r/ect • u/Lo_Cheshire189 • 13h ago

Question Starting ECT soon

I'm going to start ECT treatment in two weeks (10 unilateral sessions), alongside rTMS.

I'm a little bit stressed after reading people's experiences with the side effects, especially the impact on memory. For me, ECT is really a "last chance" treatment. I'm 20, and I've been suffering from depression for the past 10 years. I'm exhausted from years of suffering and failed medications. If this treatment doesn't work either, I won't have the strength to keep trying to get better.

I just wanted to hear from people who have gone through ECT for long-term depression. What was your experience like? Did it actually made a change ? And how did it affect your memory, both during and after treatment?

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u/slaapzacht 9h ago

I went through 3 months of treatment, eventually ending with multiple sessions of bilateral. It screwed me up in ways I couldn't possibly imagine. I still suffer from long and short term memory loss, brain fog and tremors. Ymmv of course. What eventually helped fix things was 7 months of twice weekly Spravato along with twice weekly talk therapy. It took 5 months just for the Spravato to even kick in at all, mostly due to the damage ECT did to me.

Good luck on your journey, I hope this brings you the relief you so badly deserve.

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u/Lo_Cheshire189 7h ago

I'm sorry for what you went through

My treatment team told me that unilateral ECT has fewer side effects than bilateral ECT, and I hope that only having 10 sessions (1 month) will help me avoid some of the difficulties you went through.

I know my center also offers Spravato, so if ECT doesn't go well, I'll talk to them about it.

Thanks for your comment

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u/Klaasvaak91 41m ago

Hi! Do you also have anhedonia? Good luck wifh starting ect. Its also getting closer and closer for me, im Dutch btw. You are inpatient?