major depression, medications don't work, would TMS help?

Posted by jimmy 370 @jimmy370, Nov 6, 2011

my whloe life i have been severely depressed! everyday i think about ended my life. i have tried all the medication and nothing works. i just herd about transcranial magnetic stimulation (tms) the only catch is insurance co. don`t paid for it. and it is $ 12,000.00 for 30 treatments. has anyone had tms treatments? and did it work?
jim

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I am sorry to say I have not had experience with (tms) but have you tried ECT. That got a bad rap in the 50's because the treatments were traumatic, today with the muscle relaxants and fast acting anesthesia it should be the first choice of treatment for sever depression not the last. It only works for 50% of the patients but if you are in the lucky 50% it is far safer and more effective than the endless pill trials. I had 24 treatments without success but it worked for my mother every time. My situation is complicated by chronic fatigue and PTSD from Vietnam-several near death experiences.
Wish I could be of more help to you, I do know how you feel. With your life in the balance I hope and pray you stay close to a good doctor.
FATIGUE

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@fatigue

I am sorry to say I have not had experience with (tms) but have you tried ECT. That got a bad rap in the 50's because the treatments were traumatic, today with the muscle relaxants and fast acting anesthesia it should be the first choice of treatment for sever depression not the last. It only works for 50% of the patients but if you are in the lucky 50% it is far safer and more effective than the endless pill trials. I had 24 treatments without success but it worked for my mother every time. My situation is complicated by chronic fatigue and PTSD from Vietnam-several near death experiences.
Wish I could be of more help to you, I do know how you feel. With your life in the balance I hope and pray you stay close to a good doctor.
FATIGUE

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thank you for your reponse, and i also want to thank you for your sevice in vietnam! i am only 52 but i watch alot shows on our wars on the history channel. and i do have to out of all them, the vietnam war blows me out of the water!!! thanks again. but yes i did try ect treatments and i didn`t like it! one of my treatments i never went out all the way i could hear evrything going on. but couldn`t speak or move to tell them that i wasn`t all the way out. plus you have to go into the hospital for it. and i just went back to work. i was out for two years for my depression.

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@fatigue

I am sorry to say I have not had experience with (tms) but have you tried ECT. That got a bad rap in the 50's because the treatments were traumatic, today with the muscle relaxants and fast acting anesthesia it should be the first choice of treatment for sever depression not the last. It only works for 50% of the patients but if you are in the lucky 50% it is far safer and more effective than the endless pill trials. I had 24 treatments without success but it worked for my mother every time. My situation is complicated by chronic fatigue and PTSD from Vietnam-several near death experiences.
Wish I could be of more help to you, I do know how you feel. With your life in the balance I hope and pray you stay close to a good doctor.
FATIGUE

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Jimmy 370-good to hear from you, I do value your message and thank for your comments about Vietnam. Like every other conflict since World War II it never should have happened. Sadly, as long as we are controlled by sleezy politicans rather than STATESMAN I don't look for much improvement. Your mishap with ECT is a sad happening to say the least, I spent 30 + years in the medical field and I know what happened to you. There was an error on the part of anesthesia, instead of being rendered unconcious you were paralyzed by the drug. I am aware of cases where the patient underwent lengthy surgical procedures and felt every bit of the pain and was unable to make the surgeon aware of it until the drug wore off. I shall use more caution in my recommendations in the future. I was DX'ed in 1964 not treated until 1973. I will pray for relief of your pain and suffering. I can honestly say I know how you feel- please contact me at any time.
SEMPER FI

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@fatigue

I am sorry to say I have not had experience with (tms) but have you tried ECT. That got a bad rap in the 50's because the treatments were traumatic, today with the muscle relaxants and fast acting anesthesia it should be the first choice of treatment for sever depression not the last. It only works for 50% of the patients but if you are in the lucky 50% it is far safer and more effective than the endless pill trials. I had 24 treatments without success but it worked for my mother every time. My situation is complicated by chronic fatigue and PTSD from Vietnam-several near death experiences.
Wish I could be of more help to you, I do know how you feel. With your life in the balance I hope and pray you stay close to a good doctor.
FATIGUE

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fatigue, your exactly right! all of our wars controlled by our sleezy politicans. the more i watch them war shows on history chanel the more it makes me sick! i used to try to make sense out of these wars and couldn`t. i always said why do butt our nose in where it don`t belong? i could understand 911 war but, somehow it seem like we lost the reason why we even went over there. i used to ask my father and brother why? and what was the reason? cause my father was in world war 2 and my brother was in vietnam. and my father said that it is all about the money! war is a big business. i always said we should mind our own business keep our nose out what goes on between other countrys. but, when someone does mess with us set an exmple with that country. and you are right that`s exactly what happen with the anesthesia with me. and that happen to my mother about feeling everything durring surgery when she was under but that was years ago. you wounldn`t think it would happen today. bye the way what is DX`ed

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Jimmy, don't give up. Ask your doctor about ECT insurance does cover it. Also have you tried adding abilify or remeron to your anti-depressant? I'm like you with medications and did try to end life but we have a lot of people that love us and we should love ourselves just as much. easier said than done, I know but keep trying.

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@fatigue

I am sorry to say I have not had experience with (tms) but have you tried ECT. That got a bad rap in the 50's because the treatments were traumatic, today with the muscle relaxants and fast acting anesthesia it should be the first choice of treatment for sever depression not the last. It only works for 50% of the patients but if you are in the lucky 50% it is far safer and more effective than the endless pill trials. I had 24 treatments without success but it worked for my mother every time. My situation is complicated by chronic fatigue and PTSD from Vietnam-several near death experiences.
Wish I could be of more help to you, I do know how you feel. With your life in the balance I hope and pray you stay close to a good doctor.
FATIGUE

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Hi Jimmy, first DX,ed means diagnosed. I am a college grad. but I can't spell, hope you will over look that. The anesthesa problem is very simple - they used the wrong kind. Like so many things there is a hereditary link and the mother passes that genetic probabilty to the son wher other things pass from father to daughter. Don't ever be affraid to tell a doctor what you will put up with and what you won't. They are highly trained technicians but they put there pants on the same way you and I do. If he won't listen you find a better one. Example: I was hospitalized for 4 days a few months ago. Since they have no respect for psychotropic drugs the took me off everything, stuck a needle in my arm for IV feeding and proceeded to run test after test. On day four I was getting a bit cranky because they wouldn't tell me the results of the tests. They said that had to be told to me by my family doctor. After more than 30 years in the medical business they were treating me like I was stupid. As a result I lined three of these young bucks up against the wall and told them they wouldn't know anything until they were 60 years old. I walked out of the hospital at that point, went back to the hospital got my file from medical records and read it myself - that is any patients legal right.
DX: Bipolar II Depression, PTSD. Adrenal Collapse
Vietnam: USMC 2 tours USMC, Sniper, "Black Ops" CIA directed, 68 confirmed kills, Some came home with broken bodies, some with broken minds, and some didn't come home at all. Tell your father for me THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. I won't tell you war stories, there is no good in all that horror
SEMPER FI

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You got it right !! I have had many experiences where a Merciful God has saved me. The first time was in Vietnam. I was cut off and confronted by 4 Vietcong trying to make me surrender. I wont tell you what happened to Americans who surrendered, they would stop me from using this board. I stood in a clearing in the jungle with 4 ak47's pointed at me. I stuck a .45 in my mouth and prayed. At that moment moment a gunship (chopper) appeared just above me , opened fire and distroyed the enemy.. my life was spared and my soul was saved in the face of certain death. I came home with a job to do - I call on Vets from all wars and carry Gods message. This is the responsibility of any born again Christian who is blessed with salvation.
SEMPER FI

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@roxie43

Jimmy, don't give up. Ask your doctor about ECT insurance does cover it. Also have you tried adding abilify or remeron to your anti-depressant? I'm like you with medications and did try to end life but we have a lot of people that love us and we should love ourselves just as much. easier said than done, I know but keep trying.

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I have been suffering from depression on and off for the past five years. I was considering TMS but it does not seem very effective and is costly. I am thinking about ECT - did you have this treatment. I f you did could you tell me about your experience with it. Desperate.

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@roxie43

Jimmy, don't give up. Ask your doctor about ECT insurance does cover it. Also have you tried adding abilify or remeron to your anti-depressant? I'm like you with medications and did try to end life but we have a lot of people that love us and we should love ourselves just as much. easier said than done, I know but keep trying.

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Hi
I have a post on ECT and I explain the procedure at length. It was very helpful it saved my life when I wanted to die.
However, it does not protect us against future disappointments and so I have good and bad days but not severely like before. Discuss it with your doc.
Best
Rox

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