Posted by lady scruffe on May 16, 2008, at 16:14:44
In reply to Re: How much does ECT cost?, posted by John Doughboy on May 14, 2008, at 17:09:55
> Although I've been extremely fearful of ECT in the past, I'm seriously considering it if the next few meds fail. (I'm on Zoloft and it's fantastic for anxiety and obsessive symptoms,but useless for drive and energy.)
>
> Although it scares the crap out of me that very little is known about how ECT really works, I figure any long term effects at this point can't be worse than severe depression for the rest of my life.
>
> I wish I can find more balanced info about it though. I seems like everything I've read is from the hardcore anti psychiatry crowd or the pro "ECT is a universal panacea". (Definitely more former than latter though.)Please do not do ECT. PLEASE! I have been totally disabled from treatment resistent depression/GAD since 2002 and have also been on all medications/ also augmented and finally after researching ECT and getting multiple opinions - did a 12 course series of ECT fall of 2005. The side effects are so bad - such mental confusion during the wks of treatments and for months/yrs after. Such headaches - even with morphine shots after every treatment. My memory is still so bad - and so many memories of pre ECT yrs are gone for good. Your behavior during and for months after is goofy to say the least - it caused such anguish and worry in my family that my son who was a senior at Yale almost had to drop out - he was so flipped out by my bizarre behaviour. A lifelong reader of anything and everything - I still cannot process/understand/retain most of what I read. It's gone. I can't spell - I was an expert at it. ECT made me worse. It did not lift my depression and it has made me even more self conscious around people - even family - because I don't know if I am repeating myself, when past ocasions at which apparently I was present come up in conversation - I just nod and pretend - I often have no memory of the occasion. And I had this done 3 yrs ago!
I am currrently going on Nardil tomorrow but am scared. I was on parnate for one month, was absolutely strict about the diet required and ended up in the ER anyway with high BP and a headache that was so bad I would have agreed to be put to sleep. Beware: most reg Docs, even ER, have little or no familiarity with this old class of drugs - another thing to worry about. The ER Doc went online to see how to treat me.
ECT without insurance costs at least $30,000 in the US.
poster:lady scruffe
thread:56897
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080510/msgs/829498.html