Posted by Crotale on August 3, 2008, at 17:04:57
In reply to Re: ECT cognitive side FX, posted by okydoky on July 29, 2008, at 14:28:51
oky -
You seem to me like a perfectly intelligent person, and I think your sentences are just fine. I'm just guessing, but I think you may be underestimating your intellectual abilities.
When you mention that you have problems with word retrieval, are you talking about the same problem I've been having? aka "word finding difficulty" or "anomia?" It's kind of embarrassing, although it is the only side effect I've experienced. Otherwise my concentration is improved, I assume as a result of the efficacy of the combination of ECT, buprenorphine, and Parnate in treating my depression.
For a long time depression has been my downfall, cognitively speaking. Now for the first time in years I'm actually considering returning to school. (probably not in math...nonetheless it does feel good to be able to review some of the material I learned in college.)
Various researchers have been looking into about a half dozen different classes of drugs for treating or preventing cognitive side effects from ECT. There really hasn't been enough research to say for sure whether any of them work, much less which ones work the best, but here are some of the drugs and classes of drugs that they've been looking into:
- cholinesterase inhibitors [note: cholinergic drugs such as these may cause depression as a side effect so I recommend caution]
- calcium channel blockers
- piracetam (I'm not sure if this is available in the US)
- memantine (Namenda), an NMDA (glutamate) recetor antagonist recently approved in the US for treating Alzheimer's; it has various effects at a number of other receptors which may also be of significance
- cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors
- glucocorticoid receptor antagonists
- NO donorsStimulants might also be worth a try. I'd try modafinil before methylphenidate or amphetamine.
Don't give up!
best wishes,
-Crotale
poster:Crotale
thread:842385
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/neuro/20080706/msgs/843948.html