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Crook32
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Default Mar 05, 2015 at 03:27 PM
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I just recently got out of the hospital and the Drs said that I have treatment resistant depression because I have been trying for two years to get meds that will work for more than a couple of months. I am on so many meds right now that I am having a hard time keeping it straight since they took care of that in the hospital. Also two Drs and a social worker mentioned trying ECT to help.

Does anyone have any experience with treatment resistant depression or ECT? ECT kind of scares me.

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Default Mar 05, 2015 at 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Crook32 View Post
I just recently got out of the hospital and the Drs said that I have treatment resistant depression because I have been trying for two years to get meds that will work for more than a couple of months. I am on so many meds right now that I am having a hard time keeping it straight since they took care of that in the hospital. Also two Drs and a social worker mentioned trying ECT to help.

Does anyone have any experience with treatment resistant depression or ECT? ECT kind of scares me.
It would scare me too. Some people report horrible problems and memory loss with ECT. Some say it is the only thing that helped. Have you tried all the safe, healthy, non-med ways to get better? I'm not surprised about the meds. They very often don't work.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/4262681-post105.html

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Default Mar 05, 2015 at 03:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Crook32 View Post
I just recently got out of the hospital and the Drs said that I have treatment resistant depression because I have been trying for two years to get meds that will work for more than a couple of months. I am on so many meds right now that I am having a hard time keeping it straight since they took care of that in the hospital. Also two Drs and a social worker mentioned trying ECT to help.

Does anyone have any experience with treatment resistant depression or ECT? ECT kind of scares me.

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I had screwed around for close to two years with meds and no relief in my depression too. I was considering ECT last fall when I was in the psych hospital but was too chicken to do it at that time. Finally I became so tired of my depression that I bit the bullet and had it done a few months ago. After 13 treatments, my depression went away but then it came back.

I was doing so-so and spread out my treatments to one a month and then my depression returned so I went back to once a week a couple of weeks ago. Just over the past few days I feel like my depression is definitely improving. I still don't like the treatments and get nervous before each one, but it's worth it to me.

Good luck if you decide to have them.

By the way, there is a sub-forum on treatment resistant depression up above if you want to check it out.

Last edited by Anonymous37807; Mar 05, 2015 at 04:27 PM..
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Default Mar 06, 2015 at 07:42 PM
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I have treatment resistant depression. Six years and no luck with meds. Landed in the hospital last week where I felt a little pushed into ECT. Honestly, I didn't stick it out past one session I was in so much pain and discomfort personally. I felt like I couldn't hold a thought in my head for the entire day. My head pounded even after 800mg of ibuprofen. My jaw ached. The next day I felt like I'd been thrown against a wall.

So. Last resort. That's what I'm leaving it for. My therapist has some ideas, so I said, okay. Dunno what they are yet, but I'm near some major hospitals that do research so we'll see.

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Default Mar 08, 2015 at 04:14 PM
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I have treatment resistant depression. Six years and no luck with meds. Landed in the hospital last week where I felt a little pushed into ECT. Honestly, I didn't stick it out past one session I was in so much pain and discomfort personally. I felt like I couldn't hold a thought in my head for the entire day. My head pounded even after 800mg of ibuprofen. My jaw ached. The next day I felt like I'd been thrown against a wall.

So. Last resort. That's what I'm leaving it for. My therapist has some ideas, so I said, okay. Dunno what they are yet, but I'm near some major hospitals that do research so we'll see.

Sorry to hear that it was so bad. Right now our next step is to try MAOIs if this current set of meds doesn't hold. Right now they are fine but I am worried about 6-8 weeks from now because that is about when things start to hit the fan again. I am not sold on trying the MAOIs but if it is that or ECT I will give them a try.

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Default Mar 08, 2015 at 04:26 PM
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Hi Crook. Do you have medical problems aside from psychiatric ones? I'm asking because I was diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression about 15 years ago and it turned out to be because I was developing a form of autoimmune arthritis. Once the arthritis was diagnosed and I got on a drug for it that corrected my immune system dysfunction, antidepressants started working again for me (well, somewhat - I was still having some problems but nothing like before.)

I took an MAOI during that period - Parnate. It seemed to work well at first but the side effects were bizarre and awful and I refused to continue taking it. I also tried several mood stabilizers and antipsychotic drugs.

Is TCM (transcranial magnetic stimuation) treatment available where you are? ECT scares me, too. Some people say it saved their lives. Others are unhappy because they get a lot of memory loss.
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Default Mar 08, 2015 at 04:49 PM
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Hi Crook. Do you have medical problems aside from psychiatric ones? I'm asking because I was diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression about 15 years ago and it turned out to be because I was developing a form of autoimmune arthritis. Once the arthritis was diagnosed and I got on a drug for it that corrected my immune system dysfunction, antidepressants started working again for me (well, somewhat - I was still having some problems but nothing like before.)

I took an MAOI during that period - Parnate. It seemed to work well at first but the side effects were bizarre and awful and I refused to continue taking it. I also tried several mood stabilizers and antipsychotic drugs.

Is TCM (transcranial magnetic stimuation) treatment available where you are? ECT scares me, too. Some people say it saved their lives. Others are unhappy because they get a lot of memory loss.

I don't know if TCM is an option it wasn't mentioned. I have an enlarged thyroid but all the test come back normal.

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Default Mar 08, 2015 at 04:54 PM
  #8
They said I had treatment resistant depression, then they found out I was BP and ADs were making things worse not better.

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Default Mar 10, 2015 at 09:54 AM
  #9
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Originally Posted by Crook32 View Post
I just recently got out of the hospital and the Drs said that I have treatment resistant depression because I have been trying for two years to get meds that will work for more than a couple of months. I am on so many meds right now that I am having a hard time keeping it straight since they took care of that in the hospital. Also two Drs and a social worker mentioned trying ECT to help.

Does anyone have any experience with treatment resistant depression or ECT? ECT kind of scares me.

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I'm personally terrified of ECT bc of the potential for memory loss, I'd be screwed occupationally. I have treatment resistant depression however. There are a couple new options if you don't want to consider ECT. What meds are you on? Are you located in a large or small city? Anywhere near a teaching hospital?
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Default Mar 10, 2015 at 01:13 PM
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I have been having ECT for 2 yrs. I began with a course of 12, waited about 3 months and then went on maintenance ECT every 2 weeks since. I haven't had any memory or cognitive problems and I am able to go to work the same day I have had one. I still fight my treatment resistant depression, but I feel some days I am winning. That's a feeling I try to build on. Good Luck to you!
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Default Mar 14, 2015 at 07:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Crook32 View Post
I just recently got out of the hospital and the Drs said that I have treatment resistant depression because I have been trying for two years to get meds that will work for more than a couple of months. I am on so many meds right now that I am having a hard time keeping it straight since they took care of that in the hospital. Also two Drs and a social worker mentioned trying ECT to help.

Does anyone have any experience with treatment resistant depression or ECT? ECT kind of scares me.

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I do not have experience with ECT. I could have written what you did though, I have been hospitalized three times. They had me on so many darn drugs, I think the drugs put me in the hospital! I know one drug gave me grand mal seizures, wellbutrin, and I was hospitalized. I finally got off of all of them about six months ago and feel better now. I had side effects from every drug they gave me. Not perfect but mentally I am better now.
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Default Mar 22, 2015 at 02:14 PM
  #12
have you tried st John's wort?
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