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I realize that mental health conditions are not one size fits all approaches to treatment. And every, I mean ever situation is different. But, for me, and it appears many others on this forum TMS makes anxiety worse. I discontinued treatment after 7 treatments and for good reason. My intrusive thoughts and anxiety spun way up. They tried the right side. Mello treatment also. Not any better.
I would recommend for people with anxiety and intrusive thoughts to be careful. You may get lucky and it works. But I am set way back now. I shouldn’t have done it.
It is being marketed well. You tube, mostly all positive reviews. I appreciate this website because people are being honest. I think this treatment does help some for sure. But for others it is potentially dangerous. It’s not like stopping the meds. This makes changes to your brain.
There are side effects too. Headache and increased anxiety. And the one I regret the most in insomnia. I experienced that from the first day.
It’s not worth the risk of trying it. It’s not.
@dwstuhr,
I think it depends on the individual. I had a lifetime of anxiety/OCD that I managed with diet & intense exercise with counseling along the way. At 39 my anxiety went to a whole other level landing me into depression so badly I thought I had dementia. I was placed on Valium first, but was still anxious even with that often. TMS rid my depression & cut my Valium dose in half to 7.5mg/day. It certainly allowed me to get my life back to raise my children. It quite frankly saved my life!I’m sorry you had a bad experience with it, but given my anxiety drastically reduced, along with depression I think it’s worth a shot. I tried Ketamine 1st and that made me so agitated/anxious I was almost violent, so everyone reacts differently to treatments. I would also say it’s not permanent changes as folks need boosters as their brains return to their previous baseline over time (from neural inflammation) Good luck on finding relief! It’s awful to suffer anxiety or any mental health challenge.
I do see a connection with people who get insomnia from it having a poor experience with it.
AnonymousI think people should stop suggesting that what others are feeling from TMS isn’t permanent. I’m so sick of hearing that. I did 12 sessions 11 months ago and am still suffering beyond belief with no relief whatsoever. The truth is, nobody knows how TMS works, so to shut down any possibility of it doing some sort of irreversible damage is not informed. It certainly makes sense that sending 3,000 pulses of powerful magnetic energy into your brain is not good for every single person on the planet. Be skeptical, I would only do this treatment if you have absolutely nothing to lose and are at the very end of the line. Be careful.
Amen springercali, you are right on!!
Entenmk, not really. My anxiety was manageable, now it difficult. I had to start paxil and take xanax as needed. And I hate meds with a passion. Thanks for asking.
I am 37 y/o, and like most on the forum, have struggled with depression and anxiety for decades. I began TMS (left-side only) on Sept. 13; I’ve had 10 sessions since then. I tend to be more neurotic than depressed, although I vacillate between both. This past week, my anxiety has sky-rocketed. My TMS technician assured me that TMS doesn’t cause anxiety, but rather “as the cloud of depression lifts, the anxiety rises to the surface.” (I’ve heard that before.)
My question is: did right-side or bi-lateral treatments help anyone in this situation? I haven’t felt anxiety like this in years. I’d rather take the depression.
@jcl311,
I always did bi-lateral (as my psychiatrist states only left sided is very stimulating). I can only speak from my experience, but it allowed me to reduce my nightly Valium to half from 15mg to 7.5mg and saved my life.I’m actually doing a second round to try to get off Valium because I “hate” how it makes me feel. I’m now down to 5mg after 10 more rounds 🤞.
I would ask them to do right sided to reduce the activation your feeling. Good luck, it was a miracle for me. It seems some others get intense anxiety…my anxiety/ocd is how I got depressed. I was used to a lifetime of anxiety and only depressed starting in 2018.
Thank you, @junebeatle
I agree – I always felt anxiety and OCD triggered my depressive episodes. My baseline is activated, so the left-side only has made me a ball of nerves.
My psych told me that, paradoxically, activation in the beginning is a sign that TMS is working and will rebalance, providing you can ride it out.
She also said that taking benzodiazepines during TMS can have rebound effects. Is Valium a benzo? She wouldn’t prescribe me Xanax to quell the anxiety brought about by TMS because it could make things worse.
Looking forward to starting bi-lateral this week!
Thank you again for your response.@jcl311, Yes, it is a benzo, long-acting. I was put on that before ever considering TMS as I was pacing around, had an all over muscular fascillations start last year, and would wake up so panicked at 3:30am for months I was losing my grip on reality. I’ve been taking it for 9 months now. Looking back I so wish I would have just done TMS up front to take care of both before being placed on this mind-numbing medication. Its my only medication besides the TMS.
Benzodiazepines bring up your motor threshold since it slows the nervous system so much..which means much stronger pulses to penetrate the brain. It’s harder to get a response on Benzodiazepines, maybe that’s what she meant. It worked for me & so hopeful I can eventually cessate the nightly benzo. Keep in touch and let us know how you end up. I’m hoping it works for you too ❤️
Yes! That’s what she said – it may increase motor threshold and the stronger pulses may make anxiety worse…something like that.
I wish they would’ve started me bilaterally from the beginning. Talk to me for five minutes and anyone can deduce I’m an anxious person. Right-side TMS is still considered off label (in New York at least), so I think they had to follow the FDA protocol for major depression first. Short sighted, since anxiety and depression typically go hand-in-hand.
Anyway, it sounds like you said you’re down to only 5mg now? That’s great progress! Hindsight is always 20/20. Maybe it took being on Valium with little relief to realIze you needed TMS? Maybe it lead you there? ❤️
Thank you for your well wishes!My TMS Doc switched away from the bilateral to the much milder right side. It didnt help the anxiety. There was too much roused up from the initial left side treatments.
The bottom line is, for anxiety TMS is a disaster for most. Not all, but most. It is dangerous in my opinion.
Why email this person? Just curious?
I went through the full 36 treatments on the left side of my brain. Continuously asked if they should do the bilateral because of my strong anxiety and the doctor kept saying no because she felt it would make my anxiety worse. Well here I am almost 3 weeks after treatment waking up with a huge anxiety lump in my throat, crying for no reason, feeling so depressed, so tired, so unmotivated, afraid to leave the house. Will these symptoms ever subside? Even a little as time goes on? TMS was probably the worst thing I could have ever done. I feel duped when I was told that the only side effects that could happen is a headache. That is so untrue! Even as I write this I’m sitting here in tears wondering how I’m suppose to live life. I would take the depression and anxiety I had before TMS than what I have now any day of the week.
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