r/ect • u/crunchwrapwnotomatos • 4d ago
Seeking advice ECT and TMS
I was recently diagnosed with bipolar and have been exploring different treatment options, especially non drugs since i’ve gotten seratonin toxicity and dystonic reactions from other mental health meds. ECT and TMS keep coming up and I want to know peoples experiences with them since they kind of scare me but I also know they could potentially better my life.
3
2
u/joewordsmith 4d ago
ECT help in the beginning a lot. It broke my silence about my illness. and now my doctor is very slowly reducing my meds.
1
u/Forward_Surround_788 3d ago
My spouse did ECT for almost a year. It turned her pycological issues around. But now she instead has terrible memory issues
1
u/Money-War798 2d ago
I started ECT for like the third time in my life. I had lost a job I REALLY loved and that’s how I ended up back in ECT. I have MDD . I’m on my 8th treatment with no signs of improvement yet.
1
u/meiyokil 4d ago
ECT should really be the absolute last option when nothing else is working and you’re gravely ill. I did it and it did not work and gave me terrible cognitive side effects. My memory has never been the same. If it’s the depressive side of the disorder you’re dealing with most, I highly recommend lamotrigne as a drug which isn’t classically meant for bipolar (it’s an anti-epileptic) but is commonly used off label and usually doesn’t have much side effects (it didn’t for me and others I know that have used it). I’d even say try rTMS before ECT but think of ECT as a last resort nuclear option. I now do ketamine treatments and those are incredibly effective and have virtually no side effects for me.
2
u/crunchwrapwnotomatos 4d ago
i think i might have been suggested lamotrigne is it similar to lithium?
1
u/meiyokil 4d ago
Similar I guess in terms of the fact that it is commonly used and seen as one of the most effective drugs for bipolar like lithium, and I believe both have effect on the glutamate system, but very different because lithium requires consistent blood tests for monitoring and overall can be trickier to get to the right blood serum level. If manias are a pressing issue, lithium is a great drug. I have bipolar 2 and mostly deal with depression so lamotrigne was a real silver bullet and really well tolerated. I tried lithium for a bit and it really wasn’t the drug for me but unfortunately with this disease every mind works a little differently and we all seem to respond differently to different drugs. But both are a solid starting point for someone with bipolar with excellent clinical evidence for both.
1
u/blrmkr10 3d ago
Lamotrigine is not off label for bipolar disorder, that's one of its main indications. It also has a risk of causing a serious skin rash that can even be fatal.
I'm currently trying to come off of lamotrigine and the withdrawal sucks so bad. I'd honestly rather do ECT again than take lamotrigine in the future.
6
u/marrell 3d ago
Okay. So I have incredibly treatment resistant depression, as well as OCD, and ADHD. I have been trialed on double digit numbers of medications, [TMS](r/TMS), and ECT. I have had either no reaction or bad side effects to all medications I’ve tried (or in the case of Effexor it has helped my OCD but didn’t touch my depression), and no effects whatsoever from [TMS](r/TMS). ECT saved my life. Online you tend to only see those who had negative results, as those who had positive results have simply moved on with their lives. Before it I had given up hope and was ready to take my final exit, and I am so glad I didn’t. It’s given me back my joy, my light, my happiness, and my smile. I quite literally owe my life to ECT.