Posted by stargazer2 on December 4, 2007, at 20:20:38
In reply to another ECT question, posted by dondon on December 4, 2007, at 7:41:02
Don,
I'm assuming by your question that you have not asked your doc this question because he doesn't know you are smoking pot.If so, I would recommend not having ECT if you are not being totally honest with your doc about smoking pot. I have so many reasons for saying this but the bottom line is treatment of depression and other diagnoses is so difficult anyway, that unless your doc knows everything about you, the medical treatment and proposed ECT, have very little chance of succeeding.
Between the anesthestics used and seizure threshold levels in ECT being so carefully deetermined and monitored, I wouldn't risk undergoing ECT unless I was off all meds and I could honestly say that to anyone that asked what meds I was on. The anesthesiologist is
the most important person in ECT and demands honest answers to his questions. He usually will see you before you have ECT and go over your entire medication history.You have made a decision to treat yourself daily with pot. That is your drug of choice. Either it works for you or not. If it doesn't then you have options with other drugs for your condition, unless you cannot take medications or with ECT, if meds fail to help you.
Here on PsychoBabble we try and support eachother and give advice that is meaningful and points someone in the right direction. Some here have had ECT and will give their opinions on that.
Your question made me think that if you are still smoking pot daily, you need to question what the pot is doing for your depression. Since it is a depressant, I would think it would complicate things used to treat depression by making the depression more resistent to treat.
If you tell your docs about the pot perhaps they could switch you over to a medication that would help with your anxiety or whatever you use the pot for. If you could be switched over, then this would be compatible with having ECT and everyone would then be aware of all your meds.
That is all I can say to help you out with what I feel is the only way to have success with any treatment option, whether it be therapy, meds or ECT. They all require a level of honesty with ourselves and others. That is the basis of any success with these treatments, to get to the truth and find a place where we are comfortable in our own skin. This is not an easy road and I hope you can find an answer for yourself.
Stargazer
poster:stargazer2
thread:798690
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071204/msgs/798826.html