[splitimage]

My pdoc, is thinking of referring me for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Does anyone have any experience with it, and can tell me what it's like?

Thanks.

splitimage

[lowinmood]

sounds like another form of ECT and that fact a side effect is ' transient impairment of working memory' and 'induced currents in electrical circuits in implanted devices'

I would ask for more info about it before you agree!

And no I don't have any experience of it.

[vital]

Originally Posted by splitimage

My pdoc, is thinking of referring me for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Does anyone have any experience with it, and can tell me what it's like?

Thanks.

splitimage

Hi splitimage, I haven't done it myself, but there is a wikipedia page about it including a description of some risks.

I am going to make a suggestion now that might sound crazy, but it's totally safe and I think it's actually related to TMS. These notes describe a little game that you can play where you make lots of tiny decisions and snap your fingers:

http://egg.bu.edu/~youssef/SNAP_CLUB/BA.pdf

At least sometimes, this has a *huge* positive effect if you have depression as with Freewilled, for instance:

http://forums.psychcentral.com/4715237-post156.html

Now, when they do TMS for depression, they stimulate the left "dorsolateral prefrontal cortex". Now, guess what this part of your brain does? It's the part of your brain that activates when you make decisions and take actions! It thus appears to me that if you do the SNAP CLUB game, you are stimulating exactly the part of your brain that they would be stimulating with a TMS session, except it's safe and even fun and you can do it all day long.

- vital

[Jolisse]

I had it done, unfortunately it didn't help me. I know many people that TMS did help and it's not a bad experience. I would give it a try, ot just may work.

[Eliza Jane]

I did it 2x. The first time it worked beautifully, the second time not at all. I suspect that the first time it made me hypomanic (I'm Bipolar II) so I don't know if that is really "success," actually. On the other hand, I wasn't on any meds at the time, so it might have worked better if I were. It was very expensive when I had it done, so that would be my one hesitation in recommending it (unless your insurance will cover it). No side effects, except it takes a lot of time to go in every day for treatments.

Good luck!

[cloudyn808]

I had 36 one-hour sessions of rTMS- There is NO memory problems! It simply feels like a woodpecker tapping on your temple. You sit there watching a TV show while...rat-a-tat-tat the magnet zaps your head... It's no big deal and there's no medical problems. The only problem I experienced is it didn't do anything for me. But that's understandable as nothing has worked at all for me, not meds, not ECT, not Ketamine, nothing. It's definitely worth a try if you're miserable.

[TheWell]

I did TMS. I was the only person that doc had ever seen get worse on TMS.
Even knowing that I would still have tried it.

[continuosly blue]

Originally Posted by splitimage

My pdoc, is thinking of referring me for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Does anyone have any experience with it, and can tell me what it's like?

Thanks.

splitimage

Hey , a lot of what has been already said has been helpful. But my own personal experience is this : Never got to try it because the insurance company would not cover it unless you met certain criteria. With mine I had to show I tried at least 4 different anti-depressants in a certain period of time. I can meet that criteria but I would have to get information no longer available to me.
They spent 1 and a 1/2 hr. intake session on me only to find this out and then kick me out of the door. It was way too expensive to pay for.
I'm not sure even if the insurance covered it that I would have done it because they said it took 1 to 2 hrs. every day for a month I believe.

Even though I'm not working I still found that to be a little over the top time wise. The reason so long ? I think , like everything else , $$$$$$$$$$$$$

It actually is still in the experimental stage and they have no real proof , except personal beliefs , that it actually works.
It does NOT send any electricity into your head. It just stimulates certain areas of the brain. I put it on par with Hypnosis.

Suggestion :Get as much information as possible before you make any decision.
I never actually did it so I can't say it helped or not.
My personal view is that if you don't actually believe in ,or feel comfortable with, the therapy or therapist , it probably won't work.
Perspective gained from over 40 years of being the lab rat in a huge experiment.