Posted by SLS on August 18, 2004, at 8:30:05
In reply to Re: Shouldn't there be a limit to this, tried rTMS, posted by denise1904 on August 17, 2004, at 18:49:09
Hi Denise.
> Thanks for responding, must be difficult to take, me moaning about rTMS not working when ECT hastn't worked for you either.
Depression is hell. Yours is no less a hell for you than mine is for me, right?
> Do you know what kind of ECT you had and have you got any idea why it didn't work for you?I had a course of 15 treatments in 1991. The first 6 were unilateral left; the rest were bilateral. I felt some improvement after the fifth treatment, but it quickly faded, and I felt no improvement thereafter.
> I'm beginning to wonder if the cells they're actaully trying to activate in my brain actually exist anymore, it scares the hell out of me.
They do exist. They are capable of being re-activated, and new ones are always being born. That's about all I can guarantee you.
> I've seen you on this board for several years now and I really hope that when your ship finally comes in it will be the biggest and best.
Thank you. I'm counting on it!
> Can I ask you how old you are,44 years.
> how long you've had this,
10 - 15: mild to moderate
15 - 17: moderate and episodic
17 - present: severe and chronic; no spontaneous remissions> what you've tried so far and what has worked the best for you?
A doctor hit the bullseye in 1987. Parnate 60mg + desipramine 125.
After 6 months of euthymia (normothymia), I gradually became hypomanic and then severely manic. The doctor discontinued the antidepressants and gave me lithium. Depression returned in 2 months. MISTAKE - he decided not to go back to the original treatment. Prozac was just approved, and he wanted to play with the new toy. After a series of failed trials with monotherapies, returning to the original combination treatment never worked again. Not an unusual story, I'm afraid.
> Also, have you ever had an MRI scan or thought about having one?In 1992, I was one of the first people to have a PET scan (positron emission tomography) at the National Institutes of Health. My cerebral cortex was essentially blue - cold - no activity. It should have been yellow-orange (except for the ventricles - liquid-filled reservoirs of cerebrospinal fluid). It is scary to see such a global dysfunction. I'm thinking about requesting them to send me copies of the pictures. I really should. Maybe I should have a SPECT scan to find out which structures in particular are hypo- or hyper- active. Maybe the information will eventually have some value in choosing treatments.
Have you tried lithium 300-600mg to augment antidepressants? Which drugs have made you feel better, and which ones have made you feel worse?
How are you doing today?
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:378449
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040817/msgs/379037.html