Posted by Zeba on May 17, 2008, at 4:52:29
In reply to Re: How much does ECT cost? » John Doughboy, posted by lady scruffe on May 16, 2008, at 16:14:44
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> Please do not do ECT. PLEASE! I have been totally disabled from treatment resistent depression/GAD since 2002 and have also been on all medications/ also augmented and finally after researching ECT and getting multiple opinions - did a 12 course series of ECT fall of 2005. The side effects are so bad - such mental confusion during the wks of treatments and for months/yrs after. Such headaches - even with morphine shots after every treatment. My memory is still so bad - and so many memories of pre ECT yrs are gone for good. Your behavior during and for months after is goofy to say the least - it caused such anguish and worry in my family that my son who was a senior at Yale almost had to drop out - he was so flipped out by my bizarre behaviour. A lifelong reader of anything and everything - I still cannot process/understand/retain most of what I read. It's gone. I can't spell - I was an expert at it. ECT made me worse. It did not lift my depression and it has made me even more self conscious around people - even family - because I don't know if I am repeating myself, when past ocasions at which apparently I was present come up in conversation - I just nod and pretend - I often have no memory of the occasion. And I had this done 3 yrs ago!
> I am currrently going on Nardil tomorrow but am scared. I was on parnate for one month, was absolutely strict about the diet required and ended up in the ER anyway with high BP and a headache that was so bad I would have agreed to be put to sleep. Beware: most reg Docs, even ER, have little or no familiarity with this old class of drugs - another thing to worry about. The ER Doc went online to see how to treat me.
> ECT without insurance costs at least $30,000 in the US.
>
I agree with lady scruffe. I had ECT too and have the same problems. I had unilateral, but the seizure is over all the brain. I had 7 treatments over a year ago. I am still disoriented and have to use GPS to get around familiar places. I also can't read and process and understand and retain what I read, and now my math and spelling is atrocous. I used to be an advanced math student, and now I have to use my fingers to add and subtract. I can't spell anymore, and I still have word finding difficulties. I was depressed after and am now to but to a lesser extent. I take Parnate now, and it takes the edge off things. I am careful about diet. Hypertensive crisis is no fun and can be deadly. Keep to the diet.
poster:Zeba
thread:56897
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080510/msgs/829628.html