r/TMSTherapy

I've had Depression along with OCD for years, and recently I heard about TMS and decided to try it out. I got approved which felt like a miracle, because insurance hates TMS. However, I have a few concerns:

1. Can TMS cause mania in some patients? I'm not bipolar, although my uncle is.
2. Some people describe a "dip", where depressive symptoms get worse? How likely is that? I'm also concerned about TMS spiking my OCD.
3. Did you ever need to retake TMS therapy after a few months? The form I signed mentioned a third of patients needed it after six to eighteen months.
4. My final question is: will I lose the sense of who I am? It's an unpopular opinion on Reddit but I believe humans are more than just flesh and brain chemicals, yet I'm still worried that I might experience some dramatic personality change. The woman at the office herself suggested I go through therapy during the treatment, as some patients "Don't know who they are without their depression".

I think blind trust in TMS is just as bad as being too paranoid about it, hence I'm looking for honest answers. I do notice there's a lot of complaints about TMS on this sub, but I imaigne people with problems are more likely to make a post about it.

Long story short. I’ve had anxiety depression and ocd my whole life. I’ve had remission but after having my 2nd baby I never bounced back.

The doctor keeps calling to schedule but 1. I am terrified. With medication if you start feeling shit you can just switch or stop taking it. With TMS it changes your brain. What if it changes it for the worse? You’re just stuck with even worse depression than you started with? I’ve read horror stories. I can’t go too much deeper into this without actually dying.

2. I have two little kids (6 and 4) to go in every day for 6 weeks at this season in life seems somewhat impossible and if I am able to pull it off — if it doesn’t work — the effort I put in would make it even more devastating.

3. The dip. What??? It sounds like I won’t be able to survive that.

I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do. The more research I do, the more scared I get.

Hi I am hoping I can get some advice, thoughts, or experience. I suffer from Depression, Anxiety, OCD. I am planning on getting TMS therapy, and I have a choice between Magventure or Brainsway. I am doing research online and its truly hard to decide. If anyone can give me some thoughts would be great. Thank you

I have a consult for TMS next week. The doctor in my area is really picky about who gets approved I guess. He reviewed my records I sent & personally called me schedule. I’m feeling nervous but also hopeful. I just heard about TMS for the first time while hospitalized in April. The psych I had then, recommended it & thought I was a good candidates. I am very nervous about if this will truly work for me. And I am nervous about any possible negative side effects in relation to being able to properly care for my daughter & go to work.

TLDR: newbie. Got any tips? Good? Bad? Full stop?

I can't do tms ever again. I get overwhelmed with anxiety about having to be there 5 days a week, feel like "a chicken running around without a head as they" it's to much running around when I got that everyday and have 1 or two other appointments same day for something along with things to do. I don't drive so it's more overwhelming I rely on the insurance medical rides so I gotta arrange 5 round trips a week and they only let you do one trip or call due to call volume and you need 24 hours notice so sometimes I got to like make sure I don't forget on Monday to call for Tuesday and then call again the same day for Wednesday etc even if you schedule it it's not an exact time they have like a 30 minute window when they pick you up or take you. It's just a lot and I'm always so tired from being mentally drained from all this running around and rushing. It's just a for me. I'm not doing a second round ever after this one. For me if anything spravato would be way less stressful because it's only 2 days a week and then it's only one I don't care if I'm there longer. I rather go less times a week and be there 2 hours, I never drive myself to her from anyway so I don't care that I can't drive myself. This is to much lol

At my weekly motor threshold checks my motor threshold has gone down each time. Is that normal? I guess I assumed my TMS intensity would go up or at least stay the same once I was at goal but this lowers the intensity. I think it was over 50 the first week and now after my 3rd week it’s 40.

So I just had my mapping done and first treatment - trying it for depression since I have tried 7 meds. The mapping only took like five minutes and made me feel more confident since it was very gentle and just those single zaps, but then we got to the actual treatment and I bit my tongue through so hard I bled a bunch 😭 . The teeth clenching was pretty intense, and I tried the mouth guard but it made my jaw hurt reallyyy bad when it would clench, way worse than without it (I have tmj. Anyone got tips? Anyone else bit their mouth a bunch?

I just completed session 30 out of 36 scheduled sessions, and my doctor offered to request for more sessions with my insurance because my depression scores still are not where she'd like them. I'm a bit hesitant to do more treatment because it is time consuming and, while I think it may be helping me some, I question if more time would be more beneficial. Have any of you done more than 36 sessions and felt the extra time was worth it?

i’m on session 18/30 and i’ve been feeling an emotional dip for the last 4 days. my first emotional dip was around the 7-10th session, i started feeling better after that, but my mood started dipping around session 15.

are multiple mood dips normal? it’s making me extremely anxious because it feels like i’m reverting to my extremely depressed state and i cannot go back to that.

Shortly after treatment, I felt great. My depression and anxiety symptoms have reduced to almost nothing and my psychiatrist is considering lowering my med dosages which I've wanted for a while.

The problem is that it's almost two months later and I just don't feel like myself anymore. On a logical level, I understand that I'm doing better. I'm much more functional for sure, but something feels off. On an emotional level, everything feels incorrect. My emotional reactions are completely different, and I don't care about certain things the way I used to.

These changes have made me more well-adjusted. I'm able to handle full-time work and am able to act more professionally with my coworkers. My relationship with my partner is going really well also and my friendships and relationships with family are doing pretty well. Everything seems fine on the outside, but inside I just don't feel like myself.

I have had depression, SI, and anxiety since I was 10, and it just feels wrong to not be depressed. I guess I'm grieving? But mostly I feel ungrateful and selfish. My therapist tells me all the time that I'm making great progress, but it just feels wrong.

I feel like who I was is gone, and now I'm someone else. I feel disconnected and disjointed, and I just want to know has anyone else experienced something similar?

P.S. This is not meant to talk bad about TMS, like I said: my depression and anxiety symptoms have gone to almost zero. This is just my personal emotional reaction to the treatment.

I have cptsd and often struggle even keeping short term memory. I do dissociate unintentionally most of the time. Recently I’ve been having nightmares that are from my old memories resurfacing. And with those memories come the emotions (fear, anxiety, etc.) that took place during it. Has this happened to anyone else? Does TMS help your memory?

Looking for reassurance. Started 600mg lithium for depression 1.5 weeks before beginning therapy. Began rTMS therapy and everything had been going good. After my 15th or 16th treatment, i came home and just felt off. The last 3-4 days, I've had a big increase in depression and SI. I told the staff so they were aware and agreed it could be a dip. I just dont know when the dip could end and feel like Im practically back to square one crying all the time. Any insight? Thanks

Having a very painful experience trying TMS. I did one session of TMS where we positioned the helmet and lowered the intensity so I didn’t feel pain, but I every other time I’ve tried at higher intensity I’ve felt a sharp pain whenever the machine is tapping. The tech said I cannot stay at the lower intensity as I wouldn’t get any benefit that low. I feel it in my temple region, it sends a shooting pain through my eye socket to my nose. Feels like a bad headache, so bad that I’ve had to stop after the first few seconds. I have a painful herniated disc and pinched nerve in my C5/C6 region. Could this be contributing? Has anyone else felt this pain?

Are there any of you that smoked during your treatment? I am a daily smoker and honestly getting off of it is a huge struggle for me emotionally. I’m titrating down, but my TMS session ended up being rescheduled to sooner so I am not completely off of it yet. I am smoking very low percent (10%) and will be at zero in less than a week. My session is tomorrow and I still have 3 days left of my titration.

Will this have a significant effect on my treatment in the beginning? I will not smoke at all once I am titrated down until the end of my sessions.

Please no judgement. I am going to TMS because I have super super treatment resistant OCD, and I have intrusive thoughts about doing horrible things to myself 24/7, which is why I am pursuing TMS. it’s just incredibly hard for me to have these thoughts so much when I am sober. I do distance myself more from them when I am high, and I can carry through my day better.

So I’ve started TMS treatment recently, currently finished my second session and wanted to know if anyone else has any experience to share!
Did it make you feel worse or better? Any reactions from combining it with THC usage? Did you pause THC whilst undergoing treatment?
For reference, I smoke .5 everyday and I’m treating for anxiety disorder & CPTSD

Has anyone had the compressed treatment? It might be fairly “new”. 16 treatments in an 8 hour period. I’m new here and am still searching posts I just haven’t seen any yet.

Is it just me? They swear its not a common side effect of TMS. I am tired of feeling like crap all the time! It's been three weeks and only seems to be getting worse

I have bipolar, once every 7 years I have a euphoric short period; but the rest is horrible depression. Is TMS allowed?

I’ve had 9 sessions so far. We have reached 100% strength but apparently it goes up to 120%. I’m doing well. I don’t have any side effects besides sometimes a very mild headache that will go away with Advil. I don’t feel any more or less fatigued, but I was already a very sleepy person. There was a little pain during today’s treatment (my first at 100%) but I told my technician. she adjusted the helmet and everything felt normal after that. it still feels like an angry woodpecker, but it doesn’t hurt, just mild discomfort. Still feeling positive. I’ve noticed a change in my mood, but I think that’s because my Trintillex is kicking in. Ill report in after week three. Good luck everyone! :-)

I went in for my initial mapping sessions yesterday and I was already very skeptical of the entire procedure. I sat down in the chair and everyone was really nice but it seemed like it was moving very fast. After they fit a cap around my head they started having the machine in different spots to see if my right thumb would twitch. After about 4 or 5 attempts I noticed I was getting very lightheaded and hot and next thing I knew I fainted.

I don't know if this is normal or a bad sign but it has me doubting if I should go back. Does anyone have any similar experiences or know why this might have happened?

I am also nervous that this might have messed up the mapping but I don't want to ask them to do it again. I was watching my thumb and seeing my hand involuntarily move was a really strange experience and I hope I did not interfere with it either.