Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy: What's your experience?

Please explain more about what this therapy does.

Yes, Spravato is helping me. I've written a great deal about my journey with Spravato. Perhaps @colleenyoung will help redirect you to some of my discussions. I've celebrated one year with Mayo Connect. Much of my focus has been on the effectiveness of Spravato for ME.

@baseballmom33 and @doloresmacneil, if you click @audriana's name to go to her profile, you'll see the discussions she's started, including some specifically about her experiences with Spravato (esketamine) nasal spray.

For example, see this discussion:
- Positive Awareness+ Medical Intervention (Spravato) + Lifestyle https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/spravatoesketamine/

I've had 3 separate rounds of it...bc I've had very severe treatment resistant depression that started while I was in the military 30 yrs ago....it landed me 115 hospital visits....no, I'm not that messed up...just developed a bad imbalance from too much stress while the brain was still forming( many people don't realize that our brains our still forming until around 21 , and outside factors can influence chemical imbalance 4 remainder of life)
Anyways....just some info so u understand where I started.
The tms took only a couple of sessions to start working...but it was the best treatment ever to happen in my life. The noise is loud...they let me wear my music earbuds as long as they went inside the ear...which really made time fly....it did leave me with a headache each time....no biggie....Tylenol took care no problem...
There's no sedation....drove right off....increased energy and lost that isolative nature I've always had up to then...came out of my shell...started to enjoy things....notice nature around me...which helped depression even more...so it was all positive.
The reason 4 the 3 rounds was bc my Dr felt that my depression was so severe that he wanted the first two back to back to get more at it...and my insurance company agrees bc they didn't want anymore of my 3grand a day hospital bills.
The 3rd round was a year later...and bc it is similar to ect..you might need a " tune up round"... which was refreshing as well.
I still stayed on my meds for the time....it wasn't my goal for then to DC them...just to help the depression. I've been out of the hospital now for 4 yrs....which is the best in my adult life. I used to be in once a month.
I was so grateful to my psychiatrist that I agreed to be his representative for seminars he would hold for future clients interested in the procedure. It felt good to give back, and share my enthusiasm as a success story as a patient others in the past besides him gave up on.
If it doesn't work immediately, give it time. It's changing the chemicals in the brain..and that's not a 1,2 3 thing.
Persistence is the key to recovery, and resilience. Personally, I could have thrown it all away at hospital visit 80 , as I've lost at least 20 close friends along the way who chose the easy way out...and left painful memories I still cry over frequently.
I must have some really Higher reason to find the pathway to peace. It's in all of us, not just some of us. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same, as we are liberated from our own fears.
I dont know who said the last 2 sentences....but it is my mantra. I hold onto it....bc I believe hope is contagious.
Peace to you..best wishes on your journey.
Audrey

Oh...I rambled on and could have answered ur question better.
What it does is tap on your head every 10 seconds...I believe that's what it was...when it does that that, a strong magnet delivers an impulse to the area of the brain responsible for emotions....they will know your area on your skull bc b4 they start...your Dr will do a " mapping" where he tests where on your skull this area is located so they can adjust the settings on the unit during each session you have. A tap hits your head...which hurts a tiny bit...but you get used to it....then in about a half hr ur done. You usually get a headache after...Tylenol takes care of it.
It has no side effects at all...you can drive urself. You have to do it 5 days a week for 6 weeks...thats how my Dr does it.
Like I said prior...it doesn't take effect immediately. They give u a weekly questionnaire to monitor your progress. You have to stick it out for some sessions..but everyone I sent has had positive things to say.
Hope that helps.
Audrey

I have MDD and anxiety and am now, apparently, "Medication Resistant". Dr recommended Spravato but we ran into a stumbling block because I am 65. Also it is almost impossible to get Medicare or Supplement to pay for it. Switched focus to Ketamine infusions. No insurance covers.
I am, though, willing to pay out of pocket for either, even though it would be a stretch on the budget because I am desperate for help at this time.
I feel as if I can't breath at times and as if I will shatter if anyone touches me.
I am a Chemical Dependency Counselor and love what I do, but it takes everything I have to do my job each day. I am struggling. Then I get home and I have nothing left. The "smiling, compassionate, loving" me disappears and I am an absolute bitch to my husband and son. I can pull it together for my 7 year old granddaughter who can always make me smile (outwardly at least).
Has anyone done TMS treatment? I have an appointment for a consult. I figure if it doesn't help, I can move on to one of the other two.
I apologize for rambling and moaning. I have always been one of the "helpers" even with my bouts of anxiety and depression. I just don't know if I can continue to juggle the masks and continue.
I am currently on: Lexapro, Welbutrin (450 mg), Effexor, Trileptal, Trintellix and Trazadone. Crazy # of drugs, right? No way to even begin to know which, if any, are working...it's all such an experiment and I've been on the merry-go-round way to long.

Ketamine is a lot cheaper; around my area, TMS is $10 - $13 THOUSAND dollars. It's daily treatments, five days a week, for at least 6 weeks (I think). My shrink doesn't believe that TMS is "ready for prime time," since it has about 50% efficacy. One university is testing more targeted TMS that uses an MRI to make an initial map of the brain, and apparently their results are reaching the 90%s (totally second-hand knowledge here). I'd be more inclined to re-investigate TMS once the treatment is more regulated. I think a lot of Doctors of Nursing are getting in on it because it's a good money maker. Just my observation.

If you can find someone who will do Ketamine IV therapy, it's usually four or five treatments. Not sure how much each - maybe 600 each?

I personally don't think the Spravato is a good idea (the squirt-it-up-your-nose method); you have to go to a ketamine clinic, where they send detailed data (with your name attached) back to the pharmaceutical company. Also, you have to agree to be observed at the clinic for two hours after your squirt. Lastly, Spravato only has one of the two "shapes" of ketamine (as in LEVOthyroxine, so in this case the left side of the pair), so I don't know that it works as well. And if you have a cold, then forget it. I can't imagine ketamine gets past snotty sinuses.

I also got denied for TMS by my insurance - after they told my husband I qualified.

The talk of "mental health matters" is a whole lot of talk, unfortunately. At least where I live, there is very little for us who suffer mental illness unless you are on medicare, have cancer, or have a drug addiction. Otherwise, you're left to just suffer on your own.

Oh, and don't feel so bad about the drugs: I'm on 12 Rx drugs and 13 doctor-directed supplements. Doctors turn me down because I'm too "pharmaceutically and medically complex."

12 mental health drugs??? I am on Medicare. TMS is noninvasive, lower risk of side effects. It's been around since 1985 and was FDA approved in 2008 for MDD and medication resistant MDD and is covered by Medicare. I just think maybe it is the better place to start for me. I'm doing loads of research on all 3. Now would love to hear from people who have experienced it (good or bad). Thanks for your input.

Hello, @blessedintx,

It is terrible to read you are on so many different medicines, and it seems to me you get no help either. 450 mg Wellbutrin (I believe the generics name is Bupropion). I know because I take Bupropion. I used to take 300 mg and I had to cut it off and went down to 100 x 2 daily. In addition, you take 5 other medications for Major depressive disorder. I am no doctor, but l am surprised you are able to do your job at all. No wonder you are exhausted when you get home, and your son and husband only get to experience the frustrated and hurt part of your temperament. I have tried TMS. I have written somewhere about it. It was a very bad experience for me. But that does not mean it is going to be bad for you.

Dear @blessedintx,
I was able to find what I wrote to a father who was considering TMS for his young daughter. I wrote about my experience with TMS. I have copied what I wrote to him then, hoping this can be of help to you. So here, it is:
"I hope TMS is going to work for her. I know it does for many people. I heard about Transcranial Magnetic therapy from a close friend. For her, it worked after only 6 (six !) treatments, so I hope it is going to help your daughter too. I couldn't take it, even though I so much wanted it to work. I know it is NOT listed among the side effects, but all of a sudden I got toothache and I started having such bad pain in the right side of my belly, where my right ovary is, that I had to go to the emergency room after my fifth treatment. I also started getting hot flushes like crazy. When I called the center where they gave me TMS and asked them to check with the doctor if TMS in some way affects the endocrine system they said the doctor had said it did not, that the only side effects they knew of were the known ones: pain at the treatment site, headache, and toothache and they all go away after a little while. Well, to make a long story short: I stopped after my 5th treatment. I kept having a pain in my ovary for a little while after I interrupted TMS, while hot flashes continued bothering me for much longer).
But, as I said, I hear TMS does help many, so I do hope the 36 treatments your daughter is going to take also will help her to get ridden of her debilitating depression and anxiety. I wish you and your daughter the very best and thank you so much for sharing your experience. 😊 Merry Christmas to you and to your family!".

This is what I wrote then, and it is pretty much all I can say about TMS.

I hope the TMS treatment - if you decide to undergo it - will be beneficial to you, with no side effects.

All the best to you. ❤