ECT

I went to see my Psych yesterday and she mentioned that I might should consider going through ECT and I am wondering if anyone on here has experienced this. If so, what have your experiences been? I am really relunctant about the "shock" it can put your body through. It can put you through a grand mal seizure and that can be very devastating to the body.

I hope I put this in the right forum where someone has experienced this or at least heard of it

I would appreciate any advice on this I could get. Thank you!

[Hensley258]

I have a good friend in my support group that had several rounds of Uni-lateral ECT.

First thing.... Consider ECT only and I mean ONLY, as a last resort treatment.
That means you have taken every effort to seek a second and third Opinion from other (qualified) Psychiatrists. This also means that you have 100% completly exhausted all other possible combinations and types of medications. This includes the powerful MAOI group of antidepressants such as Parnate.

If you have done all of that and still can not get relief from your depression, then perhaps consider ECT.

I will warn you.... My friend had to be hospitalized for several weeks during his ECT treatments. They started out every other day. No way he could have worked or dive a car after treatment. For several weeks during the ECT treatments he was not able to keep normal daily activities.

After his initial treatments then he was released to go home. At that point he still needed to have a session of ECT once per week for several more weeks.

Keep in mind too that the ECT docs will have to completly take you off all meds many days or even weeks before your ECT starts.

After all the many weeks of ECT my friend was then put on some different medications.
Overall the ECT helped him a little. It seemed like after his ECT was done that his meds worked a little better.

Like me he is still very sick dispite the ECT treatments, but he is a little better.

Also keep in mind that without question (I don't care what any doctor says) you will loose a lot of memory. This is mostly short term memory and most of it should come back a couple weeks after ECT stops.

My friend said after ECT when he was on the way home, that he could not remember where he lived. This came back to him in a few days.

I will tell you exactly what my ECT friend told me "Do not get ECT unless your 100% out of alternative options."