
Well two or three months later, after my life had become a truly pathetic
melodrama, I attempted to kill myself with an overdose of several medications
and self-asphyxiation (running the car in a closed garage). Obviously I did
not succeed, as someone unexpectedly arrived and intervened.
I finally agreed to undergo ECT because it was now very, very clear that I was
indeed going to die if something didn't radically change the course I was on
very soon.
I did have memory disruption of some events around the time of the ECT
treatments, but I have to say, my life was so horrible at that point that I
don't really care that much whether I remember most of it or not. My memory
did return to normal afterwards, and last year and the year before, I had my
memory extensively tested (full-day testing), and both times my the results
indicated that my memory is in the very good to excellent range.
Obviously getting ECT is considerably more involved than just popping some
pills in your mouth two or three times a day. I wish there were a medication
that worked for me as well as ECT does. (I have had it as recently as last
year.) Since there is not such a medication that I have tried to date, I am
glad ECT is still an option for me. Like medications, its benefits do not
last forever once you stop the treatments.
I have to admit, the ECT worked like no other medication to alleviate the
depression. After many months of prolonged and agonizing depression, despite
the use of various medications, I hadn't improved. With the ECT, I found in a
week and a half that I was *noticeably* improved. My God, the relief was
incredible. And faster than I could have hoped for. But like using
Medication A with Medication B, ECT is not the entire solution. It is not a
cure. It's a treatment that can be used in conjunction with other treatments
such as meds and psychotherapy. It's an option. Whether it's the right one
for you is for you to determine.
Best of luck to you, Susan.
João Cláudio
=====
Susan Baird wrote:
> Personal experiences and recommendations please.
> Thank you,
> Susan Baird
>
> --
LyndaNP
Dera Susan,
I have had 3 rounds of ECT...2 in the 1960's and the last round in 1993.
They were effective in alleviating my deoressions. Unfortunately for me,
they did trigger mania.
ECT is not a first line treatment but it is also a very effective
modality for intractable depression.
> Personal experiences and recommendations please.
If ADS are not effective, then it is a viable option which you may wish
to consider.
Here are some ECT websites:
http://www.psych.org/public_info/ECT~1.HTM
http://www.ect.org/
http://text.nlm.nih.gov/nih/cdc/www/51txt.html
http://www.med.upenn.edu/ect/
http://www.grohol.com/electro.htm
Peace,
--
Lynda
PM
worked in psych for several years. Saw tons of ECT. Side effects were minimal,
headaches, memory lapses, "weird" feelings afterwards, and all appeared to
dissapate with time. There is always an anesthesiologist in the room, as it is
imperative. I've had many a pdoc tell me their FIRST treatment of choice were they
to become depressed would be ECT. It is consider safer, also, at least for the
elderly, as medications can cause many more complications in the long and short
runs than ECT. Just my take. pm
> > Personal experiences and recommendations please.