Barbara
My husband had 2 courses of ECT this past winter and spring. The docs first started with unilateral ECT-only one side of brain because this is thought to cause less memory loss. After 12 treatments there was no response, we then asked them to do bilateral treatments. After the first bilateral treatment he was better. He refused further treatment and came home feeling well after a 2 month hospital stay. However, after 3 weeks he was depressed again and had to return to the hospital. ECT treatments were resumed but due to low heart and blood pressure readings, the second round of treatments had to be stopped. We are at a loss what to do now since the anti-depressants don't work. We have been told about magnet therapy which is less invasive than ECT but is still in research trials and won't be available for general use for five years. We are looking into electro acupuncture but this will be expensive as it is not covered by insurance. In the hospital we knew 2 other men who ECT helped a great deal. Headache seemed to be a common side effect by these men but my husband did not have any side effects or memory loss. Hope this has been informative for you.