ECT

[Azizw126]

Hello everyone,
Today i had an appointment with my psychiatrist and he suggested that i get ECT therapy since i used all the antidepressants available in the market during the past 19 years.
He said i will increase the dosage of Effexor from 225 mg to 300 mg and see the results in 6 weeks.
I'm really keen and excited to have ECT and have good feelings about it.
Has anyone undergone to such a treatment? And how was it?
Thanks in advance
Peace

 

[Hunter100]

Never tried it but is has a 80-85% success rate! So it is definitely worth the try if your insurance will cover it. It is extremely expensive

 

[Misanthrope]

I have not personally had ECT but I saw many clients whilst an advocate who had a course of ECT. So I will discuss them vaguely. For some, it was honestly like a miracle to them and they returned to their lives and never graced my door again. I saw it bring back someone from near catatonia and had some clients swear by it. Others who had it gained some benefit in the short term but relapsed later even with maintenance therapy. Others gained no benefit at all and lost some memory that added to their distress. Others memory loss remained permanent and others had it return months later. Most cited headaches some had temporary confusion.

Like all medicine, it is a gamble because human beings are all unique at the end of the day. There are times medicine does not know the root cause of something. There are many illnesses that exist even now that are not well understood but can still be treated to reduce symptomatology. Sometimes even the why something reduces a symptom is not fully understood, but the efficacy speaks for itself so they go ahead. ECT falls in that domain but has its risks. Those risks should have been outlined to you so you can make an informed choice. I can only hope it works out for you with minimal negative after effects. But just keep in mind results may vary. I wish you all the best.

 

[Rachel74]

This is something I really wanted to try then I made a similar thread on here asking about it and was warned the main side effect is memory loss. This put me off as my memory is already going.
Still unsure if I'm honest. If lithium doesn't work then this is my only shot before CTB.

 

[Azizw126]

Thanks for the beneficial information.
Well, i have nothing to lose, so losing my memory is not my biggest concern.
I will give it a try if my medication course fails which is highly anticipated.
If everything does not go well I'm gonna stuck and haunted by ctb again until I go for it.
Peace.

 

[Rachel74]

Thanks for the beneficial information.
Well, i have nothing to lose, so losing my memory is not my biggest concern.
I will give it a try if my medication course fails which is highly anticipated.
If everything does not go well I'm gonna stuck and haunted by ctb again until I go for it.
Peace.

Im exactly the same. Just read a report on it through through the NHS and all patients felt a big relief.

 

[kkatt]

Discussed this during a recent inpatient stay with some patients that have had it.
It has a lot of bad press but it's not the brutal assault that it once was.
Both the ladies I spoke to said it was very effective but as a "last resort".
Read up on it and decide for yourself.

 

[deadalready1969]

I had eight courses of ECT and experienced significant memory loss. That was in 2006. In 2013, I was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. I don't think the two are related, but sometimes I wonder.

I met people in inpatient who also had ECT with good results.

Each person responds differently. I hope you have good results too if you go ahead with the treatments.

 

[ladolcemorte]

I did it. It did help. I had very minimal memory loss and only around the time of treatment.

 

[Azizw126]

I can see most of the feedbacks are positive, next week I'm going to tell my psychiatrist.
Thank you all

 

[ladolcemorte]

I can see most of the feedbacks are positive, next week I'm going to tell my psychiatrist.
Thank you all ❤

Good luck!