Can electroconsulive therapy (shock) cause seizure activity later?

[Stephanie86]

I had ECT in November of '07, and I was diagnosed with epilepsy in Decemeber of '08. It just came to mind the seizure activity could be caused by the shock treatments. Is this possible?

 

[Meetz1064]

I do

know of someone that has had it before for bipolar disorder, and NOT had seizures..

HOWEVER........it would seem to me, that if you had a naturally lower seizure threshold, that it would be possible for that to happen. The only thing is, none of really know if we do or not...

 

[Nakamova]

ECT basically uses an electric shock to deliberately cause a seizure and "re-boot" the brain. Because EEGs/MRIs aren't routinely administered to ECT patients before treatment, there isn't conclusive evidence that ECTs can lead to a subsequent seizure disorder. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that this might be the case, though. The more ECT treatments the brain gets, the more likely it is that it will develop the "habit" of seizing, especially, if there's a lower seizure threshold to begin with.

 

[RobinN]

Sounds like neurofeedback might be helpful to restabilize brain function.

 

[Stephanie86]

Thanks guys. It's something to look into, then. I'll talk to my dr. about this on Wednesday.