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shutterbug · 10-26-2007, 05:02 PM

Thank you both very much....Peda i guess my main thoughts are that i've heard mostly good things these days about ECT from both docs who are knowledgeable about it and patients who use it and their family members.

One of the first meds they put me on was Seroquel and after taking it for a while and then getting off of it...i had some blood tests done that revealed i was borderline diabetic. I knew instantly it was a result of the constant and extreme sugar cravings i had while on that med, but that was only my own personal theory. Nearly two years later....now i read that it has been acknoledged for causing diabetis. So there is no doubt in my mind about that now.

So...i look at it like this....how in the world could loosing a few days of my memory be worse than developing an entire new disease caused from the side affects of a pill? And that was only one pill of many i've been used like a guinea pig with while trying to bring me out of the depressions and keep me out.

So...a few initial ECT treatments and then maintance treatments could have saved me from having to put my body in jeapordy of developing more health concerns AND from not having to take a cocktail of different pills all the time?

If ECT had been prescribed during my first mental health crisis....i believe the last 4 years would have been much easier and that i would probably NEVER have even gotten to the current place of being suicidal or near suicidal.

All-in-all....i think it's all about stigmas as HistoryTeach spoke of. I've had that part of that movie described to me, but i've never seen it and only made it a little ways into the book when i was assigned to read it in school. So....luckily i don't really have any strong images of the monsterous ways ECT got it's start.

All i know now is that it works, with little to no real or lasting side affects, and that's really all there is to know for me.

Too many people like me struggle for too many years on the med rollar coaster....why should we have to suffer while the docs make guesses if there's already something out there that ACTUALLY works?

Getting over the fears about it is really the only question left in my opinion.
Do it....get better, perhaps lose memory of the 2-3 days before treatment?
-or-
Don't do it.....get depressed over and over and lose memory of tons of things 24-7?

Easy choice when laid out in those terms don't ya think?

hugs,
jenna

p.s. Teach...thank you so much for sharing that about the first lady of Mass. i will have to find that book even if i have to order it online. Thanks!!!!! And how wonderful to hear of more prominet people speaking up about their battles with mental health issues!!! Rock on!!!!! Whoot Whoot!

10-26-2007, 05:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,947 Blog Entries: 5	Thank you both very much....Peda i guess my main thoughts are that i've heard mostly good things these days about ECT from both docs who are knowledgeable about it and patients who use it and their family members. One of the first meds they put me on was Seroquel and after taking it for a while and then getting off of it...i had some blood tests done that revealed i was borderline diabetic. I knew instantly it was a result of the constant and extreme sugar cravings i had while on that med, but that was only my own personal theory. Nearly two years later....now i read that it has been acknoledged for causing diabetis. So there is no doubt in my mind about that now. So...i look at it like this....how in the world could loosing a few days of my memory be worse than developing an entire new disease caused from the side affects of a pill? And that was only one pill of many i've been used like a guinea pig with while trying to bring me out of the depressions and keep me out. So...a few initial ECT treatments and then maintance treatments could have saved me from having to put my body in jeapordy of developing more health concerns AND from not having to take a cocktail of different pills all the time? If ECT had been prescribed during my first mental health crisis....i believe the last 4 years would have been much easier and that i would probably NEVER have even gotten to the current place of being suicidal or near suicidal. All-in-all....i think it's all about stigmas as HistoryTeach spoke of. I've had that part of that movie described to me, but i've never seen it and only made it a little ways into the book when i was assigned to read it in school. So....luckily i don't really have any strong images of the monsterous ways ECT got it's start. All i know now is that it works, with little to no real or lasting side affects, and that's really all there is to know for me. Too many people like me struggle for too many years on the med rollar coaster....why should we have to suffer while the docs make guesses if there's already something out there that ACTUALLY works? Getting over the fears about it is really the only question left in my opinion. Do it....get better, perhaps lose memory of the 2-3 days before treatment? -or- Don't do it.....get depressed over and over and lose memory of tons of things 24-7? Easy choice when laid out in those terms don't ya think? hugs, jenna p.s. Teach...thank you so much for sharing that about the first lady of Mass. i will have to find that book even if i have to order it online. Thanks!!!!! And how wonderful to hear of more prominet people speaking up about their battles with mental health issues!!! Rock on!!!!! Whoot Whoot! __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).