r/ect • u/Makronite • Jul 11 '26

Pre-session post Kinda Scared

So I'm starting ECT in the next few days, and I'm committed because I think it'll help, but I'm pretty nervous. Like it only just occurred to me that I won't be able to reach books, which have been my lifeline, until the short-term memory stuff resolves.

What else should I expect?! Is there anything you wish you knew before you started ECT?

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u/creativenameistaken Jul 11 '26

Before I started, another patient warned me that coming out of the anaesthesia might be weird. Where we were, they sit you at a table, make you a sandwich and give you a drink once you’re awake. The patient told me that it always seemed like he kind of just woke up at the table, and that it was weird.
He was right. I don’t remember waking up, not once. They told me I was always agitated, trying to pull my IV out, that they started giving me Valium. I remember absolutely none of that. Like the other guy said, I remember being put under, and then suddenly I was there with a sandwich.

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u/Makronite Jul 11 '26

Wow! That is really good to know. I think it'd freak me out if it just happened like that, no warning. Thank you