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I had great success with Neurostar TMS in 2013 and it completely changed my life. Since then I have relapsed and in 2016 I had Neurostar TMS again and it was no where as successful. I decided to try Brainsway TMS and was very optimistic that it would get me back from the dark abyss of depression. Unfortunately it hasn’t happened yet but the doctors say sometimes patients don’t feel the benefits until a few weeks after the final treatment. I hope that happens for me at this point. This TMS is way more intense than the Neurostar and I know it’s going deeper so that makes sense. I just don’t want to have to do ECT if this doesn’t work. I still have faith but it’s waning. Has anyone completed treatment and got better weeks after??? Thanks for your feedback.
Hello Nutella06! I had TMS by MAGPRO in 2012. I had some good results, but they were sporadic and not long lasting. I describe it by saying “certain periods (minutes only) seemed like the lights were brighter, colors were more vivid, I could even HEAR better, or maybe I was just “more alert”. I truly felt like “this must be what normal people feel like!” But like I said, it didn’t last long. It was just like a “flash” of what it must be like to feel good. At that time my insurance was not covering and I paid the whole thing out of pocket. I had 30 treatments and had to stop. I kept researching TMS and hoping science would improve it to work better. Then I heard about BRAINSWAY DEEP TMS. Also, my insurance is now covering TMS. I am in the process of having Brainsway TMS. I’ve had 18 treatments so far. I haven’t noticed a whole lot of improvement, if any. But I am still hopeful that maybe it’s still too early. I’ve been online trying to get all the info I can find because it seems there are so many variables in the different ways TMS is done. I hope my providers are up to par with their particular way of treatment. I guess the biggest concern I have is “which side of the head?” I always thought to treat depression, the TMS was applied to the LEFT side. However, with my treatment, all the tapping and/or pulses are on my RIGHT side. I asked my technician about this and he said they ARE INDEED treating the LEFT side, but the tapping pulses are applied & felt on the RIGHT. I’m so confused about this and other things, yet I’m so desperate for this to work! I hate having all this doubt! I thought I could just go in for treatment and my doctor and technicians would take care of it from there! There seems to be a big lack of communication between me, the doctor, and the technicians. They have never explained anything to me without me having to ask and then they seem “put off” that I would even have the audacity to question their expertise! It’s just like “Come in, get your treatment, and “see you tomorrow, same time!” I could go on and on about all my concerns but then I don’t even have the energy to talk or type about it and I get to a point where I feel so bad, I can’t even think about it! All I know is my threshold is 51 and I’m at 120% and I’m receiving 36 X 70 pulses (2,520) 5 days per week. I’ve had 18 treatments and supposed to have 30. I’ve read where some pts. have more pulses per day and something about stimulating different sites on the brain! This all scares me because I’m desperately hoping my “care team” is taking this seriously enough and realizes how much we depressed people are “clinging to life” in hopes they are doing all they can in every way possible to make this work!! AND I DO HAVE FAITH THAT IT CAN WORK!! I have felt “glimmers” of it working! I could just cry! I’m 63 years old and I had 55 rounds of ECT in the 1980s when my 3 sons were small children. It wiped out my memories of all those good years! BRAINSWAY DEEP TMS HAS GOT TO WORK!! I would love to hear from others on their settings, placement, etc… Thank you so much for listening! Hugs & Love to you all! Sincerely, Suzie
Hi Nutella:
When you had your original treatments, did your doctor tell you that when you noticed that you were feeling a little depressed, to call and get in immediately for a few booster treatments? I had my initial treatments over 7 years ago and my doctor said call him immediately when I was experiencing any kind of sadness so we could assess whether it was depression or a situational sadness. If it is depression the quicker you can undergo a couple of booster treatments the quicker you can recover. I do this and my pattern has been to receive three treatments in spring (either one a day for three consecutive days, or three treatments in one day) when I am feeling that shadow of depression. I recover quickly and am back to remission in a couple of days. It lasts for about a year. I know we are all different and some people go once a month routinely for a treatment, some biweekly, etc. Some people never need any boosters. Knowing your depression cycle is important. Also, I am sharing this video with others because they are now studying a variety of ways to administer TMS which has been helpful to some patients. I found three treatments in one day to be more effective than one treatment for three days.
https://www.bbrfoundation.org/event/whats-new-tms-depression-and-other-brain-diseasesStay in touch.
Colleen
I completed my 36th and final treatment of Brainsway TMS today and I was confused that my doctor didn’t speak to me about any kind of follow up or to come back for any kind of boosters. I’m still hopeful that he will follow up with me at a later time and it was just an oversight on his behalf. I feel that at some level the treatments helped but it has exposed I have a hormonal imbalance of some kind and I have an appointment with a different endocrinologist to see if we can figure it out. I’m very hopeful that this doctor will order the right tests and look extensively to find the problem. I know that all the TMS treatments weren’t done in vain and I will continue to be mindful of my thoughts. I will continue to exercise and eat right and I will eventually find clarity. Thanks for your support…
I have had 22 treatments of Neurostar TMS and still feel suicidal. I will start ketamine IV infusions next week. Has anyone here ever combined the two . Apparently ketamine doesn’t last that long but can list the depression rapidly. I am hoping it will help get me through the rest of the treatments.
I thought I felt TMS working for a day or two here and there but I almost took my own life yesterday so I am desperate. Please, does anyone have any experience with ketamine?
I also started taking my Prozac again yesterday . I hate the side effects but I wasn’t suicidal when I used to take it. Does anyone else here that does TMS still take an antidepressant ?
Any comments at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank youglosurf:
I can only speak as a patient who is working with a doctor who is willing to try different ways to administer TMS. (I had my original round of TMS Treatments in 2011 and have 3 booster treatments/year).
I know several patients whose suicidal thoughts ended with TMS and a few others, including myself, whose suicidal thoughts were not affected by TMS. Quite a paradox – my depression is in remission and still I had suicidal thoughts. My doctor told me about a study being done with TMS and suicidal ideation. During this study, TMS was administered 3 times a day for 5 days in an effort to arrest suicidal thoughts. The results were positive. So, when I had an almost life-ending episode with suicidal ideation this past November, even though I was not depressed, I asked my doctor to administer three treatments in one day to see if it would help. (I had been experiencing suicidal thoughts almost every day of my life. Some of us can be free of depression but yet, experience suicidal thoughts). He agreed and I underwent three treatments in one day and my suicidal thoughts have dissipated. It is almost too amazing to believe. I am free of this burden after 67 years. It may be an issue to talk with the doctor about. My doctor now administers multiple treatments in a day with some of his other patients for depression and is having positive results. There has also been some evidence that multiple treatments in a day were successful for some of those MDD patients that single treatments in a day did not work for.
Research about TMS, how to administer it, in what dose, how frequent the pulses should be administered, etc., is being conducted daily. New information emerges routinely. You can access some of this info on Google Alerts – Topic – Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. You might want to check out Google Alerts. Also, the site, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, covers research info on many topics including TMS. Maybe some of this info will be helpful.
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