medication/shock treatment

[Darrell2006]

I havn't been on this forum in awhile, I have been dealing with depresion for 15 years (or more), for a few years I refused medication and tried to recover through pray exercise etc.. I have heard others on this site that this has worked for, but I just got worse and have lost 50 pounds and now weigh 135 instead of my normal 180, within the last year I decided to go back to medication but still havn't found medicine that I could tolerate the side effects, one of the most recent medicines actually decreases appetite so I had to stop that medicine. I have beeen hospitilized a few times in the last six months and it hasn't helped much, I just got out of the hospital yesterday, they suggested shock treatment but I had heard mixed results of the patients that were in the hospital with me, and didin't feel like it was something I wanted to risk, since some patients had horror stories of ECT while others said it helped. ANy feedback or comments and prays would be appreciated.

god bless

Daryl

 

[PrairieGurl]

Dear Daryl,

I have also struggled with depression for years. No meds seemed to help. Nor prayer, exercise, ect. I was at the point that regardless of how "scary" ECT was I was going to have it done. I mean, I had no memory as it was, so what did it matter if I lost more memory??!!
I checked out a forum on ECT, looked through countless sites on this topic...the other members of the ECT forum actually begged me NOT to go through with it. Only a few people got benifits from this procedure...the biggest percentage did have horror stories !!!
A few months back I found out I was misdiagnosed and had type II bp. I also found out that there are some people who JUST DO NOT RESPOND TO ANTIDEPRESSENTS !!! I just happen to be one of those Thankfully I found an excellent pdoc who perscribed a mix of meds that seem to be working

Daryl please REALLY check into all you can find on ECT before you make a decission.

I WILL add you to my list. Feel free to pm me anytime if you have more questions.

In Him,
Wendy

 

[Soulwings]

I haven't heard much about ECT, but I too suggest that you do extensive research on it. I have the impression that for the majority of cases, it doesn't work. I too do not respond to antidepressants, and I know how frustrating that is. Pray about this decision, and do what you feel God is leading you to do. If nothing has worked so far, then I suppose you would have nothing to lose - but, as I said before, it's a decision not to be taken lightly. Make sure you know enough about it before deciding, and perhaps read up on other people's experiences with it a bit.

God bless.