I had the last of 51 ECT treatments in late August. I can barely remember most of my childhood and teenagerhood (I'm 18 now) but I get that that's a side effect. However, I still have a bad memory regarding things that happened after the last treatment. Yesterday I went shopping and I couldn't remember what I'd bought. A couple of weeks ago a classmate accused me of throwing something at his head. I remembered having thrown something, but I couldn't remember where it'd landed.

Could this be a side effect of ECT?

Definitely. I have many friends who have gone through less treatments than that and they have permanent memory problems. One lady I knew (in her 50s) lost ALL of her teaching training. She could never return to work and could not learn new skills. Many I know have lost their childrens births, growing up etc and never regained it (known most of these people over a decade now - regulars in the nuthouse together)

[vonmoxie]

Jeebus. I wish I had more information to offer. I know that Carrie Fisher, who is I believe bipolar II, speaks very highly of that treatment, how she feels that the memories you lose are the expendable ones. Seems like a lot to hope for though, that whatever memory loss occurs could be just that serendipitously selective. It must vary quite a bit.

Will you be having follow-up physician visits, specifically for the purpose of checking on your long-term response to the treatment? Seems like that would be a good idea, but I don't know very much about how it works. I hope you're experiencing benefits from the treatment, in addition to having to adjust to other effects.