Q: Any advice or info regarding how to cope with the negative cognitive side effects of ECT like memory loss? Does it get better withing months the psychiatrist claims?
Hi, I had 20 sessions of ECT in 2007. It did not work for me except in the beginning. Unfortunately I had a lot of negative cognitive side effects- fuzzy mind, forgetfullness, slowed thinking ,memory loss,etc. It took 4 years for the side effects to go away and now they are slightly evident. Some of this could be from changing meds and my age, which was 62 at the time. My psychiatrist also told me the bad effects would soon be gone. I did not return to that dr..
I'd be onterested to know how many sessions you had.
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Thanks for the response. I started treatments 3 x a week at the end of October. After 4 unilateral had not done much yet I agreed to switch to bilateral. The memory loss and cognitive blankness at times began to randomly show up on some days at that point. There are isolated days I have no memory of and some days I was perfectly fine. So it was unpredictable. But I am grateful the depression symptoms were alleviated at that point and I have been basically free of depression. I've had to be very careful to keep my sleep on track and regular, however, because when it's thrown off and I get overtired I do feel some of the depression seeping in. Then I am fine again once I'm rested. I've had some slight hypomania at times during these past weeks of wellness, but it's been very manageable and short-lived. I am basically feeling better and am more active and more able to function than I have been in many months. My depressions have been very stubborn prior to the ECT. So maybe ECT is something I need to keep up for now since no meds have been really effective. I am still taking 250 mg of Lamictal and 200 mg of Seroquel at bedtime. The plan for the ECT is to continue once a week treatments until after the holidays when I'll just have once a month maintenance treatments for possibly 4 or 5 months. So far I've had 9 treatments at the 3 x a week spacing, then 3 at the once a week spacing that were unilateral due to the need to reduce memory loss effects. Unilateral has been easier to tolerate. I plan to continue the maintenance schedule with unilateral treatments. I'm doing better tolerating the side effects and am so relieved to be free of depression for the holidays. I don't really feel totally comfortable with the idea of ECT. There is such a stigma that I have not told many people about it. It's too bad there is such a stigma and that it has been so negative for some people. For me it may be the answer to alleviating the oppressive depressions that come up frequently and unexpectedly with no pattern or apparent environmental cause. I expect another depressive episode will start to settle on me at some point in the near future. Thanks for your interest and response. It helps to hear from others who have experienced the strange phenomenon of ECT's side effects. Are you now free of depressions with the help of meds?