Hi All,

I started TMS and wanted to track my progress here, in case anybody else was thinking about doing it.

I have had depression since 2003 but recently had to go off the only antidepressant that worked for me: Celexa. After 11 years on it, I had started to have additional side effects that I could no longer tolerate. After going off Celexa, I tried to stay without medicine but the depression was too great. So, we tried a total of 8 other antidepressants but they all had more side effects than Celexa or they caused allergic reactions.

So I was left with little options. I tried therapy, acupuncture, healthy diet, yoga, meditation, exercise, herbals, and other supplements. Nothing worked besides medicine/supplements but the side effects were too great.

So TMS was presented to me and I did my research. It sounded like the best option for me because medicine did work for my mood but I just could not tolerate the side effects. TMS has a possibility of 2 side effects, headache or seizure and seizure is a .1% chance, so it sounded like a great option.

Yesterday was my consult and the doctors agreed I was a great candidate for TMS, so I started treatment today.

The treatment was easy, very easy. They found the spot to place the magnet within what felt like 15-20 minutes. Then they set me up and did the 38 minute treatment. The feeling was weird, not painful just different. I did start to get used to it towards the end of the session. I thought I would have a huge headache afterwards but I didn't, no headache, no pain, no seizure, nothing.

I will be going in every day until September 2nd. I plan to post my progress here weekly so others can see the process/benefit in case you're curious about doing it yourself.

I will note this is not cheap! I got extremely lucky because my insurance company is covering the cost at 100%. Granted I have already met my deductible/co-insurance, so that is why it's 100% but it's actually rare for insurance to cover TMS at all right now. Although I have heard insurance will reimburse if you pay up front. Also I have heard that Medicare does cover TMS, I am not sure at what percentage, obviously you would want to check with your insurance and the clinic doing the procedure.