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ECT

5K views 36 replies 9 participants last post by  Nae 
#1 ·
I had this done about 2 years ago. I had 6 sessions and I went pill free for over a year. I am back in the pill guinea pig game :/ My insurance doesn't want to cover follow up ECT treatment. Currently I am on depakote 1000mg and started lamictal 25mg. I want ECT again! I can't afford 2000 a session and these asssholes should cover? I need advise for when i decide to call insurance and what to say to my psychiatrist since he thinks I should be on pills instead......take into consideration I have been on over 10 pills, probably hit the 20 mark by now if I take sleeping and add in the picture :(.

Any reply to this subject would be great, I would REALLY look forward to seeing post from ECT patients or followup patients even more...this helped me why is it so hard to get it again :sigh :sigh :sigh
 
#2 ·
I'm not an ECT patient, but my psychiatrist once told me that he was considering recommending ECT for me because my depression was incessant and suicidal, but it didn't bother me that I wanted to die (It still doesn't :stu), so he wanted to send electricity through my brain to teach me a lesson, I guess. I searched YouTube for some videos of ECT, and wow, I must say that it looks terrifying and horribly painful. I don't see how you can prefer it to swallowing some pills everyday.
 
#3 ·
I heard horror stories of it.....99% of people tell me not to do it including my sister.... it is the best thing I have ever did. When I had it done I was so depressed I don't think I cared if I died or was brain dead after it. I have been hospitalized several times and from what they said in Europe it is the first line of treatment for bipolar and regular depression since the success rate is so high. I am not certain about the truth to that but I am sure someone can answer that.
 
#4 ·
I should add they do put you to sleep for ECT and you don"t feel anything...first time I had a severe headache and they added something....after that it was smooth sailing.....I did loose memory but I really don't give a crap. I should of took pictures insted of storing it in my brain :p i have a couple periods of my life I remember nothing about
 
#6 ·
Apart from the fact that there really isn't that high of a success rate and a chance of losing memory, it also appears to be quite painful. Wonderful if it works for you, but I'd rather swallow even the largest sized, most foul-tasting pills (with no water!), rather than being shocked by this primative seizure-inducing treatment.
 
#7 ·
korey said:
I must say that it looks terrifying and horribly painful. I don't see how you can prefer it to swallowing some pills everyday.
What kinds of videos have you been watching? ECT is painful insofar as you undergo anesthesia.

paranoia, have you tried lithium as maintenance therapy? It supposedly has preventative antisuicide effects in addition to antidepressant effects.

My grandmother had ECT, and it was of limited benefit as I recall. I am not real sure of that though. (We are all crazy in my family.) She had some success on nortriptyline, Depakote, and Valium, but those aren't working anymore either. :(
 
#8 ·
The only information I have is information from the hospital during my stay...I did watch one video there...and it did show someone put to sleep shaking(badly) during the short shock. What I am saying is from hospital people so they might have lied but they said success rate for pills is below 30% Ect was somewhere in the 70% area. In Europe they try like 2-3 different pills and then resort to ect.... I was also told ect depends on the person some it doesnt do anything most will be fixed forever and some will need followup treatment......followup depends again on the person.....the examples given to me were about every 1-3 years 1-3 sessions depending on person. This is all from a hospital in the psychiatric unit so they might of lied....my old doc said I still need pills even after ect.....everyone says different sht. I think the hospital workers should know they have seen the wors of the worst...not opinions and they seen the outcome of thousands have it performed. Not sure who to believe....I never searched the net but how you know some of the info isn't from munufacturers of meds.....I would try some European sites and see what they say....I was told insurances suggest the ect for the reason it saves them money in the long term over pills in resistant people?
 
#9 ·
Caedmon said:
korey said:
I must say that it looks terrifying and horribly painful. I don't see how you can prefer it to swallowing some pills everyday.
What kinds of videos have you been watching? ECT is painful insofar as you undergo anesthesia.
YouTube videos, as I said before. Just search for "electroconvulsive therapy" and watch some of the results. I don't know how accurate or up-to-date most of them are, but all of them (even the ones that specifically say that the patient is under anesthesia) look like a much more unpleasant experience than taking pills.

Even if ECT patients don't experience pain, they do experience memory loss as paranoia has said. That's not something I want with treatment. I realize benzos can make my memory less sharp, but that's hardly electricuting away neurons in my brain. Memory loss is a form of brain damage, according to a couple of those YouTube videos I watched (again, don't know how accurate that is).



That's the first video I've come across with a before and after mini-interview with the patient, and from the looks of it, ECT helped her greatly. Like I said, though, the memory loss sounds scary and the whole seizure-inducing goal of ECT just freaks me out :afr
 
#10 ·
I just watched that video, and the before/after shots are quite dramatic in regards to the difference of the patient's persona. Before the treatment she is obviously exhibiting signs of psychosis and depression, but after the shock therapy, she seems to be a new person. It's pretty interesting
 
#11 ·
Re: re: ECT

LDG 124 said:
I just watched that video, and the before/after shots are quite dramatic in regards to the difference of the patient's persona. Before the treatment she is obviously exhibiting signs of psychosis and depression, but after the shock therapy, she seems to be a new person. It's pretty interesting
I agree. :yes

But the whole thought of ECT still scares me :hide
 
#12 ·
I did a quick search...I found this at the end of the article.


GETING THE FACTS STRAIGHT:
ECT is not given as a punishment to violent or uncooperative patients.
ECT is not given to a conscious patient.
ECT does not cause pain.
ECT does not cause brain damage.
ECT does not deprive patients of their thinking and reasoning faculties.
ECT does not make patients zombies.
ECT is not necessarily given as a last resort.
Patients who have received ECT usually consider the treatment less frightening
than a visit to the dentist.
Patients who have received ECT almost always agree that they would willingly
receive the treatment again, if necessary.
 
#13 ·
I was about to try ECT when my depression got better and i didnt need it. It was free here if i wanted it anyways.
 
#14 ·
have you tried lithium as maintenance therapy
nope...I have been on trileptal, low dose of lamictal in the past(on it again), depakote now, and a couple antipsychotics for the bipolar. I tried most ssri and snri and usually ended up with bad results.
 
#16 ·
Re: re: ECT

paranoia said:
have you tried lithium as maintenance therapy
nope...I have been on trileptal, low dose of lamictal in the past(on it again), depakote now, and a couple antipsychotics for the bipolar. I tried most ssri and snri and usually ended up with bad results.
What is your official diagnosis? Bipolar or unipolar?
 
#18 ·
Re: re: ECT

paranoia said:
bipolar....at first I was diagnosed as major depression, so I went through lots of anti-depressants.
i figured that, who else is gonna get lamictal and depakote?
 
#19 ·
Re: re: ECT

paranoia said:
bipolar....at first I was diagnosed as major depression, so I went through lots of anti-depressants.
That would explain why none of the SSRI/SNRIs worked. Lamictal is a wonderful mood stabilizing med though, IMO. I know it takes awhile to start working, but I'd definitely stick with it. Depakote is alright, but I personally don't like it. I think Lamictal is the best mood stabilizer and any bipolar patient should give it a try as first-line med. I don't understand what you were saying, though, did the Lamictal help you when you used to take it? Why'd you stop?
 
#20 ·
First time I tried lamictal I was on trileptal with a very low dose of lamictal(25mg)....on top of being on risperdal, which now I know why I felt like a zombie, also on xanax prn. I might of done better if I wasn't on risperdal. I had an insurance change so I kinda had to stop treatment with this doc.

I did find the answer to the insurance problem. The psychiatrist has to recommend it to the provider than some board director decides if it is necessary.
 
#23 ·
Re: re: ECT

You wouldn't wanna take any MAOIs if you're looking for a mood stabilizing treatment. My advice to you is to get back onto Lamictal and a benzo. No risperdal and/or trileptal, though. Try Lamictal on its own, and you may feel its true effects. Also, I'm not sure as to why your doc would put you on Lamictal if he was gonna keep you at 25mg. Most people won't see results from Lamictal until 150mg-200mg. It takes time, but it's most definitely a worthwhile wait (plus, the side-effects are so minute, that I've never even heard of anyone reporting them, apart from the obvious possible headache, nausea, etc, and the extra rare cases where people don't titrate or wean off correctly, and you hear about SJS, but the chances of that is like 1:1000000000000000000. If you follow your doc's orders and don't take more than prescribed and/or skip doses, you'll be fine in regard to the SJS.

My doc also went on a crazy cocktail mixing rampage over the summer, where he decided to add Risperdal and Zoloft to my already 4 month stable mix of Klonopin 1mg prn and Lamictal 200mg. This obviously only worsened my state, and I had to start back at 0. Then, I got rid of any med he tried to shove down my throat, apart from the Lexapro I recently tried, and stayed on Lamictal, by itself, with the occasional Klonopin, and I was fine. The results I achieved from August 2006 - December 2006, were outstanding. I am now no longer on mood stabilizing agents, and only take benzos (Xanax, but I am switching back to Klonopin).

Best of Luck.
 
#24 ·
I'm on 1000mg of depakote....it is at the suggested therapeutic level with a blood check. Goal on lamictal is 100mg, Depakote makes lamictal metabolize slower so you have almost double what you are taking. I have a script for 2mg of klono a day..I take alittle less.

Guess both of you have the same script in mind.
 
#25 ·
ECT has finally been approved :banana Lamictal reached its "therapuetic" level and left me feeling either depressed and unmotivated to do anything to severely depressed swings.
 
#26 ·
Congrats! Keep us informed on how the procedure goes.

Sorry to hear the Lamictal isn't helping you. Most people swear by it, but I guess some people just don't respond well. (The reason I've never taken it is because it's too expensive.)
 
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