Posted by florence on September 24, 2007, at 2:19:37
In reply to Any recent ECT patients who can give feedback, posted by stargazer2 on September 19, 2007, at 17:27:05
I had 12 ECT last year. Big mistake for ME.
Two world class hosptials in northern Ohio perform it.One will not do it if you have a thyroid disease cuz it doesnt work. The other one will do it on thyroid pts.
My pdoc was running out of ideas. I didn't think very clearly-- thought it might "zap" me back to life... It didn't.
I was very familiar with both hospitals and thought the psych dept was far better at the one that DID do ECT on thyroid pts. I used to work at the other place yrs ago while I was in college and also had a bad experience w/psych dept there yrs later.I have complained of fatigue for yrs. Taken tons of psych meds and others. Basically researched for yrs and finally diagnosed myself with Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroid disease- the leading cause of underactive thyroid.
Tips on this site helped me tremendously; wish they were updated- (over 10 yrs old!)Ironically, a young man of about 30? was coming back for maintenance ECT; his parents said it "helped" him. He also had a thyroid disease but his dr was letting it burn itself out- an old way of thinking.....So he was not taking thyroid medicine.
Sorry, wish I could say the $15,0000 was better spent. But it confirmed my belief that I was not on enough thyroid replacement. IMO, like Noa said yrs ago on this site- ADs don't work if you have thyroid disease; maybe it holds true with ECT and thyroid disease,too.
I know a few guys that had much better success with ECT than females.
I was told that I had to take an AD after the treatments finished,too. And I had to stop Klonopin the night before the ECT treatment cuz the dr was having trouble inducing a seizure.
florence
> Thanks sam123 for sending those links.
>
> I would like to hear specifically how those receiving ECT are doing 6,12,24 months out from their last ECT treatment. It's hard to know if ECT treatments are effective over the long term or just in the immediate post procedural phase.
>
> Also it helps to have a dialogue with someone who has received ECT treatments in the recent past.
>
> I am curious since in each of my really depressed moods, the thought of ECT comes up but I'm too afraid to ever think seriously about it for myself.
>
> Stargazer
poster:florence
thread:783405
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070919/msgs/784794.html