ECT has anyone had this treatment

hey

long story short my impulsiveness has gotten me in some deep trouble and i am tired of it every few years i mess up and something like this happens

SO does ECT or Electroconvulsive therapy...work
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Definition - Tests and Procedures - Mayo Clinic

i always adjust to the pills until the lvls get toxic then they mess around with them and zombify

is this something that works .........is it permit ..........how much of your old self is lost ............are u happier like this ...........does it suck like u seen in tv and movies or is it less scarey ...........does anyone know where i can find info on the currents and volts and amps they use so i can run info tho some buddies for feed back on the actual effects on the brain

I had ect this year and years ago. For some people it is very effective in treating depression. This year I had unilateral and had no memory loss. For everyone the effectiveness is different. Thge voltage and such will vary. It is determined by what it takes to get an effective seizure. Initially you undergo 6 treatments but may require more. You are premedicated to control side effects of nausea and headache. It did help me some as far as depression and isolation. Give it some thought.

Sorry you keep finding yourself in trouble. Hope you find something that works.

I had 28 ECTs almost four years ago now. It helped for a little while, but only at the highest "dose" (bilateral brief pulse). Then it just stopped helping. It also caused long term memory loss and permanent cognitive issues, but my response was worse than most people's.

ok so what i am getting is it only works some times and even then means i need repeat treatments

odds are with my use to electrical things it will not be effective for me .........i can get hit with a 2 million volt taser and still move and talk it just makes me white rage out (4 times now)

so commitment is looking to be my best choice

ECT did nothing for me

I have been warned off this big time by a father who lost his son to bipolar after suiciding. I won't go into details but I'd rather live with medications side effects which are known quantities than the effects of ECT.

Has anyone here had a long term positive result from ECT? I'd be interested to know. ....

I have been digested by Pdoc to ECT but also given the option of TMS so I am not sure which to chose. Appreciate any input as I too am overwhelmed by the seriousness of this decision.

here u go man/lady
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Benefits & Side Effects

this explained it little better for me

What Is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)?

While ECT uses an electric current to induce seizure, TMS creates a magnetic field to induce a much smaller electric current in a specific part of the brain without causing seizure or loss of consciousness. The current is caused by the magnetic field created by an electromagnetic coil that delivers the pulses through the forehead.
Approved by the FDA in 2008 for treatment-resistant depression, TMS works best in patients who have failed to benefit from one, but not two or more, antidepressant treatments. Also, unlike ECT, TMS does not require sedation and is administered on an outpatient basis. Patients undergoing TMS must be treated four or five times a week for four to six weeks.
Research has shown that TMS produces few side effects and is both safe and effective for medication-resistant depression. However, its effectiveness as currently performed appears to be less than that of ECT.


personally i like the magnetic field better then volts of energy ..........foods u eat and meds u take can increase the effect of it anytime

I would like to try TMS. I actually wanted to try it before ECT, but my insurance wouldn't cover TMS because it's still experimental. (This was three or four years ago, so things may have changed.) It was prohibitively expensive without insurance coverage--tens of thousands of dollars. So I agreed to ECT, which did permanent damage.

Thank you for your reply and valued information. I had not heard that TMS was not recommended for someone in which more then one anti depressent med has failed. I will certainly need to talk with my PDoc. Thanks

What kind of permanent damage or cognitive issues outside of memory loss have you experienced? Thanks

Can you ellaborate on the permanent cognitive side effects you have experienced?

Mine are mostly related to reading. Prior to ECT, I never had any problem with it. For two years after ECT, I couldn't read at all. It's gotten a bit better, but I'm still not able to comprehend a lot of books I would've had no problem with before.

Also, in addition to straight memory loss for the duration of time I was having ECT and most of the 5 years preceding it, I also now have deficits in working memory. Basically, I can't hold multiple pieces of new information in my mind, so multitasking is basically impossible. This is also something I was good at prior to ECT.

np man /hon ...............it does not look like this would work for me i already have issues with reading and grammar dyslexic (4 years of a tutor 3 times a week for 3 hours ....can not wipe out all nora's hard work )

if u do not like the side effects they have that other one ...........it is alot more but they basically wire your head with a pace maker for the brain to release chemicals tho glands from the pulses .............it is in that ECT link i passed u

I had fifteen bilateral ECT treatments in 2006. Afterward I no longer needed medication and remained relatively stable for six years. Now I've been through all the medications again and nothing has worked so I'm currently doing ECT again, hoping it works as well as last time.

I did have severe memory loss, going back to my last two years of high school (I had ECT when I was nineteen). But I had been hospitalized seven times in ten months and had nearly successfully killed myself so to me the Memory loss was worth the freedom from my symptoms.

I've had four treatments this time around so far. I'm definitely not as depressed as I was two weeks ago.