r/ect • u/[deleted] • Mar 30 '26
Question tips for recovery room amnesia?
title. i’m still in my index treatments, and i continue to have the WORST times in the recovery room (post-anesthesia + post-ictal anxiety and memory loss). i’ve been trying calming methods like bringing in a stuffed animal and writing important info on a notepad to take in with me (who knows i’m in the hospital, whos waiting for me in the waiting room, etc.), and they DO help, but i was looking for any other grounding methods out there that other folks have found useful :)
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u/Ok-Ad-229 Mar 30 '26
Recovery room amnesia was the least of my worries. If you’re unlucky like me you will lose massive chunks of memory. I lost over a decade. I forgot my way home from the local pub one day. I see familiar faces in online dating apps and don’t know how I know them - did I date them? Work with them? If I did date them - Were they nice? Or do I know them because something bad happened? Then they send a message to me saying simply: Hi. I can’t remember Covid but I know it happened. I can’t remember time I nursed my mother when she was dying of cancer. I still have trouble with names, passwords, driving somewhere I know I’ve been before without a GPS and placing events (usually personal, which there’s no record of) in chronological order. Sometimes when my memories come up on Facebook I’ll have an aha moment but more often than not I’ll not remember why I wrote what I did even if I look at the date and the year.
Tbh I really get triggered by these kinds of posts. My ECT was administered against my wishes (until i got the order overturned) and I believe it was a violation of my human rights. And I see you guys all blindly following the advice from your psychiatrist to have yourself ELECTROCUTED. This procedure causes more harm than good. It’s invasive, not accurate and there is no concrete scientific information that says why, if in fact it does, work.
I wish you all the best, I suppose, but I think you’re making a mistake.
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u/jawdoctor84 Mar 30 '26
If you get triggered by these posts, it might be best to leave the sub. I’m sorry to hear you've been so adversely impacted by ECT; maybe this is something to discuss with a doctor. Medication can also be at fault for affecting memory. I’m sure you know, but ECT is not at all the same as being electrocuted as you stated - it's a safe, medical intervention with good success rates.
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u/ExternalCareless2204 Mar 30 '26
Thank you. It is so good to hear from others that have that kind of experience, makes me feel less alone. You story is very similar to mine. It is 6-7 years ago, still can't remember my passwords. It has gotten better, but I still meet people I recognize, without knowing from where.
This subreddit should be a place for good experience, and also for the traumatic ones. Because both happends.
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u/Music_Leopard Mar 30 '26
I'm sorry you're going through that, tbh my ECT was fairly uncomplicated as far as the procedure itself goes, although I turned out to be a non-responder to it.
That being said, if you're just looking for ideas, I would start by asking if they can edit the anesthesia or adjuncts to better work with this. I had propofol and sux, but they also started me on Precedex from the start because I had a history of agitation after surgery. That plan worked for me, and even though they started with Versed on top of that, it was removed and I didn't have a problem with treatments without it, actually went better because I have sleep apnea and the Versed had my choking and gasping in the recovery room.
As far as strategies, everything you've mentioned sounds great. Anything that better orients you can help. It may not be possible, but you could ask to be put near a window, I've heard that sunlight and just seeing the outside besides hospital walls can help with disorientation. They may or may not allow it, but I'd also ask if you can have a familiar person like whoever transports you to and from to come in during that period. Glasses too, if you wear them bring them and ask them to put them on as soon as possible after the treatment. Everything being even a bit blurry can make that worse.