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I haven’t had what I thought The Dip would be; I thought it would be like a significant “crash” over the weekend days or so. I’ve had some rough nights; a couple breakdowns. Last week I had 2 days where I sorta crashed and broke down. One of the days I was more anxious and highly irritable.
This week (2nd week of treatment) I had significantly high anxiety which turned into an angry and sad mode. Today, I was highly irritable and had a breakdown (crying, talking about quitting school, quitting TMS, working full-time instead).
Side effects like headache and jaw pain are less. I do have TMJ dysfunction but directly related to TMS the headaches are lower. I do get sleepy and a few days each week (thus far) I have taken naps.
What are other people’s experience with dips, interpretation of “The Dip”, and suche. Why is anxiety heightened amongst most tms patients?
Hi,
I experienced the “dip” around my 4th week of treatment. It felt like what I call a “hurricane” of depression (rather than just a wave) and lasted about a week. Towards the end of the treatment (the past few weeks), I definitely relate to how you’ve been feeling. I had the same experience and considered quitting my job and TMS. I’ve gotten past it a little bit, but it’s still been emotional.
As for other anxiety, I don’t know about other people’s experiences, but getting used to post-treatment has caused me a lot of stress, which made me really anxious.Don’t get me wrong, it feels amazing to not have to fight just to get out of bed anymore, but it’s something I’ve never felt before, so it’s taking some time to adjust.
Hi lajp- just wanted to note that you are early in your treatment and sometimes people don’t notice any positive benefits until four weeks. Everyone has a unique experience but the Dr at my clinic has seen this a lot where it takes til the fourth week for people to feel benefits. For me that wasn’t exactly the case, I felt a lift the first two weeks then a dip for three weeks then a lift again … but hang in there, don’t give up, give it time to work for you!
Thanks for the reminder. It’s easy to fall into being overwhelmed by the big picture.
Right now, I feel more depressed (definitely circumstantial) but also like more able to deal with it/be okay with it? I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s not just a lighter feeling and being able to manage on top of it. I genuinely feel more depressed (not including previous suicidal ideation) than last month/December but I guess able to manage relatively okay?
Less physical side effects other than tired/exhausted and that is a combination of phys/mental/emot. tiredness.
Hi lajp:
I had NeuroStar TMS – (there are several companies that offer the machines now) in 2011 and have 3 booster treatments a year. I think jrb stated it accurately, that everyone experiences a different process while traveling the same path of undergoing TMS treatments. It is a medical procedure that can be describe by some of us as a roller coaster ride – ups and downs, and some deep downs (my dip was worse than my original depression scores representing deep treatment-resistant MDD). I could not recognize progress until after treatment was over, but those around me noticed before that. As I was 60 when I had treatment, it was hard for me to recognize that after a lifetime of depression and ineffective treatment, something was actually working. Recovery and results from the treatment occurs slowly over time for many of us – an increasing improvement for months and months. My improvements continued for about 9 months before leveling out. HOPE! TMS is a prescribed medical treatment – the body which includes the brain (which most people separate but shouldn’t) takes time to adjust to the mechanics of the treatment. Patience, blind faith and positive hopeful thoughts and practices support treatment results.
In regard to anxiety – depression and anxiety many times piggy back each other. There is no scientific evidence that TMS causes anxiety. Rather once the depression has lifted, the anxiety is more apparent, you know like a layering effect almost. If you have a pile of material for sewing and you take the top piece off you can then see the next pattern – this process works similarly. Sending my support for continuing the treatment. I almost quite at two weeks and am so glad I didn’t. My depression has been in remission for 7 years and love my life now! Keep persistent and hopeful!
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