Hi...I think a lot of the relpies were really good information.

I've heard some negative and positve stories on ect.

My grandmother had ect back in the early 70's after exhausting all other methods of treatment and she finally was able to get her bi polar illness under control and managed under few medications after.

I on the other hand didn't do well with ect, but I don't think the decision to do ect was the smartest one for me as a patient(one that I didn't make either).

At the time I wasn't even aware. I was not really aware at the time. I was way over medicated. I was on too many "classes" of medication. When I would go in the hospital they would take me off one of the medicines. They had given me 6 sessions of ect. I was released. Put back on the medicine and traveled back and forth for the remaining 6.

After this I did worse and the doctor couldn't handle my case and referred me to another doctor who kept switching my meds. I ended up being committed. The doctors asked for the doctors on the "outside" to be removed from my case saying that I was on too many medicines.

The next few years I was removed off of these medicines slowly and put on one anti-depressent, which I maintained up until 6months ago.

From the ect I suffered big lapses of memory loss. Constant short term memory less, cognitive problems, and migraines that are so bad I become anxious and are causing me very big problems. I went to see a neurologist not too long ago and he went over all this with me and said that the combination of the meds and the ect probably caused brain damage. I even had asked the doc here if this was possible and he had also was explaining how this was possible to me.

I need to go to a neuropyschologist for futher testing on the extent of the problems it caused. I don't think that this is a common outcome though. I do think it's the combination of meds and ect.

I hear more often positive outcomes, but I do think it's something that is used when all other methods have been exhausted such in the case of my grandmother and a few other stories I've heard.

I think you're doing the right thing by asking around and doing some research.

I wish you lots of luck.

Maybe you could even look into the hospital you're looking to have it done and their success rate?

Take good care Ray.
Eva