Posted by jerrympls on February 19, 2005, at 18:36:50
In reply to Questions for Jerrympis about VNS, posted by Cecilia on February 19, 2005, at 3:38:03
> Re the VNS device, once it`s installed, can the patient turn it on and off, for example if it was making him cough or he was in a situation where he didn`t want his voice to be hoarse? Is it on during sleep and do you feel a difference when it`s on-do you actually feel the stimulations-seems like that would drive you nuts! Do the people it works for actually notice an immediate difference between when it`s on vs off or is more of a gradual thing? (It`s so hard to imagine a device like this actually working with something so full of complicated psychological issues as depression, though I guess it`s no different than meds, which obviously do work for many people, though none has ever worked for me.) Thanks for the info! Cecilia
Hi Cecilia!
Ad far as it being on and off it deeply varies from person to person and from setting to setting. There are multiple setting variables - it's not just up and down. But I can tell you MY experience. When they had it set at a higher setting, yes I could feel it going off - a little tickle in my throat. YES you can turn it off if you experience any pain or coughing or need it off during public speaking (if it does effect your voice) They provice you with a small but powerful magnet. If you hold or tape the magnet over the device it stops it. This is what I did when I had to speak in meetings. The stimulation didn't drive me nuts - but it did frustrate me a bit. However - if it had worked for me I would have put up with it - meaning it wasn't that big of a deal if it had wiped my depression out.
Yes it's on when you sleep - but it doesn't effect your sleep and you don't notice it. The first souple nights I had it on and went to bed I was a little worried I'd be up all night being interrupted by the stimulation - but this was NOT the case.
The device sends a small electrical signal up into a specific part of the brain that control emotion via the vegal nerve. The Vegal nerve is the the body's way to connect your brain to your 2nd "brain" in your gut. Actually you have 2 vegal nerves one on each side of your neck. 80% of the signals traveling via the nerves are going into the brain helping your digestive proceses, etc communicate & report to your brain. Because most of the info goes upstream into the brain, researchers found that perhaps by boosting the "signal" to the brain - the unbalanced emotion centers in the brain would work "at full capacity" thus bringing everything back into balance and helping the brain to remit the depression.
The device was originally developed for those with severe TR epilepsy. You can read more at http://www.cyberonics.com .
Hope this helps!
Jerry
poster:jerrympls
thread:458820
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050217/msgs/460525.html