Posted by dave1 on August 12, 2003, at 20:37:53
In reply to info on ect?, posted by pink123 on August 12, 2003, at 14:30:57
Pink,
I'm in a similiar situation. I didn't respond to meds for many years, so I tried ECT twice. Each time it worked some but I relapsed after about a month. I don't know how to prevent the relapse. They are now running a big test of combo. of nortriptyline + Li after the initial treatments, but the results won't be in for 6 months to a year. They are also testing maintenance ECT in the same trial.
I think it is important to have a good maintenance plan before doing the treatments otherwise you will quickly relapse, almost everyone does.Regarding the treatments themselves, there is some temporary memory loss but it didn't really bother me. When you wake up from a treatment you are confused and disoriented for about 20 minutes. This was very disconcerting to me, but doesn't seem to other people to much. To make waking up easier, you should request the anesthesia Diprivan, it causes much less confusion waking up than the barbituate anesthesias typically used (brevital,pentathol), and the ECTs work just as well with Diprivan. Also request some IV ativan or versed after the treatment, this also helps the awakening.
Hope this helps, its info. I've gotten from personal experience, my pdocs, and MEDLINE.
Bye,
Dave
poster:dave1
thread:250294
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030812/msgs/250408.html