Hello,

I have bi-polar disorder amonst other mental disorders. I have been doing the ECT treatments for a total of 8 treatments now. Personally, I am going to stop them for various reasons. First of all I am a cancer surviver and when they give these treatments they must of course access a vien and my viens are bad do to all the things I have had to do. In ECT they first of all give you a shot to numb the area they are going to access the vein to put you to sleep. After they do that they put a oxygen mask over your mouth and as you breathe deeply into it they give the shot to put you to sleep. Oh I forgot to mention they also put a mouth guard in to protect you from biting your tongue or hurting your teeth. When you are asleep they start the ECT that causes you to seizure however you won't remember a thing about it. The doctor controls your seizures, they are only a few seconds long. Yes it does effect your memory however they say it is only tempory and after you stop treatments you get it all back with time. I do forget the sillyest things but every one is different. It also makes me a little sore (muscles) from the seizuring. It's not BAD, just a little sore. When you wake up you won't remember a thing, meaning you have no recollection of the seizure. It seems like you are put to sleep and then you they wake you up and allow you to rest for a few minutes. You may feel a little wobbely at first, like sea legs but that to doesn't last very long, a few minutes for me, other have said they feel just fine. Every one is different. Personally my veins are what they call "stripped" meaning they have been through heck so it has become harder and harder for them to find a good vein for me and when they inject the stuff that puts me to sleep it burns like fire and my arms gets all red. Like I said, that is just me. The others that have been doing this on the same days and time as me tell me it does not hurt them very much, a little sting and they are OUT LIKE A LIGHT..

For myself, I do not feel they are helping me feel better. However I talk with this guy a little bit before treatments and he tells me it has helped him, and there are a coupld of ladies that feel the same as he does. There is only one lady that feels the same way as I do, it makes her feel worse because she feels weird forgetting so much. I wish I could forget the bad, but it doesnt work that way. They are designed to help you "cope" with your issues in a more positive way than to be depressed by them. Many swear by these treatments for the better, a few feel such as myself. I am stopping them because my veins are bad, they feel the same on that issue, I don't like the terrible pain I feel as they are injecting me and my memory loss, well I hate that to.

If you are looking for advise here, I suggest ( I am not a doctor, just a patient and this is only MY opinion) that you give it a couple of tries and see how it affects "you". Don't be afraid, you are very well monitored and very well taken care of. They usually do these treatments VERY EARLY. For me I have to be there at 5:45 A.M.and it is all done around 8. That is because there are 6 other people getting treatments as well and they let you sleep for a while before they wake you up and then.....you just go home to rest.

Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. Like I said I can only speak of my expierence, I am not a doctor or nurse etc.

Good Luck. Let me know if you want what you decide and if it helps you. I will say a prayer for you.