Being sent home from hospital too early.

Hi @Grasshopper3 re ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) ....it's nothing like it used to be in the early days when it was known as 'shock treatment'.( Patients weren't even given a general anaesthetic back then.) These days, all it involves is 1.) the patient being given a general anaesthetic, 2.) the treatment itself, an electrical 'jolt' to the brain which takes less than a minute. And that's it. It's given three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings), usually for a month. In the past, it's been the only treatment that has workd for my son and I know this is true for thousands of others who suffer endogenous/clinical depression when nothing else has worked.

The only way I cope these days is by going to bed early and trying to get enough sleep. Other than that, when possible I walk, listen to music and before moving into the retirement village, I loved to work in the garden. But I do drive to the hospital every day and that in itself takes up quite a lot of time.

@Jo

Thanks for explaining your sons next treatment plan. Lets hope it works this time again.

I have many questions about it but I type them, then delete them, I don't want to ask anything silly...I will research it this weekend. I am interested in it. My son is not responding well anymore after being a year on the depot (monthly injection) and is doped up to the eyeballs, staring in front of him, smoking and drinking coffees. He waits for me to come home so I can drive him to the shops so he can buy his pouch of tobacco. The shops are a 15 mins walk at the max away from our home.... He cannot be bothered walking there and facing the people in the mall by himself.

Soooo, I will be taking him oversees soon, I cannot leave him home by himself. I am looking forward seeing my family again, so much, but worry about him. The crowds at airports, the long 24 hour flight, the not being able to smoke on the plane, etc.

The clinical nurse explained the recent increase in depot and wavers will make him feel the way he is, but it paves the way to the next step. When we come back they are trying him on oral meds.

As he has been on oral meds before, and refused many times to take them, we will be in for a rough ride.

I take a day at the time, try not to think too much ahead, but ECT could be on the cards if the oral meds are not helping either. My son just wants to sleep, he is frustrated with the world the way it is, never to wake up again. I must make sure with the oral meds he wont take too many at one time. Stop thinking. GRRR.

The brain is a wonderful thing, isn't it? The mind has a life of its own. Stay mindful, chill out and take babysteps. I'm talking to myself now, but we all benefit if we oontrol our thinking, breath in, breath out.

Off to work, thinking of you all. @mohill, @Former-Member, @patientpatient, @Former-Member, @Shaz51

Hi @Grasshopper3....It's important you get professional advice re ECT, as it only works for certain illnesses. Read up all the positive stuff about it on the internet also. But please ignore the ignorant posts from people who don't have the true knowledge and like to scare people. Too many people still believe that ECT is the same as it used to be in the past, when it was called 'shock treatment' and share old scary stories on the net which put people off. The truth is that it works extremely well for most people and is completely different from what it used to be. Sure, there is often some short term memory loss but as my son says, who cares about a bit of short term memory loss if it means eliminating the dreadful depression and mania that used to torment and destroy one's life? (Very often the memory loss returns anyway.)
What I would worry about is having your son go on to the internet and read the 'nay-sayers' posts spreading false, scary stories. So if you could get hold of some up to date literature about modern ECT from your doctor, that would be great. Or print off the true, educational reports from legitimate websites on the subject and give them to your son to read.
Is depression and anxiety your son's diagnosis? If so, ECT could be great.

Morning @Jo

Checking in this morning, hoping that you will soon see the transition from Mr Brit back to Mr Ocker.

@Grasshopper3

Please don't be afraid to ask questions ... no questions are silly ... it is the way we learn. It is a very common theme in carers that "if they had known ... they could have reported a, b or c" It happened to me, Mr Darcy had been unwell for many, many years and was managing things on his own.

One of the the doctors told me to "look things up" it was the best advice I got. The result was I discovered pertinant symptoms, reactions to drugs, even med history had not been taken, a lot of which Mr D did not report, some we were even aware could be related to a psych diagnosis. Since putting together a chart of all of these things, major drug changes have taken place, it is still not quite clear if he has BPii or a psychotic disorder or insidious onset Sz but with antidepressant induced hypomania (perhaps even Schizoaffective - who knows) but thank God he is now relatively stable and a lot happier.

Mr D has had ECT a number of times, it is used to lift patients out of depression and psychosis. Initially he had little memory loss but after a lot of treatments (and a lot bumped up to max doses) he has marked memory loss and some functional loss - this has to be balanced up against the fact he was suicidal and attempting - his risk was very high - he had psychotic depression.

Asking "why oral meds" when Mr Colgate's history in relation to compliance is not good is not an unreasonable thing to do - could be the side effect profile they are concerned about or something else. There are many benefits of being on depot, not only in relation to compliance but include the regular contact the patient has when getting the treatment as well as a couple of other things but I cannot say too much - could be seen as medical advice - I am well aware I am not a doctor - I do not know all about your own situation - there is not one size fits all - I can only speak from my own experience which is very different from yours.

I have rattled on, ask away, don't be shy @Jo has had far more experience than me,

Darcy

Hello @Grasshopper3

still emotional this end mostly jet lagged partially emotional.

how are you?P

remember your son is who he is

every suggestion of help on here is exactly that a suggestion based on experience of another

your son is expressive listen to him and yourself literally

one thing that I have learnt is have open mind and trust your son and yourself

This is a hard concept for others perhaps as they feel That I have no idea as he does not live with me

well they have not experienced the absence as well. No competition.