Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

[Bastille Day]

Wondering if anyone here has tried this therapy and if the outcome was positive.

It's a new procedure at a hospital within a one hour drive but would prefer a private clinic if there is one.

Thanks

[uni]

Hello Bastille Day. I hope you've been able to glean some helpful information from some of the posts to previous threads on this subject.

It seems like a hard decision for you to make, whether or not to take ECT. I haven't had it myself, but perhaps someone else here has and will see your post. Meanwhile, I can say there are no guarantees with any treatment. How I wish there were. I'm glad you are investigating the procedure now, if you're unsure of whether to have it. I do the same with medications. It's part of looking after ourselves. Have you checked out other mental health forums on the topic?

[Laurie23]

Hi Bastille Day,

I have had ECT done and it was successful to a point. I felt better for several months and allowed a better quality of life while figuring out a longer treatment plan. If you have specific questions, let me know!

Laurie

[Bastille Day]

Hello Bastille Day. I hope you've been able to glean some helpful information from some of the posts to previous threads on this subject.

It seems like a hard decision for you to make, whether or not to take ECT. I haven't had it myself, but perhaps someone else here has and will see your post. Meanwhile, I can say there are no guarantees with any treatment. How I wish there were. I'm glad you are investigating the procedure now, if you're unsure of whether to have it. I do the same with medications. It's part of looking after ourselves. Have you checked out other mental health forums on the topic?

Yes, I been doing research but there is everything from success stories to someone dying on the table.

The story about the person dying was from a group trying to get the procedure outlawed, so I am a bit skeptical of that story.

Regardless, there have been more positive stories than negative about the procedure.

[Bastille Day]

Hi Bastille Day,

I have had ECT done and it was successful to a point. I felt better for several months and allowed a better quality of life while figuring out a longer treatment plan. If you have specific questions, let me know!

Laurie

Thanks for the offer to help, if I can't get this done on an inpatient basis, I will likely take a pass.

I am 1 hour from London, 3 hours from Hamilton, 3.5 hours from Toronto.

Sorry for not responding sooner, I never visit here anymore after giving up due to specialists not returning my messages and the red tape but I am very desperate now and will make another attempt to find some help. This has been going on several years and medications don't work.

[Bastille Day]

I found this old article regarding ECT and how outdated the system in Canada has become.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/12/23/experts_weigh_in_on_alarming_rise_in_use_of_electroconvulsive_therapy.html

I did find a modern treatment center less than 1 hour away that may allow inpatient procedures.

[uni]

Good to hear from you again, Bastille Day. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. I'm glad you've found a potential treatment centre. I hope you have success in connecting with them and they can be of help to you.

Ok I just read the article. It sounds like, as of 2012 at least, we need some standardizing of ECT treatment in this country!

[Laurie23]

I am 1 hour from London, 3 hours from Hamilton, 3.5 hours from Toronto.

Hey Bastille Day,
I am also from Ontario - more specifically KW. My local hospital does it and you can do it inpatient. I did mine outpatient, but since I lived alone, I had to move in with a friend and find rides to and from the hospital each day. It was tough organizing everything. I just did a quick google and saw that Parkwood in London does ECT as an inpatient.

Mine was done on a stretcher and I felt very safe with extra blankets,a pillow and a fantastic nurse.

Good luck with the process! Let me know if you need support or have questions!

[Zasbat]

Ive had 18 sessions of ECT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Ypt-vKI2U

- This video (search Petes ECT on Youtube) is fairly accurate to my experience except I was awake when they put the electrodes on your head.
The procedure was as follows. I had to be at the hospital at 6 am. Changed into pjs. Taken to the room. They gave me an IV. There was about 4 people in attendance. I loved the feeling of the cold medication (propofol . . what killed Michael Jackson) going through my veins. There was no drifting off. I was awake one moment, the next moment I was out.

I checked the clock once and I was out for about 20 minutes. The procedure is done. They gave me oxygen (which is refreshing) for about 30 minutes and then I was taken back. Gpt dressed in my clothes and the hospital policy was that I had to be with a family member for 24 hours but I would stay with my sister for 6 hours and then go home.

Two people would get ect each day. One person goes and then the other person goes. It helped almost everyone I talked to but it didnt help me.

My mom had ect in the days of One Flew Ove the Cuckoo's Nest. They werent put under, they were awake. She had post natal depression in 1957.

It the last ditch effort when you have tried everything else. Although it didnt help me, it helped others and I would recommend it. It might have affected my memory but my memory has never been great.

[AJ]

Welcome to the forum Zasbat.

[Zasbat]

Thank you AJ.

I wrote about ect at a non depression forum and that post was probably more detailed. I kind of rushed this posting. In the other posted, I posted the time in the youtube video when the shock is applied.
I never saw the mouth guard except for one time.
My mom's ect would have them lying on stretchers and they wheel the stretcher so their heads are poking into the hallway and she said they had the machine and they would work their way down the hallway and zap a patient and move onto the next person. When I asked her what it was like, she didnt talk about the pain (if there was any), she talked about the sound of the machine coming down the hallway.

For my ect, we went to the psych ward in the morning. The two of us would sit and wait for the time to go to the procedure room. One aide would take us one at a time. He came back and got the other person so it was one person after another.
The head strap in the video was what they used. That video is the best representation of my experience with ect.
And again, I would meet different people on different days. It wasn't me and some one else always going and I asked others and most said it helped them.

I was in the psych ward (in patient) and I saw a guy who was an out patient and he looked so depressed. He was there for ect. When he came back, he was a completely different person. He was happy and upbeat. I had 6 sessions of ect by that time and I asked my doctor is that how it should have worked for me and he said yes. I remember that guy and the before and after effect he seemed to have from ect but I dont know why there was such a huge change in him. I think Ill ask my therapist about it and ask why there was such a change so quickly. It doesnt happen that way as far as I know about it.

[Bastille Day]

I am 1 hour from London, 3 hours from Hamilton, 3.5 hours from Toronto.

Hey Bastille Day,
I am also from Ontario - more specifically KW. My local hospital does it and you can do it inpatient. I did mine outpatient, but since I lived alone, I had to move in with a friend and find rides to and from the hospital each day. It was tough organizing everything. I just did a quick google and saw that Parkwood in London does ECT as an inpatient.

Mine was done on a stretcher and I felt very safe with extra blankets,a pillow and a fantastic nurse.

Good luck with the process! Let me know if you need support or have questions!

A hospital in Hamilton I inquired too mentioned Parkwood.

Asking questions or trying to get information is just about impossible, no one answers their phone, kind of fed up with the health care system right now.