Posted by sandi on January 11, 2000, at 20:47:56
In reply to meds stop working-now what ?, posted by kelly on January 5, 2000, at 14:36:08
> I'm afaired to tell my DR. that i think my meds stopped working cause i just started zyprexa & been on prozac for a yr now. i've tried almost everything & when i saw him last he was talking about ECT if all else fails. My husband is agains ECT & i'm not sure. I was asked to have it done in 95 so i know all about it & the side effects.Has anyone been there?
---Kelly, In 1995 I went into a severe depression accompanied by suicidal ideation and episodes of self mutilation. I was hospitalized 3 times that year and had a total of 17 ECT treatments. I did not recall them being of much help and said I would never have another one. Last year I began thinking about my hospitalizations and realized I really did not recall much of anything about it. I contacted the hospital and requested all of my records for that year and found that, amazingly, the treatmemts seemed to work quite quickly. After about 3 treatments, the records show that there was a change in my whole demeanor and subsequent treatments were done on an outpatient basis. Occas. "maintenance" treatments were recommended were you go monthly, bi-monthly, whatever, a get a little jolt to boost you up. Well, after several months I began to get a little depressed and my doc recommended a "maintenance" treatment which I had. One week later I was back in the hospital severely depressed and had another complete series of ECT. Again, I have to say that they did work very well and relieved my depression quickly.The downside, however, is the damage to my memory. My docs told me it would be temporary but I have found that it was not. I still have problems and it has become kind of a joke in my family. When something is brought up that I should recall, I just say, "Well, I guess it got shocked out of me!" People are then able to laugh at something that, were it mentioned seriously, would cause discomfort and uneasiness. My doc did at one time allude to me that ECT does cause brain damage and he seemed puzzled by the look of shock on my face for this was AFTER the 17 treatments. In summation, I'll have to say that if it was between severe incapacitation or suicide, then choose ECT for it DOES work. Just be aware that you do lose some of your memory and some of your brain cells-and me, I need all of the brain cells I can get! Good luck to you and remember there is always a sunrise at the end of every long, dark night and the hotter the fire, the purer the gold.............................sandi
poster:sandi
thread:18104
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000101/msgs/18751.html