Posted by blueberry on July 18, 2006, at 16:21:05
In reply to Anyone had ECT?, posted by Randy Walker on July 17, 2006, at 14:05:55
I just got out of the hospital a week ago and had two doctors and several nurses tell me that they have seen miraculous results with ECT. They suggested it for me, and I may do it if meds don't work out in a month or so. I've been down the med highway about 10 years already.
I talked with a friend of a friend who has been through it. She spoke very highly of it. Side effects were headaches, confusion, and some memory loss (she didn't remember giving a speech at an event and didn't believe it until she saw photos of it). Mostly she says she just forgot the time leading up to and during ECT, which was fine with her. She is on effexor and geodon maintenance therapy now, and people say she "glows" (no pun intended).
Anyway, the hospital I was at was excellent. Nobody there had anything negative at all to say about ECT. They spoke very highly of it.
It does require follow-up treatment though...either in terms of medication (which often work after ECT when they didn't work before), or followup ECT treatments.
They told me it would be 3 times a week, looking for a response within 12 treatments, with a maximum of 20 before giving up. The girl I spoke to who went through it needed 15.
It gets a bad rap and it sounds scary, but I haven't heard anything bad about it yet from anyone who has done it or from doctors or nurses who took an interest in me during my stay.
poster:blueberry
thread:667778
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060717/msgs/668053.html