Posted by greywolf on May 21, 2009, at 17:37:08
In reply to Re: VNS questions for those who have / are conside, posted by Meltingpot on May 21, 2009, at 11:08:11
> Hi Greywolf,
>
> Why will it take so long to get to a therapeutic dose??? Is it because it takes time for you to adjust to the side affects??
>
> To be honest if I had VNS (and I have enquired about it) I would want them to push the dose up as high as they could as soon as possible. With depression/anxiety a minute seems like an hour, an hour a day and so on, so six months can seem like a life time.
>
> I hope it works for you, did you get the link I sent you to the VNS message board?
>
>
> DeniseDenise:
It takes quite a long time to get to a therapeutic level because you have to very gradually increase the electrical pulse from the pacemaker to the vagus nerve.
A few things you should know about VNS. First, the surgery is really nothing to worry about--you're in and out the same day. Second, you will have scars--one on your upper chest and one on your neck. I will admit that I was surprised that the neck scar was larger than I thought it would be and it is a permanent scar.
Other than that, the biggest side effects are two things: first, for a few days after each increase in amperage, when the impulse kicks in every 5 minutes, it's very noticeable and is somewhat uncomfortable (though it's nothing you can't handle), but that's why you can't jump to max dose immediately; second, your voice will be hoarse. For some people the hoarseness lasts only during the few seconds of the impulse, for other people (like me), my voice is now hoarse most of the time.
Still, if VNS ends up working either partially or wholly, these side effects will be well worth it.
Greywolf
poster:greywolf
thread:896420
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090515/msgs/897023.html