ECT and thoughts please

@Spida Hi Spida I know of someone who had chronic depression for years and tried everything pills you name it. Then his pdoc suggested ECT so he thought he had no choice but to give it a go. Now for him it was life changing. He is now a new man no longer suffering from depression like he was previously. All I can do is pass on his experience (he is also a very intelligent man) to you. It worked for him.

Welcome to the forums @Spida It's so difficult to make the right reatment decision for you and I'm glad you've connected with the forums for support. '

I thought I'd drop in the SANE Guide on ECT to have a read over.

Do keep the conversations going with your doctor about the right treatment for you and if you'd like to hear more about other people's experiences, you can search the forums for other discussions on the topic by using the seach bar above. Wish you all the best with your decision making 🌻

Thank you and will continue to try keep on trying

Hi there, I just recently had 7 sessions of ECT. Previously I had a year long bout of severe depression, after being manic and being very reckless, putting us into serious debt 6 months prior. My diagnosis is Bipolar 1, anxiety, acrophobia & PTSD. At the point of starting treatment I was suicidal & had my date & letters planned. Obvisouly not responding to meds it was a imperative I do this. My mood started to improve at number 5 and by 7 felt alive, happy & steady. Unfortunately it only lasted a few weeks and I’m now very low in mood. I have been scheduled for maintenance ECT so fingers crossed. I do think it is a great treatment option & I had very little side effects, the most being some memory loss particularly word finding.

Best of luck with your journey x

Thank you for your response and for being so open about your journey. They are really pushing for me to have ECT now as meds aren’t working and my depression is at an all time low and like this for months now. I still have reservations and I’m not even sure why, maybe it the poss side effects and may not work, time off work and no income or local hospital is where I used to work.

Can I please ask how long you had off for treatment ?was it a week?

Im not sure but appreciate your input and I’ll keep moving forward hopefully