Venting What do you know about transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)?

[KillingPain267]

My doctor will refer me to a psychiatric unit after I tried some medications that failed. I've read that such units can offer TMS for severe depression. So I want to be prepared if they offer it. So far it sounds like some medieval bullshit from what I've read. But I'm open if it's not some nonsense little better than placebo, so has anyone here tried TMS?

 

[idkplshelp]

Hi, I've not tried it but I read and asked a good doctor about it. She told me that severe depression n mental illness like mine won't be helped with it. It would be waste of money, she had TMS in her clinic, yet asked me to not do it.

 

[KillingPain267]

Hi, I've not tried it but I read and asked a good doctor about it. She told me that severe depression n mental illness like mine won't be helped with it. It would be waste of money, she had TMS in her clinic, yet asked me to not do it.

For me it would be free, but yeah I don't want to waste my time either.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Most of my limited knowledge of TMS mainly focuses on the research side of it, not the treatment side of it. Anyway, here's some stuff I have about it from my textbook and notes.

During Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, they essentially stimulate certain parts of the brain using a wand made of electrical capacitors that are connected to a tightly coiled wire encased in an insulated sheath. It basically generates a magnetic field that is able to penetrate through the skull and alter the electrical activity of neurons located along the cortical surface. Depending on where they position the wand they can do things, such as cause you to have trouble with processing visual motion/akinetopsia (which would happen if it moved over V5, which is located on the occipital lobe) or cause you to move your hands involuntarily (would happen if the coil was over the hand area part of the motor cortex). The effects of the stimulation may either inhibit or enhance neural activity. It can also be used to essentially induce "virtual lesions" by disrupting normal activity in select regions of the brain. It is great since, like lesion studies, it can allow researchers to study the brain and how local parts of it play a role in certain functions but without having to do invasive procedures to produce actual lesions.

There are many ways in which stimulation can be manipulated (protocols), such as administering TMS pulses at varying intensities, frequencies, and timings (single, repetitive, continuous). There is also doing it "online", meaning that the participant is doing a task while having it performed on them, or "offline", in which the effects of TMS may last beyond the duration of the stimulus itself.

It's generally pretty safe (though it isn't generally recommended if you have epilepsy or a history of seizures). I don't know much about it in regards to the treatment and management of mental illnesses though. I know that repetitive TMS (rTMS) is sometimes used for treating treatment-resistant depression (like in your case) and there have been looks into using it to treat hallucinations and neurological diseases. Here's some stuff about it in regards to the treatment of depression.

 

[let.me.let.go87]

Hi, I've not tried it but I read and asked a good doctor about it. She told me that severe depression n mental illness like mine won't be helped with it. It would be waste of money, she had TMS in her clinic, yet asked me to not do it.

I've had MDD severe depression and trd this is my last hope it's day two for me I hope this waste of money thing isn't true. I tried ketamine and ECT and countless drugs already. This is my last hope

 

[Hollowman]

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.

madinamerica.com

 

[idkplshelp]

I've had MDD severe depression and trd this is my last hope it's day two for me I hope this waste of money thing isn't true. I tried ketamine and ECT and countless drugs already. This is my last hope

Hi sorry for your state n I sincerely hope it works out for you. Idk the exact term for it but I guess they got my psycho analysis first and then the psychiatrist told me that it won't help me, it's too mild for my condition. I have severe depression, anxiety and was diagnosed with drug induced schizophrenia and OCD a decade back. I think you should talk to your doctor about this.

 

[let.me.let.go87]

For me it would be free, but yeah I don't want to waste my time either.

For me it turned out to be free. I thought I had to pay but I don't. But I don't consider my last shot at a normal life to be a waste of time. I mean I can't work. I live on disability. I just lay in bed all day. So leaving the house for a short while five days a week is actually conducive to my mental health whether the tms helps or not.

 

[jokster18]

My doctor will refer me to a psychiatric unit after I tried some medications that failed. I've read that such units can offer TMS for severe depression. So I want to be prepared if they offer it. So far it sounds like some medieval bullshit from what I've read. But I'm open if it's not some nonsense little better than placebo, so has anyone here tried TMS?

I've tried it I do recommend it

I've tried it I dont recommend it

 

[KillingPain267]

I've tried it I do recommend it

How did you feel after it?