Posted by greywolf on October 15, 2008, at 20:13:41
In reply to Re: VNS surgery survived; all is well » greywolf, posted by Phillipa on October 15, 2008, at 19:36:16
> Greywolf forget where you had the proceedure done? Insurance cover it? And so after the devise turned on no more meds? Fantastic. Maybe for someone like me it would work? You know me what do you feel about that and the hug was nothing. Another Hug and Love Phillipa
The procedure was done on an outpatient basis in a hospital. I had to get insurance approval because it is an expensive proposition, and had to go through a denial and appeals process.
It's not so simple as simply turning the device on and no more meds. I wish it were. With some people that have been studied, they were able to eventually live without meds. Others used fewer and lower dose meds. For some it didn't work at all.
I won't know until I try it. All I know for sure is that the only other option left to me was ECT, which I can't go through and still keep my job (and, from reports, full memories). After a couple of decades of serious depression and course after course of medications and their side effects, I am desparate for anything that may be effective and allow me to eliminate or reduce the meds. It's the only thing that will allow me to get back on course with treatment of a severe OCD problem. The depression keeps putting me off track with my treatment of that disorder, which could end up disabling me if I don't get some serious work done on the OCD. I've been in intensive CBT treatment for the past almost 3 years, and after making some progress, a long-term return to deep depression has slammed the door shut on further progress in CBT with a very good specialist.
So, you can see that I have a lot riding on VNS. Will it work? Who knows? I'm very seriously praying that it does (which is a story in itself given that several of my OCD behaviors involve prayer) because I feel like a small Mack truck hit me yesterday.
Thanks again for your kindness.
Greywolf
poster:greywolf
thread:857460
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081006/msgs/857648.html