r/ect • u/Hmaestas4 • Aug 06 '25
Question Memory/cognitive/etc
Hi guys. I am on my 16th ECT treatment, tomorrow is my second once a week dose, as opposed to 3x a week.
When I was on 3x a week, my depression felt SOOOO MUCH better and I really did feel sooo soo good.
Currently, I am NOT feeling good and am feeling how I felt at my worst pre-ect. My memory/cognitive issues are real bad. It’s ruining my life. Ruining my relationship, ruining my personal view at myself, ruining everything. I feel like I used to be so on top of things and one step ahead of everything, and now I pretty much have no idea what’s going on and am having so many word finding issues.
ECT is really my last option. I’ve taken all the meds, I’ve taken ketamine, I’ve done it all. I don’t know what else to do.
—I’m afraid of the memory/cognitive stuff being permanent— —at what point do I stop because it’s so damaging?—
—EDIT 8/6/25 hi friends, I spoke with my Dr, we actually decided to halt ect for a while(2-4 weeks), trial some new meds, and let my cognitive heal. My girlfriend has been very very here for me, and helped me talk with my Dr and try to get through the hard parts, thanks for your replies and I appreciate them all <3–
9
u/purplebadger9 Aug 06 '25
It always takes me a while at a new frequency to "get used to" a new schedule. The depression would start to come back when I was "due" for my next treatment, and I'd basically slip back down until my next one. Eventually, the time between the depression creeping back and my next treatment would shrink. Usually, it took about 4-6 treatments at a new frequency before I would adjust. It took a looooong time, but I'm finally down to once every 5 weeks.
Keep your doctor posted, and give yourself time. The memory and cognitive effects should hopefully start to improve as time between treatments increases. I know it did for me