Posted by Jumpy on January 28, 2003, at 22:15:56
In reply to Bipolar, PD and ECT, posted by Bipolarsux on January 28, 2003, at 4:14:12
Hey There,
I have severe depression and panic disorder and I received ECT about 2 months ago. It really helped the depression ... I felt normal for the first time in several years afterwards. I was motivated, calm, sleep well and felt refresh in the morning, reading again, socializing, etc. It didn't not help the panic/anxiety ... I still take 0.5 to 0.75 of klonopin to keep that at bay. I will say that I did have some mild cognitive deficits that are resolving ... difficulty calculating, concentrating, learning ... the so called "anterograde amnesia" stuff.
Remember ... for treatment resistant mood disorders, ECT is just temporary and most patients relapse. So if you do decide on ECT, you might have to consider maintenance ECT on a monthly basis after that. (Although some docs will say that ECT changes brain chemistry and will allow you to respond to meds your failed before .... but experts like Max Fink says that you should not expect medications to work after ECT if they did not work prior to ECT and that maintenance is required). BTW, I have relapsed back into the deep depression.
I would visit www.psycheducation.org to make sure you have exhausted you medication options .... like thyroid supplemention, lamictal, trileptal.
Good luck.
J
poster:Jumpy
thread:137894
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030125/msgs/138049.html