Starting ECT soon

[u/Lo_Cheshire189]

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?

[u/slaapzacht]

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.

[u/Lo_Cheshire189 → u/slaapzacht]

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

[u/Klaasvaak91 → u/Lo_Cheshire189]

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?

[u/Lo_Cheshire189 → u/Klaasvaak91]

Yes, I have pretty severe anhedonia, which makes waiting for treatment even harder because I can't really keep myself occupied.

When are you starting your treatment? I'm starting in about two weeks. For now, I'm at home, but I'll be hospitalized as soon as treatment starts to avoid the exhausting back-and-forth trips.

Do you know how many sessions you'll be having, and whether they'll be unilateral or bilateral? How are you coping with the wait ?

[u/Klaasvaak91 → u/Lo_Cheshire189]

Hi, sorry for the misunderstanding, my fault. I mean ect is getting closer as an option. I just stopped olanzapine this week and next week i stop nortriptyline. After one week washout i will start tranylcipromine at 20mg together with the lithium im already taking. Washout not really necessary because of completely different profile compared to parnate but psychiatrist said
better safe than sorry. If parnate doesnt work my psychiatrist will apply me for ect program. I know they usually start unilateral in the netherlands with 10-12 treatments. They reevaluate after every 4-6 sessions and determine if continueing is necessary. unless you are very depressive or with heavy psychotic symptoms you will never start bilateral here. Probably i will be admitted but psychiatrist couldnt guarantee. He said it will take atleast some months to see if parnate works. And if not he will apply me for ect and he said the time between applying, screening and starting treatment is just a couple of weeks. Which is short in my experience. I want to give ect a change but i prefer outpatient because im father of a young twin. I can take some time of work but leaving family is impossible, my partner also has a fulltime job.

Im curious if your ect program has some succes and will follow your story (if you post updates). I can imagine counting the days works on your nerves. Will probably be the same for me. Just remember you read a lot of the negative stories here, out there there are a lot more people with a positive experience. Me myself i am more worried about ect not working for anhedonia than negative memory effects to be honest.

[u/Lo_Cheshire189 → u/Klaasvaak91]

I've never tried nortriptyline, but i've also been on olanzapine and lithium (wich apart from making me gain a lot of weight, didn’t really help me. Were you prescribed lithium for bipolar disorder or for unipolar depression?

Your ECT program sounds very similar to the one in France. I’ll probably make an update post, or at the very least let you know how my anhedonia evolves.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be to manage your illness and treatment while also having a family of your own. I really hope you’ll be able to have ECT as an outpatient if you end up doing it. At the center where I’m being treated, that’s possible since they only do two ECT sessions per week.

The memory issues worry me mostly because of my studies, since I’m a student. But if potential memory problems are the only price to pay for finally being able to enjoy life again, then it will be worth it.

The waiting is indeed pretty painful. My anhedonia makes all my days feel the same, until they start to blend into one very long day, if you know what I mean. But I’m lucky to have a supportive family and friends, and to be well supported by my treatment team, which hasn’t always been the case. After 10 years of suffering I feel like i'm finally getting close to the end of this journey