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Old Oct 03, 2015, 12:51 PM
Anonymous40413
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bird Feeder View Post
Hi Breadfish, how long have you been off ECT? I stopped, well got sidetracked for 6 weeks and it was a big mistake. I'm back to getting it every two weeks for now. Do you take medications also? I do and because of the depth of my depression I am afraid to try without them. I also do talk therapy. I don't know what is working but this seems like a good combo for me right now.

Good luck to you and take care.
My last treatment was August 28th.

Aside from in the beginning, ECT hasn't done much to me. Before ECT, I'd stopped eating and drinking and didn't do anything except stare into space. After 5 treatments or so, I started drinking again, then eating. Because I'd shown improvement in that area, the doctors wanted to keep on trying in hopes of it also improving my mood.
I take medications, an antidepressant, an antipsychotic and one that's a little bit of both (abilify). They have never done anything, but my pdoc was afraid I'd get worse if I quit them. So I kept taking them. Then I had a second opinion at a university hospital and they advised me to quit my meds, as they weren't working and the side effects could actually be causing part of the depression. So now I'm weaning off them real slowly - a 25% decrease per 3 or 4 weeks. I've been weaning off olanzapine and imipramine since July and I think I'll be finished with the olanzapine in January/February and the imipramine in April, or maybe May, depending on my pdoc. And then I still have to wean off abilify.

But a couple of weeks ago I suddenly was so happy and energized my parents thought I was manic. From the next day on, I've been feeling OKish. Mildly depressed instead of very severely.