Treatment Resistant Depressant

[Doubledog]

I have had depression since my 20’s and likely in teens. I’m now 56 and my meds are no longer working like they once did. I’m going to be meeting with a clinic about other options ie: ECT etc. I’m very scared and anxious as this feels next level to me in my illness. Have you tried ECT and/or Esketamine and what has your experience been? I think I’m most worried about the risks and having something like ECT make me non functional. Any thoughts or experiences you’ve had would be great to hear about. Thank you!

[Thurlesy]

Hi Doubledog, I had treatment resistant depression too. I was recommended ECT but was too scared to try it, even though i know from others that it does have great results. Through time I discovered that the older medications MAOIs helped me most. Also the thyroid T3 medication brandname Thybon helped me a lot you. My psychiatrist added this in, not for my thyroid function, but to make the anti-depressants work better. I also take a good quality Fish Oil supplement and Vit D, B12 & Zinc. If u decide to go for the ECT treatment, I wish you well. It works so well for a lot if people. It will be so worth it if you get good results.

All the very best Doubledog 💙

[Doubledog in reply to Thurlesy]

Thank you! This is super helpful thank you!

[LifeIsThePitts]

Look into TMS treatment for depression and anxiety. I've been successfully doing this since Feb '22 and it's the only thing that puts my TRD and anxiety in check...no antidepressants or Rx drugs since Oct '18.

bespoketreatment.com/tms-th...

This is the link to the clinic I go to in Nevada. There's a lot of great info on Ketamine infusions and TMS for you to read about. I've done Ketamine infusions, too. But I have a sensitivity to anesthesia and painkillers so Ketamine wasn't a good fit for my treatment plan. Too much lethary and fatigue following the infusions... however, the clinical experience of the actual treatment was AMAZING!! If not for the side effects, I would have continued to do additional infusions.

TMS is the ONLY thing that works for me. Maybe it will be an option for you before ECT. That really scared me with the memory loss and headaches. TMS is noninvasive and I go to my 20 min treatment sessions on the way to work. No down time or recovery necessary!

[Doubledog in reply to LifeIsThePitts]

Thank you so much for replying and the info!

[bethelbee in reply to Doubledog]

I was also going to recommend TMS. It worked great for me after becoming treatment resistant to meds after being on them for decades. As LITP pointed out it's a noninvasive treatment, no risk of memory loss as with ECT. I've had 3 rounds of TMS, the positive results of the first two each lasted about 6 months. The third is still working after almost 2 years.

[Sojourn]

My ect was 7 sessions. I did not think it was helping but apparently my psychiatrist thought it was. I ended up having a mental breakdown and started early retirement as I wasn't able to continue working. This was many years ago, so I don't know if treatments have changed since then. I have also tried ketamine. I enjoyed the experience each session but I don't think I was well supervised and the doctor admitted that my dose should probably have been increased. I did not receive any detectable benefit. I even tried psilocybin. I may not have been off my meds for enough weeks, and I am not sure if it was beneficial, as I think the slight improvement in mood might be more related to being off the antidepressants. I was hoping for a realization of enhanced neuralplasticity, but I didn't get that. But I have been able to feel better without all the side effects of the antidepressants, especially feeling numb.

[Kinlay]

I am having luck with TMS mayoclinic.org/tests-proced... , and I would definitely go for that over ECT. I use an at-home PEMF device, and you can learn more in their forum if you are interested. forum.fluxhealth.co/t/depre...