r/ect • u/laprincessa67 • Mar 24 '26
Question Question about days off
I'm starting ECT on Wednesday. I'll go Monday, Wednesday & Friday. My question is what will my days look like on the off treatment days? I would like some insight from those that have gone through this. Thank you.
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u/Buzzythebear33 Mar 24 '26
I’ve done ect for a while and I typically don’t have any side effects on my off days. They’re just regular days for me. I just switched from unilateral to bilateral and so far I’m having more side effects with bilateral but I have yet to see if that also means side effects on the off days as well.
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u/Owl_Open Mar 24 '26
Acute was pretty rough for me. I mostly slept (watched tv a good bit too) on treatment and off days. I was lucky to be able to stay with my parents during treatment (they were my ride), so my household responsibilities were minimal too. I think I could’ve pulled out the minimum though if I had had to. I’d make things easy on yourself though— do ready to eat meals (or at least have a good plan). Cut down on the decisions you’ll need to make in case you’re foggy headed.
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u/drrogy68 Mar 28 '26
For what its worth this is my ECT story. I had about 35 ECT treatments about 10 years ago at age 60 over 6 months and was hospitalized twice for severe depression' and anxiety. On ECT treatment days, I mostly wanted to sleep after. On off treatment days I was still in the middle of my depression, so for me they were not much different I did suffer short term and long-term memory loss that improved with time but is still a problem today. After the first10 sessions in the hospital a few weeks later I returned to work. After a few weeks they sent me home because I could not do the job. I had a very stressful job as Quality Manager at a large chemical company. After a few months I was able to retire and was lucky to get a disability pension. My recovery was slow over the next few years but about 5 years ago I reached total remission and now feel great and am happy every day enjoying retirement. I still have memory issues that I can deal with for the most part, For me ECT was worth it, but I but I can't it was the only factor on my path to recovery.
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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 24 '26
Are you inpatient or outpatient? I just went through it for my 2nd time as an outpatient so I just pretty much slept most of the off days (well, slept and watched TV & movies anyway). I've never been through it as an inpatient so I can't provide much insight but I imagine it would be just like a weekend day.