Ect thearpy outpatient

@Snowie thanks so much! My mum will probably have to drive me then. How often do you have it outpatient and how long does it normally take. I remeber in hospital sitting there ages waiting my turn. I don't want to put my mum out having to wait for me!

@Nug I have it every fourth Friday, so almost once a month.

Hubby normally drops me off about 7:15am and I'm normally out by 11-11:30 at the very latest.

He sometimes goes somewhere or will bring his pillow and have a nap in the back seat!

Normally there are about 4-5 other outpatients there, but they get through us fairly quick. I'd say I've never had to wait longer than 30-40 minutes. We are all done before they start the inpatient ones, so it is quicker. Once done and awake they will sit us in recliner chairs and give us a cuppa/coffee and some sandwiches. They will take out the IV line they put in, check our blood pressure and then are free to go. I normally message hubby and give him about 10mins notice.

Where I have it you have to have someone pick you up. I guess they have to make sure that we are handed over to someone. Hubby signs a form saying that I am being handed over to him. I know you are not allowed to drive afterwards especially since you have had a general anesthetic.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me any questions you want.

@Snowie hey how do I go about booking it in?

When I did ECT as an inpatient (only about 2-3 months ago) I was assigned a psychiatrist in there. I saw him throughout my admission.

He was the one that organised that I would have ECT every 4 weeks and booked me in for it. When I now go in for ECT he normally will come and see me. If not he will ring that afternoon or the next day. He then books me in for the next ECT session.

If you have a psychiatrist then they might be able to put a referral into the hospital.

Hi Nug

i am currently an inpatient and my treatment team is considering ECT. Are you okay to share your experience of it?

S

Hi @Nug @Snowie @Bow , see the above post from @Newspapers

I’ve had ECT twice as an inpatient, once back in like 2005 maybe. I was an inpatient, but I went home in between sessions, coming back the night before and then leaving the afternoon after.
I then had ECT again last year, I was a public patient but got sent to a private hospital as a publicly funded patient. I had to stay, was not allowed overnight leave.

I tried to fight a couple of years ago to have the full course as an outpatient. I’m a single mum, I do have support at home, but it’s such a huge inconvenience to be stuck in hospital for 4+ weeks, but they kept saying no. That they don’t do it.

I got a new psychiatrist at the beginning of this year and he was pushing for ECT again and he was sure that I could have it as an outpatient, but I opted out of that due to other reasons at the time.

Hi @Newspapers

I was an inpatient about 2-3 months ago and had 4 weeks of ECT treatment.

I had it 3 times per week Mon, Wed, Fri mornings

So all up 12 rounds.

It wasn't the first time that I have had it.

I found it helpful but of course everyone is different.

If you want more information I am happy to help

Thanks for sharing your experiences. How did it feel? And how did you feel afterwards?

Thanks for sharing. My only experience is that my grandfather had it and he always looked worse for doing so…..