Do you have experience with TMS?

[Smelly_ballz]

My psych wants me to do TMS since no meds or therapy has helped and bc they do it in the same building. I was wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with it.

I am skeptical because the idea of magnetic waves helping mental illnesses sounds kind of absurd. I am also scared they might be trying to make more money off me as the TMS treatment is literally down the hall from my psych's office.

 

[Weltall]

My psych wants me to do TMS since no meds or therapy has helped and bc they do it in the same building. I was wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with it.

I am skeptical because the idea of magnetic waves helping mental illnesses sounds kind of absurd. I am also scared they might be trying to make more money off me as the TMS treatment is literally down the hall from my psych's office.

I looked this up, and found very mixed results on the topic.
There seems to be a high placebo affect within the patients.
And it seems that with the data seen, it can only last for 6 months to a year.

This is in no way to discourage you.
Anything that could help you be happier is a possibility to make you happier.

 

[Kundalini Guy]

Where do you live? There's a certain medication available that specifically removes suicidal thoughts but only available outside U.S Also don't do that shit it causes memory loss and cognitive problems, deny it all costs.

 

[CuriosityAndCat]

I have. I couldn't tolerate almost any medications. It's 'induction' not magnetic waves. It's electricity generated from the change in field strength, and it's enough to kick off action potentials and it's high enough to make muscles twitch. It worked well for me. I was able to take a lower dose of medication so I had fewer side effects. As far as efficacy of TMS, TDCS, and the like, academia is mixed. Many of the thoughts against it basically come down to "the brain does a good job regulating itself, what good would blindly messing with that do?" There's enough research that also says it works and has an effect. On the plus side, the risks are negligible unless you have a high risk of seizures. I recommend trying it out.

 

[Life Is My Coffin]

TMS can and has caused really bad irreversible internal injury for some people (made depression/anxiety 5 times worse, corrupted cognitive ability, tinnitus and more).

I have no idea how rare this is or how often the success rate of TMS comes for most people, but the fact that these injuries have been proven to be possible and doctors have even tried sweeping it under the rug just a few years ago is scary to me. Too scary to even consider TMS myself

Too Good to Be True: How TMS Damaged My Brain

Transcranial magnetic stimulation has not improved my mental health, and it has robbed me of some of the most important things in life.

www.madinamerica.com

 

[CuriosityAndCat]

It's a single blog and whether experience is positive or negative, you can't verify the author's account as there could be another reason he developed tinnitus. Safety protocols have been around and verified for decades. You really have to search before finding a negative outcome that hasn't been documented. There's not really a believable mechanism that would cause tinnitus, or a detached retina. As far as actual long-term damage with no seizure that's difficult to believe.

 

[Life Is My Coffin]

It's a single blog and whether experience is positive or negative, you can't verify the author's account as there could be another reason he developed tinnitus.

Bruh you should definitely actually read the link before commenting He has interviewed countless other people who experienced the same exact conditions and even verified there is significant evidence enough to prove that the injuries around TMS are identical to injuries developed from electroshock therapy.

He has written at least 3 different essays about this topic and even made a facebook support group involving people who have suffered TMS injury. Tell me again how there's "another reason" all these crazy defects happened to him right when he started doing TMS? are you a doctor trying to cover your ass too and sell TMS as a totally safe method with zero risk involved?

As far as actual long-term damage with no seizure that's difficult to believe.

Nevermind that question asking if you're a doctor considering you dont even know how seizures work (this is all ignoring the fact that seizures are literally listed as one of the symptoms in one of his write-ups, you'd know that if you actually took the time to read).

 

[CuriosityAndCat]

Bruh you should definitely actually read the link before commenting He has interviewed countless other people who experienced the same exact conditions and even verified there is significant evidence enough to prove that the injuries around TMS are identical to injuries developed from electroshock therapy.

He has written at least 3 different essays about this topic and even made a facebook support group involving people who have suffered TMS injury. Tell me again how there's "another reason" all these crazy defects happened to him right when he started doing TMS? are you a doctor trying to cover your ass too and sell TMS as a totally safe method with zero risk involved?

Nevermind that question asking if you're a doctor considering you dont even know how seizures work (this is all ignoring the fact that seizures are literally listed as one of the symptoms in one of his write-ups, you'd know that if you actually took the time to read).

I have a masters in neuroscience. I have no skin in the game with TMS. I used to work with fMRI. Many of the described symptoms like tinnitus and other problems are documented side effects of several psychiatric medication. Almost all of the time TMS is used in conjunction with medications.

I have looked at the link. There's plenty of antivaxxer blogs with the same logical flow attributing their child's autism to vaccines. There's not a shortage of people with medical claims. If there's not an academic consensus or academic papers backing a claim, and there's not an explicable mechanism of action, then it probably can and should be ignored.

As far as safety, it is safer than pretty much any of psychiatric medications and effects are not permanent. It's not zero risk. Like I said, seizures are a risk if you're at risk of seizures. Some people might not be aware. The risk is lower since many of the prescribed medications would have given you a seizure before you ever tried TMS.

 

[CPY]

I have OCD and I'd like to try, if anything for the fact that those treatments seem more genuine for the fact that they appear "stronger".

However evidence for their effectiveness is not conclusive

I don't know if my country offers them however