Posted by bleauberry on October 18, 2019, at 15:54:14
In reply to Maintanence ECT is effective, once every 8 weeks?, posted by PCB on September 15, 2019, at 17:26:27
I had ECT. It was 12 bilateral sessions over 4 weeks.
I actually felt something close to remission on the final treatment, but was actually worse up until that time. I also had terrible memory loss so the only way I could know what happened during that month was by reading my daily notes.
I had already relapsed again within a few days. It didn't stick. ECT generally doesn't stick. It generally requires follow-up treatments.
I strongly oppose ECT for the vast majority of functional people, no matter how bad their mood disorders are. The literature makes it appear a lot more effective and a lot safer than it actually is. I call my brain Swiss cheese brain after ECT. It has big holes in memories.
I strongly support ECT for developmentally challenged. It can make the difference between living in an institution and living in a half way house or a regular home.
My spouse is very experienced in day care for severely challenged adults and Downs syndrome. Some of them remained at least functional as long as they got their weekly or monthly ECT followups. ECT kept them in the game of life. But ECT for us psychiatric patients I think, in my experience, my opinion, is overblown.
And it's really expensive. I had good insurance at the time. But even just the co-pay I had to pay was over $20,000. The shot of barbiturate to put you out, all by itself, was close to $100, just for that.
As an ECT survivor, I cannot recommend it to the general population. If someone wants to do it, that's fine, I made that decision myself. I'm just saying, don't expect miracles. And if you get a miracle, don't expect it to stick. And be prepared for some permanent random memory losses.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1106131
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20190728/msgs/1106485.html