Has anyone ever had ECT?

[thingamajig]

I am going to have ECT, I am fairly satisfied that this is what I need, I have been depressed for years and have had loads of different ADs and other treatments. What I want to know is what it feels like in the hours/days immediately afterwards (I understand that I will be under general anaesthetic for it) and whether I will be able to look after my children (I have a four year old and 16 month old twins). Or at least any less able than I am at the moment.
If anyone can help I would be really grateful.

I haven't had ECT but was on psych ward for 3 months with major episode of depression and there were several patients having ECT (it was an older people's ward) and I was one of the youngest at 66. One woman was having it for reactive depression with psychotic phases. When I first went in she was not in touch with reality and kept asking if I'd sold her bungalow, and she was having to be fed. I assumed she had alzheimers or something similar, but after about 3 days she seemed perfectly normal and couldn't remember anything about being psychotic. She had had 6 sessions of ECT and she just got better and better, it was quite amazing to see the change in her.

I was suprised they still did it because of all those horrid things we saw years ago, but I talked to my psychiatrist about it and he said it was very different now with patients given muscle relaxants and sedatives and they had no memory of the ECT. He said if he had drug resistant depression he would have ECT like a shot because it was successful in such cases.

I saw patients come back to the ward after ECT and they seemed much the same as when they went, but I do wonder if you will be ok to look after your 4 yr old and 16 mth old twins - that's quite a handful. I think you need to have more than one session don't you. These patients I saw were already hospitalised and so I'm afraid I can't really tell you about the after effects and care of the children. It just sounds a lot to me.

Can you ask your psychiatrist of CPN about this as you will presumably need to make arrangements for the care of the children if you need to rest or even be in hospital - I just don't know - sorry.

Hope someone comes along with their own experience of ECT

Thank you so much for your reply Nina, it is good to hear such a positive story about it. Thinking about it I have been told that I shouldn't be alone for the rest of the day so I will make sure there is someone around to look after us all. I am expecting to have it twice a week for a few sessions - it will be reviewed as I go along.
Its silly, my CPN and psych have asked me if I have any questions so many times, but I go blank and then wonder about it in the middle of the night,

My mum had it - it really was the circuit breaker she needed. We got her back after 5 months of hell.

Marking my place - no experience to offer, but very interested after failed antidepressants.

I wonder how I would get it to fit in with full time work though. Having said that, it's much easier to book leave / take sick days when you have a formal job than as a sahm!

bump

Was also in hosp with someone who had it. The change was quick and very good. She looked better, sounded better, said she felt better. Completely changed my perception of it, I must say

Hi. I had quite a few courses of ECT in my early twenties to treat chronic and recurrent depression. When I first woke up from the anaesthetic the main symptom was usually a pretty bad headache, which is a bit different from just the usual headache caused by the anaesthetic. I was usually given painkillers soon after waking up, which usually helped. The other issue was in the hours that followed a treatment I typically found it difficult to remember really basic things like my full name and telephone number and often felt a bit disorientated. I always had treatment as an inpatient, but I know outpatients usually need someone to be with them for several hours after treatment, so you'd probably need someone to be with you and your children. If you have any other questions that I might be able to help with, do ask.

Good luck with your treatment.

im watching with interest - my psychiatrist has suggested this for me as I have been depressed for years and tried loads of combinations of medication but not found much relief

I am glad to hear some people have been helped. Not my experience and i know only one person who has told me it helped them and many who feel like I do about it, including one lady who blanched white when telling me her experience matched mine.