Has anyone had ECT?

[broncovet]

I recommend you simply wait.  I always go with the, "Truthful lips are established forever, but a lie lasts only a moment".  Pro. 12:19.  

If this is something you really need, and will help you, it will still do so a few months from now.  

PS.  I did the same thing on a total knee replacement...I waited, and Im doing pretty good on my old bone and flesh knees, without plastic or metal replacements.  

 

In the interim do your homework and read everything you get your hands on about it, positive and negative.  

If somene says, "Oh, trust me I am with the VA and am here to help you."

Remember, on more than one occassion Veterans were used as guinea pigs.  If you are nervous about it, I recommend not doing it until you are very confident.  As far as I know, ECT is not reversable just like total knee replacements are non reversable.  

I would humbly suggest you trythings that are reversable first.  There is a reason why people call it a "Medical Practice", or "practicing medicine".  Its because they dont know for shure how it will affect YOU.  They can do studies, but wont know until you take it.  

[anxiousinMD]

On 1/16/2017 at 10:33 PM, broncovet said:

I recommend you simply wait.  I always go with the, "Truthful lips are established forever, but a lie lasts only a moment".  Pro. 12:19.  

If this is something you really need, and will help you, it will still do so a few months from now.  

PS.  I did the same thing on a total knee replacement...I waited, and Im doing pretty good on my old bone and flesh knees, without plastic or metal replacements.  

 

In the interim do your homework and read everything you get your hands on about it, positive and negative.  

If somene says, "Oh, trust me I am with the VA and am here to help you."

Remember, on more than one occassion Veterans were used as guinea pigs.  If you are nervous about it, I recommend not doing it until you are very confident.  As far as I know, ECT is not reversable just like total knee replacements are non reversable.  

I would humbly suggest you trythings that are reversable first.  There is a reason why people call it a "Medical Practice", or "practicing medicine".  Its because they dont know for shure how it will affect YOU.  They can do studies, but wont know until you take it.  

Well, I just read these replies after a year and how eerie and foreshadowing. I very much appreciate the suggestions and advice. I did do my homework prior to treatment, deep into the depths of Google past page 3, beyond industry propaganda, where it is now being touted as a miracle treatment safe enough to administer to pregnant women and all efforts are made to avoid the words “shock therapy” so as not to scare away potential patients. Patient or victim reviews were both positive and negative, but my condition got so bad that “they” including my family all thought it was best, all things considered and tried before.

Here I am after a year reading these boards with little to no memory of what I wrote and read here, and not only dealing with my existing conditions but now the trauma of recovering from what I affectionately call Swiss cheese brain. They failed to prepare my family for the part where I come home catatonic, drooling, slurring my speech and unable to add single digits or hold a fork, with only strict instructions to not be allowed to drive for 3 days after each treatment (lol...I shouldn’t be allowed to change the radio much less drive). There should be some kind of training or support class for Vets and caretakers as far as what to expect, expectation management could have been much better.

The cognitive and coordination stuff obviously improved over time (although with definite residuals) because here I am typing away with a vengeance, but I’ve lost chunks of my life in terms of memory. Some things came back and some things haven’t, like I still can’t find my way around my own neighborhood, and I don’t remember many former friends and colleagues (their existence is erased), movies I’ve watched, places I’ve been, possessions I have or where I got them, etc. The neat thing is I have the same reactions to those things when I experience them again, so I’m told, so it’s nice to know I’m still me. The not so neat thing is everything else. My obsessive filing and organizing skills came in handy since I was pretty much able to find or follow paper trails and emails, so that was impressive. But otherwise, it’s been emotionally traumatizing and exhausting for me and my family to say the least, and for a formerly independent and proud person, it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

The docs are happy it seems to have lifted my depression enough to save my life (?), but now we are dealing with PTSD and neurological issues, I won’t go into this post. I don’t know that I’d do it again and have a few things to say about “informed consent,” but I know that I will try to do everything I can to avoid having to do it again.