Great success with TMS

2 weeks ago I completed a course of transcrainial magnetic stimulation (TMS). It was a great success and completely got rid of my depression. It did not completely get rid of my anxiety. So I was able to easily discontinue my Lexapro, but I still take Xanax and Buspar. I think that for some it also handles anxiety, but not in my case. It has made my anxiety only marginally better.

It has a 70% success rate for depression. I think that the full remission rate is around 55%? For me personally, I had a full remission of the depression.

The sexual side effects I had with Lexapro went away within about 5 days of stopping the drug.

Each of my treatment sessions lasted 18 minutes. So I was in and out of the office in about 25 minutes. There are no side effects.

The treatments were once per week day and nothing over the weekend. I had 32 sessions so the course of treatment lasted about 7 weeks. I'm not sure how long my remission should last. I read that for many it will last about a year, and for some longer or shorter. When it starts to lose its effectiveness, I would need to go in for some booster sessions. But they might be just a small number of sessions, not the entire 32.

These treatments were covered by my insurance since it is not an experimental treatment. My portion will come to about $1,300 for the entire 32 treatments combined.

Hello idiopath: Thanks for sharing this information! I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral! I hope you find the time you spend here to be of benefit.

Welcome to PC.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us!

I hope you find the information and the support you may be seeking.
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Wild Coyote

Congrats! Just wondering, did they do right side or left side TMS? Am wanting to do this myself.

Thank you for sharing this information. I am considering trying TMS so it is good to hear this. Do you know what kind of machine you had? Was it a neurostar? Or a Brainsway? Or something else? Did you have deep TMS or repetitive TMS? I hope you don’t mind me asking. I am just trying to research the procedures. If I am being too personal, it’s ok to let me know that my question was not one you want to answer or to just simply ignore the questions entirely.
Whether you answer my questions or not, thank you so much for sharing your experience here. It really helps. I hope Your remission continues for a great period of time. Thank you again.

As per this investigation, the TMS achievement rate in decreasing depressive side effects was 58.0 percent, with an abatement rate (add up to suspension of depressive manifestations) of 37.1 percent. The examination found that TMS is a compelling treatment for patients who were not able discover help from starting stimulant regimens.

Welcome to PC!

I hope you find the information and the support you may be seeking.
Please do jump in and make yourself at home.
I hope to see you around the forums.


WC

I've never known anyone who has had success with that treatment. I've also known 2 people who had bad side effects from it.

The only time I've heard anything good about it is when new members come to forums like this and post about how great it is.

It makes we wonder what it is about clinical trials that accounts for positive outcomes that we just don't see outside of the research setting. Most people seem to think it is a big waste of money. Psychiatrists make a killing off of these treatments.

I have seen with my own eyes the success on three of my friends. One was also in the beginning of parkinsons. His parkinsons went away. Seems like a great side effect. My other two friends have been able to resume their lives while getting further top ups as required.


Yes there are some who don't respond to TMS, myself included, but if you are one of the lucky ones it is so worth it.