Posted by JohnLA on May 9, 2012, at 20:03:44
In reply to ECT: ultra-brief pulse cognitive side-effects, etc, posted by psychobot5000 on May 4, 2012, at 18:55:27
hi there-
i had 12 right uni-lateral ect's 2 years ago. not sure if it was brief or ultra-brief.
first, it unfortunately did not work. well, it worked for a few days and then i relapsed. by the 12th i was not getting any benefits like the first 2 or 3, so i stopped.
i had some memory problems from the time surrounding the treatments. 1 bizarre experience was going to see 'get him to the greek' and realizing a few weeks later i i didn't remember a single scene from the film. i watched the trailer and it scared me that not one scene looked familiar. i remember going to the theatre w/my friend, but absolutely no memory of seeing the film. by the way, my friend said i liked it and laughed quite a bit. wild.
the actual ect is not very scary. i have had several surgeries so going under is not a big deal for me. argh. i had it done at UCLA which is one of the best supposedly. the doc and staff were all very kind. i did lose it on the first one; i was crying like a baby. but, eventually i got used to the whole thing.
would i recommend it? maybe. i am a little bitter that i was only 2 months in to my first ever depressive episode and was 'talked in to' ect while i was voluntarily in-patient. looking back, even though i was claiming suicidal thoughts, i had only tried 3 or 4 ssri's and klonopin at that point. seems early for ect now with what i have learned since.
the idea of ect is very seductive for us suffering from depression. i have mentioned this quote before from my old high school football coach; 'i would give my left nut... (fill-in the blank; in this case) for relief from my depression.'
i am now at 26 months in to my depression. i find myself thinking about ect again sometimes even though it didn't work for me. i'm desperate.
as far as long-term issues i really believe i have none. my concentration and memory problems now are due to my severe depression and the bit of klonopin i use each day, not the ect. how can i say this? because there are times where my concentration is fine. if i had 'permanent damage' i believe this would not be the case.
it's a hard decision. like i said, i wish i hadn't done it now. but, i was scared and confused. i remember george harrison speaking about his lsd experience. he said there is life before lsd and life after lsd. meaning it was a very significant life experience. i feel the same about ect.
let me know if you have any more questions regarding my experience.
good luck in whatever you choose.
john
poster:JohnLA
thread:1017140
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120508/msgs/1017553.html