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From: Reiaan on 11 Aug 2008 10:11
As a recent patient of ECT, I was wondering if I could hear from
different people on their experiences with the treatment during/after.
I'm not so much interested in anyone's opinion on the ethics of ECT; I
just want objective observations of the results.

Anyone's response is greatly appreciated. I'm going through a
confusing patch right now, so it would just be nice to get some
feedback.
From: Nom dePlume on 11 Aug 2008 23:11
"Reiaan" <cunningspam(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:87d015a8-1d97-4a26-83b7-dc377a1ce12f(a)t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> As a recent patient of ECT, I was wondering if I could hear from
> different people on their experiences with the treatment during/after.
> I'm not so much interested in anyone's opinion on the ethics of ECT; I
> just want objective observations of the results.
>
> Anyone's response is greatly appreciated. I'm going through a
> confusing patch right now, so it would just be nice to get some
> feedback.

Would you be willing to share your experience? I'd like to hear how it has
been for you.

--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.

Find my book, Medicines for Mental health, and free drug information, at
www.MentalMeds.org

=====


From: Reiaan on 12 Aug 2008 00:57
On Aug 11, 10:11 pm, "Nom dePlume" <m...(a)mentalmeds.org> wrote:
> "Reiaan" <cunnings...(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:87d015a8-1d97-4a26-83b7-dc377a1ce12f(a)t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > As a recent patient of ECT, I was wondering if I could hear from
> > different people on their experiences with the treatment during/after.
> > I'm not so much interested in anyone's opinion on the ethics of ECT; I
> > just want objective observations of the results.
>
> > Anyone's response is greatly appreciated. I'm going through a
> > confusing patch right now, so it would just be nice to get some
> > feedback.
>
> Would you be willing to share your experience? I'd like to hear how it has
> been for you.
>
> --
> Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
> Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.
>
> Find my book, Medicines for Mental health, and free drug information, atwww.MentalMeds.org
>
> =====

Fair enough.

I had exhausted just about every option before ECT was considered, as
is the custom I guess. I even tried EEG, which I have some strong
doubts over. Anyway, I was admitted to a hospital of mostly middle-
aged women and old catatonics. Being an absolute minority was a lonely
realization for me: most males my age were out at bars meeting women
when I had never even had a girlfriend.

I don't mean to broadcast my woes, but I think the general attitude I
had about life goes a long way in explaining why I "decided" to do
ECT. They showed me a video to educate me on the subject, but I truly
did not care. The potential for memory loss was not an issue; in fact,
I secretly hoped I would forget everything.

I wanted to do outpatient treatment, but my doctor wouldn't allow it.
That was crushing for me, because I hated being in that hospital more
than I could possibly articulate now. I did the first two procedures
as an inpatient. My first bifrontal ECT treatment I seizured for
almost a minute and a half. After several more bifrontal ECTs, we
switched to the riskier bilateral ECT. Altogether, I was administered
eight ECT treatments.

The memory loss (to the best of my knowledge) has been insignificant,
though I have noticed some occasional forgetfulness. Periods when I
was very seriously depressed are the haziest. One particularly
disturbing incident occurred after the fifth or sixth treatment
following what appeared to be marked improvement. I broke a glass
bottle, went into my closet and cut up my left thigh, smearing the
blood on my face. It's one of those depressive incidents that I've
stopped trying to explain. My drug regimen was altered, and I haven't
had any episodes as violent since.

I suppose the thing that most concerns me now is how hard everything
still is. Just this morning, I cried in the shower and was tempted to
do so at some other points throughout the day. I continue to wake up
earlier than I should. Most strangely, I have a strong urge to get
high. I've never had a drug problem before, so this baffles me. The
only thing I can figure is that I grew a dependence on the anesthetic
that was given to me for the ECT. Is that even possible?

To put it all in a nutshell, my biggest worry is that I'm imminently
looking at another terrible depressive episode sometime down the road.
How do I know, and what do I do? I wish I could do things like write
or play guitar like I used to be able to do, but I'm mentally or
emotionally incapable. Maybe things will improve with time, but given
my experience over the past seven or eight years, I think my
uncertainty is warranted.

I hope that makes the grade.
From: Nom dePlume on 14 Aug 2008 03:15
"Reiaan" <cunningspam(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:24e81e95-75e6-4609-837c-3b4292ca056d(a)a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
Oh, it definitely helped. I'm just a bit spooked about some of the
latent problems I still have, and I was wondering if that was normal.
I suppose with bipolar there will always be latent problems to look
after. Maybe I'll have to get used to that.

I'm currently taking Lamictol (sp?) and Abilify, but I'd be open to
more ECT treatments. I'm not sure what is necessary at this point.

---

I'm glad it helped. You are right that it won't cure bipolar disorder, and
you will have issues to deal with.

I'm not sure what maintenance treatment would be appropriate for your case.
You may be taking the right medications, you may need something else, or you
may need maintenance ECT. The only sure thing is that you will need some
kind of maintenance plan, to keep the benefits you've gotten so far. This is
definitely something to discuss with your ECT specialist and/or
psychiatrist.

--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.

Find my book, Medicines for Mental health, and free drug information, at
www.MentalMeds.org

=====


From: infinitereality on 18 Aug 2008 19:53
I had ECT (for "depression") between the ages of 17-21. Although I
dont remember (ha) apparently it was the only thing that helped.
Unfortunatly, being a teenager I got "addicted" to forgetting, and had
way too many treatments which led to almost permenanat erasing of my
past (reterograde amnesia?) and it took a few years for my short term
memory to come back. I think its a dangerous thing. But at the same
time if there was no other hope for me, which its looking like, I
would have it again.

I just think they need to not EVER give ECT to someone under 25. Ever.
Your brain has not developed fully until then.
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