[friedgreymatter]

Hey, folks.

I have a question about ECT for anyone who's had this treatment.

I'd like to know about any pros or cons about this therapy that you've experienced.

Any information much appreciated.

-Ray

my mom-in-law had it back in the late 60s or early 70s.....she lost alot of her memory...that's all i can tell you. i would imagine that it has changed a lot by way of new developments in that field.....pat

[Kathyanita]

I was on maintenance ECT for 2 years with short-courses in between of 3 per week. I know it can break through a treatment resistant depression and has saved lives and quality of life for many (including seniors) the headache afterwards is massive and the short-term retrograde memory loss requires one be living with someone- not alone. I had my drivers lisence suspended while undergoing treatment (restored later when Dr.s intervened with letters to DMV saying no driving on the day of. . .)
The siezure is only 30 seconds but the anethesia takes awhile to wear off. I had bi-lateral and uni-lateral and in the end the voltage upped and depakote lowered to cause a longer seizure. Finally -given that I had been misdiagnosed and its not helpfull for dissociative disoreders- it was stopped 2 years ago. All memory loss from ECT has been restored and no damage to cognitive ability according to nueropsych. testing later. There is GREAT debate on both sides especially the litigeous anti-psychiatry movement.
You be the judge,

[(JD)]

IT is still quite controversial. It is still a convulsion, still a brain trauma. While it's a "last resort" effort, and can save a life if everything else has failed, I heartily recommend trying everything else first. There is no long term data for this yet... who knows maybe some malady some are stuggling with today are caused by ECT?

It isn't the end of the world to have it. It might be if you don't. But it might very well be the end of the world as you know it... or part of it anyway.

[darkeyes]

Me too, when there is nothing else that will help, and that avenue has been exhausted, it is then that I would have this treatment, till then I'll try all meds and therapies before "frying" my brain. Oops! pardon that slip, I do know people that it has worked for, I even had a woman in the psych ward while I was there, request shock treament, so they toted her off to a hsopital that did that procedure.
My only words are, "try all options" before you opt for shock treatment, if that all fails then go for it, but with caution.

Sincerely,

DE

PLEASE keep in mind, this is my own personal opinion only.
No one should make decisions upon what I stated, it has to be your very own decision.
I wish y'all lots of luck with such decisions.

[eskielover]

That is really a very personal decision...from my observations of a couple of people who had it while I was in the hospital with them, it was very tramatic, & ended up being stopped after finding that it did more harm than good. It is not easy to go through, & the side effects can be devistating, but there is always the otherside to the story. I just haven't seen it but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I wish you the best of luck in your decision,
Debbie

[Kathyanita]

BTW Fried-
I had a total of more than 50 treatments in that 2 year period.

[Ganesha]

I guess my question would be how do you feel about it?
Since you've been through it, has your life changed?
Why were you given this treatment?
you don't have to answer any of these questions if they are too intrusive.

In the 1940's my mother had ECT and other experimental therapies.
As a child of someone who is going through that...
it looks pretty scary.
I read a book about one woman's experience of ECT.
Loss of memory was the worst part.

Isn't ECT like having a bad epileptic seizure?
Where the whole brain is stimulated at once?
I guess the newest pathways get burned hence the memory loss?
I am not a scientist, plus things have changed since my mothers time.

Well are you mad at the Dr's for an improper DX?

as I said earlier, you don't have to answer any of my questions.

Thanks for asking the question, I wrote some good stuff about my mom that came up because of your questions.
Ganesha

[Kathyanita]

I will reply later when I have more time to be thoughtfull re: sorting out my personal feelings about my treatment from the political and advocate stance of my NAMI public posture. I dont feel intruded upon at all BTW.

[Wants2Fly]

Hi Ray --

I am not as knowledgable as others. My only contact with this treatment was way back in the late 1960s. A woman in my consciousness-raising group had had it. She believed she had been improperly dx'ed -- but women were always being improperly dx'ed by physicians back then, who preferred to label out insistence on equality as "crazy." She was still suffering memory loss and was pretty ticked off about the whole thing. There have got to be some improvements since then. Ambulances were still station wagons with a stretcher in the back, back then, no EMR treatments . . . maybe an oxygen mask, that was about it!

Good luck with this.

[Eva1nder]

Hi ... I think ppl made a lot of good points here when all other options have been exhausted.

My grandmother has received ect back in the early 70's for this very reason. She had very good results from what I understand.

From my own experience not so good, but the situation was very different. I don't think that the decision was a wise one for my case. I was on too many medicines. I had just actually asked the doc here this very question because it was brought to my attention by outside doctors that I possibly have suffered brain damage by the combination.

Here again though every patient is different. Circumstances are different for every patient. I had gone for 12 sessions and prior to admission was not supposed to be on the combination of medicines I was on.

When I was admitted to the hospital I was taken off of one class given 6 treatments. Released and put back on those meds and traveled back and forth for the remaining 6.

I got only worse. I had been committed again and in that time switched doctors a few times. They took me off of all those meds over the years and switched me to one anti-depressent, which I've managed up until now for about 7 years.

In that time I've suffered memory loss and on a constant basis memory loss. I have problems cognitively and suffer from extremly bad migraines that can really make me anxious and cause some problems.

The neurologist I'm seeing spoke to me about all this and says I should see a neuropsychologist to get tested.

I only told you my story cuz you wanted to know some experiences.

Again, I've heard some success stories and I think mine is an exception and has a lot to do with being over medicated, which a few doctors seem to agree.

I think it's a good idea to do what you're doing ask around...research and definately exhaust all other methods first.

Good luck to you Ray.

Take care
Eva

[Eva1nder]

Hi...I think a lot of the relpies were really good information.

I've heard some negative and positve stories on ect.

My grandmother had ect back in the early 70's after exhausting all other methods of treatment and she finally was able to get her bi polar illness under control and managed under few medications after.

I on the other hand didn't do well with ect, but I don't think the decision to do ect was the smartest one for me as a patient(one that I didn't make either).

At the time I wasn't even aware. I was not really aware at the time. I was way over medicated. I was on too many "classes" of medication. When I would go in the hospital they would take me off one of the medicines. They had given me 6 sessions of ect. I was released. Put back on the medicine and traveled back and forth for the remaining 6.

After this I did worse and the doctor couldn't handle my case and referred me to another doctor who kept switching my meds. I ended up being committed. The doctors asked for the doctors on the "outside" to be removed from my case saying that I was on too many medicines.

The next few years I was removed off of these medicines slowly and put on one anti-depressent, which I maintained up until 6months ago.

From the ect I suffered big lapses of memory loss. Constant short term memory less, cognitive problems, and migraines that are so bad I become anxious and are causing me very big problems. I went to see a neurologist not too long ago and he went over all this with me and said that the combination of the meds and the ect probably caused brain damage. I even had asked the doc here if this was possible and he had also was explaining how this was possible to me.

I need to go to a neuropyschologist for futher testing on the extent of the problems it caused. I don't think that this is a common outcome though. I do think it's the combination of meds and ect.

I hear more often positive outcomes, but I do think it's something that is used when all other methods have been exhausted such in the case of my grandmother and a few other stories I've heard.

I think you're doing the right thing by asking around and doing some research.

I wish you lots of luck.

Maybe you could even look into the hospital you're looking to have it done and their success rate?

Take good care Ray.
Eva

[Eva1nder]

hmmmm dunno why the double post .. sorry ..first time it was lost and i had to type it over :P .. and i was annoyed even .. lol oh well