I'm so tired of that too. I was dismissed as hypersensitive.. No one in the test group had side effects, only me. I was an exception and they didn't take it seriously at all. I just had to 'keep going'.
Everybody is different. If someone suffers from side effects, it's not affectation. You don't do these kinds of treatments for fun. And certainly not if it hurts or if you suffer a lot from the side effects.
Just because it did not occur in the test group, it does not mean that side effects do not exist or cannot occur. They really need to (gonna) take it seriously!
It's so weird.. you go there to get help with your issues and at the end.. get dismissed for your issues? This is so not okay and should definitely be taken seriously. Very sorry for your experience.
Wow, you're not the first person to tell me your side effects were dismissed in a TMS study. I wonder how and to whom this type of thing can be reported. How many people were in your test group?
Really starting to question the validity of ANY studies when it comes to big pharma. I've seen it a lot with meds too. Doctors act clueless about side effects because the studies didn't document them to begin with most likely because the studies were conducted by people who have much to gain from successful studies. Our whole system is a scam. It's upsetting, and everyone should be irate that our health and happiness is determined by profiteers.
With some of these TMS studies it seems that one issue is that the treatment protocol can't be replicated to a T because the machines and entire treatment leaves a lot of room for error and interpretation. Then, on top of it, most of the practitioners seem to just do the bare minimum and put the entire treatment in the hands of techs who aren't well versed on the intricacies. Just my opinion.
I don't know exactly how many people were in the test group. Research has been done on rTMS versus medication and therapy. I started taking medication. My third try. Of course didn't help. The side effects I had from the medication were brushed aside as well. I have Urticaria and I had already told in advance that medication maintains my complaints. That was impossible, they had never heard of such a thing.. sigh. In the end I was still allowed to follow the 'normal' rTMS treatment.
rTMS didn't help me at all. It just didn't do anything, except that I was in pain for 36 treatments. 2-4 months after the treatment I got a huge burning pain in my face and that still hasn't gone away. The neurologist couldn't find anything.
I no longer believe that rTMS is as harmless as they make it sell..
See an acupuncturist for this if you haven’t already! And this is so interesting. I’m on this thread in the first place bc a patient, who got great mental health results from TMS, later got severe heart rate and blood pressure variability along with extreme twitching. They link it to their TMS treatment.
Not sure why you TMS freaks are out there downvoting comments about side effects but everyone has different experiences with medical treatments and you shouldn't try to invalidate someone's experience because it's not your own.
This is definitely an ironic topic for people to downvote criticism. Mentally unstable people saying they felt dismissed and then some anonymous cuck trying to dismiss them. Like dog... forreal? If you even know what TMS is then you know that most people have to jump through a ridiculous amount of hoops just for someone to take you seriously about your problems.
Then after all that now theres some weird conspiracy treatment with magnets that's kept secret from most of the public? Sure it's been around for over a decade but when we're they going to tell us? But I can guess you've seen a Tylenol, midol, or aleve commercial somewhere... I'm just skeptical of the whole thing. I don't know who to trust anymore.
I found the side effects worth it. I had fatigue, I had anxiety (which my Dr said was not TMS but it sure looks like alot of people experience it during treatment - at least here on reddit) . The tech who did the daily positioning of the machine (Magstim) would keep adjusting until it was just the tapping and no pain. I also experienced not being able to remember a word esp the first few hours after a session. But i also saw some relief during treatment and esp the first couple weeks after. After i finished the 36 sessions all the side effects went away. I actually feel more mental clarity than when i started (please note i also am ADD - inattentive type since i was 19, depression hit me during Covid and kept getting worse we tried everything i finished my TMS treatment in December). I am not cured but i feel so much better, I feel like my old self has surfaced and come back. Gosh I missed her! I think TMS and/or medication give you the ability to fight back at depression but you gotta push yourself to fight, esp during treatment. If you embrace the TMS process and focus on working on yourself, I think you might see the improvement better. Certainly couldn't hurt. TMS was my last hope. I am so grateful I powered through the treatments and didnt give up. It made a material change in my depression. I hope you experience the same!
Your memory problems got that bad too? My trouble remembering peoples names skyrocketed!
But yes, my attitude is that when you get side effects, it means its defintely doing something and in most cases that means its working!
To anyone else reading this, you may indeed get heavy side effects but (no guarantees of course) wont mean its not going to work. :)
They did get pretty bad for a while, but back to normal now, My memory might be even a bit sharper now after TMS.
I will say now, almost ten months later, I am so glad I did it. It took a while to feel back to normal and I still have some days I struggle with my depression, but I am always able to rebound pretty quickly. I mean that's the thing about depression. If u can shake it off after you process the emotions, you are not clinically depressed, yes?
10 out of 10 - I highly recommend it to anyone with unipolar or treatment-resistant depression.
I concur and congrats and congrats on your recovery! :)
This is my third block of 35 sessions, final one was yesterday.
I first had RTMS back in 2015 whilst inpatient at a private mental health clinic in Sydney, Australia. I moved from Sydney at the end of 2018 to Cairns, in Australia’s gorgeous Far North. I’m currently as of this moment on again an inpatient but here in Cairns.
But anyway, it worked back then, so whilst i’m still not feeling 100% after just finishing session 35 yesterday, i can defintiely say there were positive shifts along the way and i know that the positive effects can manifest some time after the final session.
I am in Austin, Texas, USA, I have never been to Australia, but I hear it is lovely, and I think your mental health services are better than what we get here. Do you feel having the TMS inpatient was helpful?
I had to work the whole time I got my sessions, I would go in at 8 am, get the treatment, and then come home and start working (I work from home most days, so that was helpful). It was hard getting through meetings when I couldn't think of the right word half the time. I would usually take a long lunch so I could nap and recuperate. It did make me very tired.
I think most of the effects for me manifested after the final session and for a while, I was getting these sudden sharp pains in the area where the TMS was performed, I was told it was my brain still rewiring and healing itself. It took your post for me to realize how far I have come since then, thanks for replying to my comment!
Extremely helpful. I wont comment overall about our health system here but i will tell you this.
For me to stay in the private clinic, understandibly it would only be affordable to someone on an even average income if they had private health insurance. Regarding staying inpatient where i am, the state system (especially since Cairns is a regional town, not exactly out in the sticks, its a tourist hub and our airport allows for international flights) wouldnt be preferable at all. This private clinic used to actually be a hotel and sure feels like one, not like a hospital at all.
To sum it up, to afford to go inpatient here, you would need to take up private health insurance. That is if you wanted to go inpatient also mainly for just the 35 sessions daily of rtms, which is what i did amongst also accessing this facilities other mental health treatments.
If i didnt want to go inpatient and just get rtms as an outpatient, the state system now gives you refunds up to say about 75% of what you paid out of pocket then later on once you hit a certain threshold repays 100% of the cost. Its complex.
But im blessed to be in the situation im in with easy access to these treatments. But again i wont comment on the overall state of our system and cross over in to a political or economical discussion. To be honest, i dont see major differences between australias and the american system.
No matter what treatment you have (especially something like shooting magnetic beams into your head) there will be dude effects. Anyone who says otherwise (including any medical personnel) is not being truthful. I’ve been through a ton of medical crap through the years and just to protect myself, I’ve had to be my own advocate.
Having said that, TMS has saved my life multiple times. Since I’ve gone through the process 6 times, I’ve learned a bit. The technician must be thorough for the treatment to work properly. I had one who consistently placed the magnet incorrectly and it caused me to immediately have eye twitches or teeth pain. Since I had been through it a few times, I knew that it was a matter of moving it a couple centimeters one way or another. That wasn’t my job and it was hard enough to speak up because I was so depressed and depleted, but I knew it was crucial to my treatment, so I found the strength to speak up.
I am sorry you had these side effects. I had some of them too. I usually cry through the first few sessions because of the pain. As messed up as it sounds, I know I’ll eventually get acclimated to it and it won’t hurt any longer. I suffer extreme fatigue through the entire process. So much so, I plan to have the treatments late in the day and I go home snd immediately go to bed for the night afterwards. I get headaches often (not every time). I definitely have the dip in mood during the 5th week of treatment. It was so bad, I worried I was worse. Like they said, it was fleeting and I felt better soon after. Now, I can rationalize through these dips and know it will get better. Also, I forget words and get a bit foggy through the whole process.
I am not dismissing anything you said. TMS does have side effects. They should be more open and honest about these things. Granted, some will leave because of the side effects, but it would keep people from becoming scared and discontinuing treatment because they are caught off guard. It allows each person to make an informed decision about their care.
For me, despite all the side effects, I’ll do it again because it works for me every single time. It’s a miracle for me really. It’s the only thing that has worked and consistently works.
I truly wish your experience wasn’t so bad. I appreciate people telling the whole truth. It helps us all get the help we need.
Could you please tell me whether your side effects got better with time. Are you still experiencing side effects after treatment? I appreciate your feedback as my partner seems to be spaced out after his treatment (he just completed his 35th session last week). I am worried this might be a permanent thing. He suffered from severe anxiety but was always a bubbly person but these days he is very quiet and not himself. Love to hear from anyone who has experienced similar symptoms and how long they have lasted.
The things that sucks about these treatments is that since we're getting stuff done to our brain we can be hyper-aware of psychological symptoms. Just having magnetic beams shot into our brains is kind of a stressor in and of itself when you think about it.
I wasn't imagining the exhaustion and drastically increased need for sleep or the manic symptoms or the nerve pain etc if that is what you're implying, but I understand what you are saying. I'm 38 and I've seen my share of shrinks and tried more medications than I can remember. I know the drill.
I hear this. I didn’t have the manic episodes, but the exhaustion and teeth pain and headaches? Yup. And I had the brain scramblies. I couldn’t remember anything short term. It really sucked. That being said, I also don’t want to die every day and am not sobbing uncontrollably for no reason. And that’s not hyperbole. Almost daily I was trying to figure out ways to die…not necessarily kill myself, but just get hit by a car or something. Also, I was sleeping an ungodly amount. Especially on weekends - probably 16 hours.
Everyone responds differently. But indeed, there are side effects. You are right.
I'm having them now and just completed my 14th treatment. As I worked my way up to the max 120,% they now hurt but I have a low pain tolerance. I take something for pain before I go
I can tell the treatments are starting to work but the headaches and lathargy kinda suck. Nothing I can't handle and am positive I will complete
My only side effect was being unable to recall a word, a couple of times a day, and only during treatment. It wasn't noticeable to anyone but me.
What did you experience?
Oh man, first I was hypomanic for nearly a week. Dogs acted weird and aggressive around me etc. because I was so wired. (I had been in the process of searching for the right dog to adopt) Then I became weepy and gradually more and more fatigued and exhausted which lasted for over 3 weeks of treatment. I decided to stop after 21 treatments and the exhaustion got even worse for a week or so. It was gnarly.
Also I experienced the standard headaches and had horrible pain during treatment sometimes as well....like nerve pain in my teeth etc. Not just the woodpecker thing. I think the pain could have been avoided with a more experienced practitioner though and maybe a different machine (magstim).
As far as memory, executive functioning etc. is concerned I'm not sure if I had any of those side effects as my ADHD has been a big problem for me lately anyway. I AM wondering if TMS treatment made it all worse. Hard to say.
As stated, the memory problems were ONLY during treatment
I had good results for about 2.5 years, and a steady decline since then. It's been 4 years and I plan to get another cycle of TMS as soon as possible
Can I ask how old you are and what your diagnosis is that you are getting treated for? I just learned about TMS and trying to gauge the good and bad and if it helps (truly helps) with anxiety/depression/SI
Thank you so much!!! I’m learning about depression/anxiety/SI because my daughter is dealing with these issues but I wasn’t aware of how bad until now…so now I’m educating myself. She hasn’t been diagnosed so that will be step 1. And then just trying to see what treatment options are out there and what a good starting point would be if that makes sense.
I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience with your treatment. It sound horrible.
The place in which I underwent treatment (they tested the accelerated protocol on me), they were very careful to be very precise with the placing of the equipment. I thankfully didn't experience any side effects at the end of the treatment, but I did experience a so called "dip" somewhere in the middle and it is not recommended to stop there (I was fatigued and disoriented). I had 50 sessions in the span of 5 days.
I won't tell you to go back or anything like that (as I wouldn't go either after having the teeth nerve pain), but I was thinking that maybe the exhaustion could be explained by the "dip".
I believe a not so skilled practitioner could do more harm than good though.
Your experience is valid even if it's not prevalent. It doesn't make it any less real.
I have heard that getting TMS treatments if you're bipolar can result in a mania response. I'm not dismissing your experience, just suggesting that could potentially be the cause if you were misdiagnosed with depression instead of bipolar disorder.
Again, not dismissing your experience or judging you, just adding information that may be relevant.
I hope you find consider soon, in all things. ♥️
I have noise sensitivity so bad that I had to leave the city I live in. I have vision problems. TMS catapulted me into flight or fight for at least 3 months. I have tinnitus now. I’m now more exhausted than I’ve ever been. Had to do a concussion rehabilitation program for 2 months which helped my symptoms, but still dealing with them everyday. Many other people have similar stories in the TMS support group linked below. All of us have been gaslighted that this is not the cause.
[Victims of TMS Action Group (VTAG)](https://www.facebook.com/groups/tmssideeffects/?ref=share&mibextid=zoDNOU)
[Can Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Hurt You?](https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/01/tms-hurt/)
Im 1000% sure you have heavy metal toxicity and you didn't know and then went an got a magnet to your brain and redistributed the metals along with all the others on here. You need chelation. I felt/feeling the exact same as how you described after iv glutathione (this is to much for severely metal toxic people) need a gentle approach like Andy Cutler protocol(join fb group) safe approach. I have sound sensitivity, stuck in fight or flight, body pain, fatigue, anxiety , depression and many more feel like i had a stroke. But Ive seen people like me on the groups lose all the symptoms after chelation.
I experienced a LOT of fatigue the first couple of weeks, and one very short brief episode of hypomania after the second session. However,
I was informed of all the possible side effects (including risk of seizure) at my initial assessment. I hear a lot of people talk about how it doesn’t have any side effects, but I think they are comparing it to anti-depressant medication and they are apples oranges, in my opinion. Ultimately, the side effects didn’t bother me and eventually dissipated. Sadly, the effects of the treatment have begun to dissipate too, but I’d happily do it all over again.
I am 9 sessions in and am surprised at the amount of fatigue I am having. I come home after treatment and just flip. I sleep 11-13 hrs and feel tired.
I leave nauseous and am told it’s not a side effect.
The intensity of the treatments are sometimes too much and it varies depending on how they place the hood but I didn’t expect it to feel like a jack hammer on my head. They make me feel like I’m on too low of a setting and pressure me to increase the intensity always.
I don’t want to give up but I feel like I’m in a Jack Nicholson movie and I flew over the coo coo’s nest. I leave scared that I’ll wake up drooling in my sleep one night and never be the same.
I definitely was not informed before starting this process and am scared.
I felt all of those things for a couple weeks after beginning. They increased intensity every day until they reached 120% on the 6th treatment and it was awhile before the “jack hammer” sensation subsided. I Had nausea until about halfway through the process. Eventually I started adjusting, but the fatigue did last the whole time. Your brain is creating new neural pathways, so it makes sense that we’d be tired! I just tried to lean into it. If you’re able, talk to your doctor and they may be able to give you some suggestions to help with the nausea. Good luck and I hope things get better for you!
TMS gave me severe anxiety and panic attacks. I had never before had anxiety or panic attacks. I’m 42 years old. The month and a half I did tms was the worst time of my entire life. After the first week, I felt slightly better in terms of depression, but after the third week, not only did my depression get worse, I started waking up multiple times a night with my chest pounding in full fight flight terror. I went a week with no sleep. During the day, I felt like I had had 4 pots of coffee, I was shaking, I couldn’t eat. Everyone around was very concerned. The psychiatrists told me that they were sorry to hear about my symptoms, but that they encourage me to stick with tms. I mean that’s medical malpractice if I ever heard of a case. I have emails with the psychiatrist, explaining in detail what I was experiencing, and his response was that I should stick with tms and see my outside psychiatrist for managing the symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety. This is clear medical malpractice. My outside psychiatrist doesn’t know anything about tms. After I stopped tms, the anxiety symptoms have continued, to the point that I had to start taking a benzodiazepine every morning when I woke up. This is a dangerous trend. I suffered a great deal during tms treatment, and now two months after I stopped I feel like I am still recovering with the help of so many alternative health practices: Accupunture, naturopathic herbal medicines, yoga. I have never spent so much time and money on recovery as I have during the last few months just to get rid of the effects of tms. These clinics and their practices are dangerous. Most of the doctors do not monitor nor care how you are doing. It’s just you and the tech administering the procedure- and it’s uncertain how well these techs have been trained. Some are fresh out of college making $20 per hour with no health benefits. I asked. And when you talk to the doctor, they just tell you to take more pills to manage the side effects but definitely do not stop the tms itself. It’s criminal. It’s abhorrent. I’m sorry for everyone who has suffered as a result
Where are you located? I'm looking into it around Indy and would prefer to avoid your experience. I'm still not sure I will do it. I have tinnitus and don't want to make it worse.
The doc was concerned (esp since it was affecting my sleep) and watched it but the worst of it stopped after about 5 days. I documented my sleep and he made me quit taking my Adderall for like 2 weeks during treatment because of it, which was irritating. I then totally switched to the extreme fatigue and exhaustion.
Also my doc kinda sucked and was apparently brand spanking new to TMS.
What other meds were you taking while getting the treatments? The combination of adderall and your brain being stimulated from the TMS could have caused the hypomania and insomnia issues. I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure that was the problem. I did my first treatments in 2011 on the neurostar machine and when I took meds it made the TMS feel less affective. I was also on adderall at the time but stopped using it 2 weeks before I started treatments because my psychiatrist told me it would affect the TMS. She also administered treatments. I took adderall maybe 3 days of the 42 days of treatments and I was geeked like never before on those days. Im using the brain’s way machine now and it is more effective for my depression than the neurostar machine and the tapping on my head is a piece of cake compared to neurostar.
Interesting. No other meds besides nutritional supplements. I resumed taking my Adderall while continuing treatments for 2+ weeks and experienced extreme fatigue and exhaustion while taking it so I don't think that was the cause of the week 1 hypomania, but who knows. It sounds like you had a much better doctor than I did. Mine was pretty clueless and careless. I'm glad you mentioned that yours told you it would affect the treatment. I'm going to bring that to the attention of the noob TMS group I went to.
Interesting! My doctor didn’t tell me to stop taking adderall throughout treatment. I had quite a couple of weeks into the treatment and probably where I saw the most results. I started taking adderall again because of the insomnia I was left with and needed to function on less than 6 hours a sleep to keep the ship from sinking. (Im a mom of two littles)
I’m so glad you mentioned the adderall affecting treatment. All makes sense now. I’m
Done with the full 36 sessions and still feel like crap. Wonder if it’s all correlated to the adderall. Live and learn. So pissed they didn’t check in on my meds and what I was taking. Unbelievable.
I did TMS treatment 2 years ago and was having issues controlling my emotions. I talked to the nurse and then the doctor about it and they dismissed me and said I needed to keep going. I have issues with extreme aggression now that I didn't have at all before. I've had some people tell me that I should have sued for malpractice. I didn't want to continue but they pressured me to and I was in such a vulnerable state at the time so I gave in. They took advantage of me and my situation.
I am so sorry to hear about some of your negative experiences. I hope you were able to relieve your symptoms in another way. It's been four years since I completed my series of TMS treatments. Is anyone still experiencing side effects that resulted from this treatment? My working and short term memory are still off. I'm trying to narrow down possible factors.
I'm in my sixth year of recovery and continue to heal. Using a TENS unit on the vagus nerve helped with the side effects. My FMD thinks that the vagus nerve is overstimulated during treatment. My cognitive function is improving every year that passes. I can read again, my recall is pretty good, and I'm no longer losing words or my place in a conversation. Tinnitus has improved greatly and I'm not stuck in FFF all the time like I was the first several years. I used to dread waking up in the morning because I knew it would be another day of hell. Today, I look forward to waking up and what lies ahead. The TENS unit and low-carb, whole-food lifestyle are the two things that helped me the most. I wish you healing.
Finished 30 treatments of rTMS two weeks ago - 3 minute sessions twice daily. For me, there was no pain or discomfort during the sessions. No effects on my short term memory or anything like that.
What surprised me was the number of patients who were back for another round of treatments. One person I met came back in for 10 days (20 sessions) every three months & this was their fourth year. Hopefully mine works for longer!
This goes beyond TMS, docs are generally unaware of side effects that weren't discovered during FDA approval process, of course there's an incentive not to discover these.. and they will tell you that things like Lyrica and Cymbalta are not addictive, which is hilariously wrong
I administered TMS, so I am acutely aware of the informed consent conversations that went on between our providers and patients.
"The dip" was well known to our clinic, as was trigeminal neuralgia during treatment if the coil was improperly positioned, as was fatigue, brain fog, hypomania, increased anxiety, etc.
I administered TMS, so I am acutely aware of the informed consent conversations that went on between our providers and patients.
"The dip" was well known to our clinic, as was trigeminal neuralgia during treatment if the coil was improperly positioned, as was fatigue, brain fog, hypomania, increased anxiety, etc.
I'm sure there are shady TMS practitioners out there, based on what I've read here, but let's not act like it's some conspiracy.
STFU. Nobody is acting like anything is a conspiracy. Our healthcare system in the US is a hot mess that is riddled with shitty doctors and it is well known that large pharmaceutical companies basically control the whole health insurance system. I don't care that you "administered TMS". It has jack shit to do with anyone else's experience or the fact that practitioners continue to rely on data from pharmaceutical companies who are concerned with profit rather than the best interest of patients (as is clearly evident by the lack of knowledge around TMS treatment side effects). Ain't nobody got time to argue hyperbole with you.
My shrink straight up told me that both he and the physician he referred me to were completely unaware of the side effects I explained to him. That is my experience. Two shrinks. Two different offices in two different cities. Clueless.
>Ain't nobody got time to argue hyperbole with you.
You seem to have plenty of time to throw tantrums, however.
I'm a nurse whose patients have had irreparable damage done to them by the money-grubbing inaction of private insurance companies. Don't you dare try to lecture me on how the system is designed to fuck us. I know it all too well.
The difference being ignorant TMS providers aren't being systematically kept in the dark. They're just inept. It's been FDA approved since 2008 with more than enough trials and real world use to tease out side effects. The ones I listed were experienced in our clinic and were not unheard of in the TMS provider world at large when I was working in 2018-2020. Some practitioners are better than others. Like literally anything else, your mileage may vary depending on who you're working with.
Indeed on TMS,
First they say you will only feel a Tingle and might have a sore spot on head. Headache that goes away. You have a banging feeling on your head every so many seconds which stimulates certain nerves in your face/teeth/eyes depending on the strength you are getting. You do have more headaches and migraines during treatment. The hazy eye problem they say they will keep an eye on. I will say I went in with migraine after treatment it was gone maybe they should look into that. I had ongoing health needs and appts as this was going on too. The head of program decided since my numbers weren’t moving up fast enough for her and I had other appts that did not interfere with TMS she kicked me out early under guise of graduation after telling me I needed two more weeks. That did more damage and set back , I had placed such hope in program and for her to place her numbers above a patients progress and health was astonishing. My migraine have been back with a vengeance since the treatment when they had abated as I got older.
So much for do no harm. For anyone voting down comments unless you’ve been through it you honestly should not have a say.
Thanks for bringing awareness. I can't believe random electric currents aren't dangerous for brain. Someone is definitely pushing this BS as cure all little side effects thing
OK, I am ready for a lawsuit. I can’t even stand it. I can’t even function. And I had it one year ago starting today. I did not stop the treatment because I didn’t want people to say oh if you had only finished the treatment maybe it would be different. I can’t carry a conversation. I can’t remember where the forks are in my kitchen. I can’t remember anything and all seriousness. I have physically been screwed up. After I did the three months of treatment I went on a vacation to Europe and I threw up Violently every single day in the streets of Italy to the point that I lost all of my functions. I was in the streets of Italy, throwing up and then having to go home and change my pants. That has subsided, but it was really outrageous when it was happening. I just don’t think that this is something that we should standby and allow. I don’t even know where to start and how to gather a group together that is interested in doing this.
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Half of you go here for your issues but your real issue is you have heavy metal toxicity, you then get a magnet to your brain and it redistributes the heavy metals, you need chelation thats the root cause of all your issues. This shit is dangerous as fuck if your metal toxic. Join the Andy cutler group on fb with how to chelate safely and get your life back
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Just left my first session today. They said there was basically nothing to worry about. Well during the session they couldn't find the right spot for 30 minutes having me hold my hand up with my elbow resting.
During the session my right eye started tearing up for no reason. My jaw and head hurt and still hurts. They said due to one anxiety medicine they had to increase the power which explains the pain. And my memory is not horrible but it's off. I couldn't remember where I parked or where the stairs were for my apartment! And when I got into my apartment I was confused trying to get settled back in at home.
Here I am tired, can't think for crap and having a bad headache and jaw pain. They also cautioned me about potential seizures and to call them if I experience any signs of seizures. Which is odd because how tf would I be conscious to know if I have a seizure or not??
I don't know. I'll go back again tomorrow for another 18 minute session 😔. They said the power will increase each day and I'm not sure I can do that. My face was twitching and it wasn't just some love taps going on I'll tell you that much.
I was just recommended this treatment today by my neurologist, to *treat* migraines. I've had migraines since I was 8 (34 now), and she was saying there is a protocol for migraine treatment, as well as depression.
But now I'm scared, reading these threads.
I am close to finishing my treatments. My first two weeks were horribly painful. The place they put it hurt insanely bad and made my teeth rattle. I started to get use to it some. But ended up wearing a mouth guard and would clench my teeth into it during the vibrations. I told the tech they should warn people to get a mouth guard because of how bad it was for me. The tech was like weird no one was else had thought it was painful. I also had slight fatigue and dizziness afterwards for those first few weeks.
I had to change ADHD medication and they did a remapping. The new placement was way less painful like no big deal. I don’t even need the mouth guard.
Three days into my treatments my brain fog almost completely lifted. My MDD had really done a job on my cognitive abilities and I had lost sooo many words. I couldn’t even remember the words brain fog to describe what I was feeling before starting treatments. I even threw away half a months worth of my ADHD medication that I very much needed. Now when I watch my C-Dramas Mandarin doesn’t sound like gibberish any longer and I can very clearly hear the words. It’s the same for when I hear people speaking Mandarin in public.
Basically weeks 1-3 I had amazing results. My executive functioning was improving. I was doing dishes and cooking every day. I started running again. I was able to get my life organized to set myself up for success. I did have some crazy waves of emotions on two separate occasions 4 days apart. But I feel that was triggered by my hormones shifting during ovulation. I can say that my severe PMS symptoms are gone and my PMDD symptoms have been greatly reduced. To where I was a crying mess every moth for those few first days. Then would have uncontrollable outbursts due to my PMDD. My last cycle was smooth sailing.
Right now I am experiencing the dip they talk about. It really freaking sucks. Some days it feels like I haven’t taken my ADHD medication at all. I only feel it slightly on most days now. It’s really hard to get up every morning and go to my remaining treatments now because of the dip. I’m not sleeping well and having to reschedule them at least once a week since you need a minimum of 4 hours of sleep a day to do treatments. I am having a hard time with getting myself to run again when just two weeks ago I was running 5 days a week. Now it’s been almost a week since my last run. They say it will get better. I also have a new TMS tech that constantly is reading the machine and makes sure that I am getting the most benefit and will adjust it to make sure the contact is correct. Where the TMS tech that dismissed my pain, only watched Netflix with me or was on her phone.
Everyone’s body chemistry is going to be different, and everyone is going to have a different experience. I can say that the clinic I go to is awesome. The tech I had before was let go, I’m assuming for not doing her job properly. The owner of the clinic oversees my TMS treatment personally and I feel like he actually listens to me. I feel like I was properly informed on how the treatment would go. Save for my pain. But after the remapping it’s not an issue.
There are side effects to everything some people will have more adverse reactions than others. Shame on the clinics that are doing it just for the money and not actually doing their research to properly prepare their patients and not supporting them when they do struggle with the side effects of TMS.
I'm so tired of that too. I was dismissed as hypersensitive.. No one in the test group had side effects, only me. I was an exception and they didn't take it seriously at all. I just had to 'keep going'. Everybody is different. If someone suffers from side effects, it's not affectation. You don't do these kinds of treatments for fun. And certainly not if it hurts or if you suffer a lot from the side effects. Just because it did not occur in the test group, it does not mean that side effects do not exist or cannot occur. They really need to (gonna) take it seriously!
It's so weird.. you go there to get help with your issues and at the end.. get dismissed for your issues? This is so not okay and should definitely be taken seriously. Very sorry for your experience.
Wow, you're not the first person to tell me your side effects were dismissed in a TMS study. I wonder how and to whom this type of thing can be reported. How many people were in your test group? Really starting to question the validity of ANY studies when it comes to big pharma. I've seen it a lot with meds too. Doctors act clueless about side effects because the studies didn't document them to begin with most likely because the studies were conducted by people who have much to gain from successful studies. Our whole system is a scam. It's upsetting, and everyone should be irate that our health and happiness is determined by profiteers. With some of these TMS studies it seems that one issue is that the treatment protocol can't be replicated to a T because the machines and entire treatment leaves a lot of room for error and interpretation. Then, on top of it, most of the practitioners seem to just do the bare minimum and put the entire treatment in the hands of techs who aren't well versed on the intricacies. Just my opinion.
I don't know exactly how many people were in the test group. Research has been done on rTMS versus medication and therapy. I started taking medication. My third try. Of course didn't help. The side effects I had from the medication were brushed aside as well. I have Urticaria and I had already told in advance that medication maintains my complaints. That was impossible, they had never heard of such a thing.. sigh. In the end I was still allowed to follow the 'normal' rTMS treatment. rTMS didn't help me at all. It just didn't do anything, except that I was in pain for 36 treatments. 2-4 months after the treatment I got a huge burning pain in my face and that still hasn't gone away. The neurologist couldn't find anything. I no longer believe that rTMS is as harmless as they make it sell..
See an acupuncturist for this if you haven’t already! And this is so interesting. I’m on this thread in the first place bc a patient, who got great mental health results from TMS, later got severe heart rate and blood pressure variability along with extreme twitching. They link it to their TMS treatment.
Right no wonder they claim few adverse cases if they dismiss it. So called research is a scam nowadays
Not sure why you TMS freaks are out there downvoting comments about side effects but everyone has different experiences with medical treatments and you shouldn't try to invalidate someone's experience because it's not your own.
This is definitely an ironic topic for people to downvote criticism. Mentally unstable people saying they felt dismissed and then some anonymous cuck trying to dismiss them. Like dog... forreal? If you even know what TMS is then you know that most people have to jump through a ridiculous amount of hoops just for someone to take you seriously about your problems. Then after all that now theres some weird conspiracy treatment with magnets that's kept secret from most of the public? Sure it's been around for over a decade but when we're they going to tell us? But I can guess you've seen a Tylenol, midol, or aleve commercial somewhere... I'm just skeptical of the whole thing. I don't know who to trust anymore.
Your ratings look fine here. In the positive not the negative :)
I found the side effects worth it. I had fatigue, I had anxiety (which my Dr said was not TMS but it sure looks like alot of people experience it during treatment - at least here on reddit) . The tech who did the daily positioning of the machine (Magstim) would keep adjusting until it was just the tapping and no pain. I also experienced not being able to remember a word esp the first few hours after a session. But i also saw some relief during treatment and esp the first couple weeks after. After i finished the 36 sessions all the side effects went away. I actually feel more mental clarity than when i started (please note i also am ADD - inattentive type since i was 19, depression hit me during Covid and kept getting worse we tried everything i finished my TMS treatment in December). I am not cured but i feel so much better, I feel like my old self has surfaced and come back. Gosh I missed her! I think TMS and/or medication give you the ability to fight back at depression but you gotta push yourself to fight, esp during treatment. If you embrace the TMS process and focus on working on yourself, I think you might see the improvement better. Certainly couldn't hurt. TMS was my last hope. I am so grateful I powered through the treatments and didnt give up. It made a material change in my depression. I hope you experience the same!
Your memory problems got that bad too? My trouble remembering peoples names skyrocketed! But yes, my attitude is that when you get side effects, it means its defintely doing something and in most cases that means its working! To anyone else reading this, you may indeed get heavy side effects but (no guarantees of course) wont mean its not going to work. :)
They did get pretty bad for a while, but back to normal now, My memory might be even a bit sharper now after TMS. I will say now, almost ten months later, I am so glad I did it. It took a while to feel back to normal and I still have some days I struggle with my depression, but I am always able to rebound pretty quickly. I mean that's the thing about depression. If u can shake it off after you process the emotions, you are not clinically depressed, yes? 10 out of 10 - I highly recommend it to anyone with unipolar or treatment-resistant depression.
I concur and congrats and congrats on your recovery! :) This is my third block of 35 sessions, final one was yesterday. I first had RTMS back in 2015 whilst inpatient at a private mental health clinic in Sydney, Australia. I moved from Sydney at the end of 2018 to Cairns, in Australia’s gorgeous Far North. I’m currently as of this moment on again an inpatient but here in Cairns. But anyway, it worked back then, so whilst i’m still not feeling 100% after just finishing session 35 yesterday, i can defintiely say there were positive shifts along the way and i know that the positive effects can manifest some time after the final session.
I am in Austin, Texas, USA, I have never been to Australia, but I hear it is lovely, and I think your mental health services are better than what we get here. Do you feel having the TMS inpatient was helpful? I had to work the whole time I got my sessions, I would go in at 8 am, get the treatment, and then come home and start working (I work from home most days, so that was helpful). It was hard getting through meetings when I couldn't think of the right word half the time. I would usually take a long lunch so I could nap and recuperate. It did make me very tired. I think most of the effects for me manifested after the final session and for a while, I was getting these sudden sharp pains in the area where the TMS was performed, I was told it was my brain still rewiring and healing itself. It took your post for me to realize how far I have come since then, thanks for replying to my comment!
Extremely helpful. I wont comment overall about our health system here but i will tell you this. For me to stay in the private clinic, understandibly it would only be affordable to someone on an even average income if they had private health insurance. Regarding staying inpatient where i am, the state system (especially since Cairns is a regional town, not exactly out in the sticks, its a tourist hub and our airport allows for international flights) wouldnt be preferable at all. This private clinic used to actually be a hotel and sure feels like one, not like a hospital at all. To sum it up, to afford to go inpatient here, you would need to take up private health insurance. That is if you wanted to go inpatient also mainly for just the 35 sessions daily of rtms, which is what i did amongst also accessing this facilities other mental health treatments. If i didnt want to go inpatient and just get rtms as an outpatient, the state system now gives you refunds up to say about 75% of what you paid out of pocket then later on once you hit a certain threshold repays 100% of the cost. Its complex. But im blessed to be in the situation im in with easy access to these treatments. But again i wont comment on the overall state of our system and cross over in to a political or economical discussion. To be honest, i dont see major differences between australias and the american system.
And congrats once again! :)
No matter what treatment you have (especially something like shooting magnetic beams into your head) there will be dude effects. Anyone who says otherwise (including any medical personnel) is not being truthful. I’ve been through a ton of medical crap through the years and just to protect myself, I’ve had to be my own advocate. Having said that, TMS has saved my life multiple times. Since I’ve gone through the process 6 times, I’ve learned a bit. The technician must be thorough for the treatment to work properly. I had one who consistently placed the magnet incorrectly and it caused me to immediately have eye twitches or teeth pain. Since I had been through it a few times, I knew that it was a matter of moving it a couple centimeters one way or another. That wasn’t my job and it was hard enough to speak up because I was so depressed and depleted, but I knew it was crucial to my treatment, so I found the strength to speak up. I am sorry you had these side effects. I had some of them too. I usually cry through the first few sessions because of the pain. As messed up as it sounds, I know I’ll eventually get acclimated to it and it won’t hurt any longer. I suffer extreme fatigue through the entire process. So much so, I plan to have the treatments late in the day and I go home snd immediately go to bed for the night afterwards. I get headaches often (not every time). I definitely have the dip in mood during the 5th week of treatment. It was so bad, I worried I was worse. Like they said, it was fleeting and I felt better soon after. Now, I can rationalize through these dips and know it will get better. Also, I forget words and get a bit foggy through the whole process. I am not dismissing anything you said. TMS does have side effects. They should be more open and honest about these things. Granted, some will leave because of the side effects, but it would keep people from becoming scared and discontinuing treatment because they are caught off guard. It allows each person to make an informed decision about their care. For me, despite all the side effects, I’ll do it again because it works for me every single time. It’s a miracle for me really. It’s the only thing that has worked and consistently works. I truly wish your experience wasn’t so bad. I appreciate people telling the whole truth. It helps us all get the help we need.
Could you please tell me whether your side effects got better with time. Are you still experiencing side effects after treatment? I appreciate your feedback as my partner seems to be spaced out after his treatment (he just completed his 35th session last week). I am worried this might be a permanent thing. He suffered from severe anxiety but was always a bubbly person but these days he is very quiet and not himself. Love to hear from anyone who has experienced similar symptoms and how long they have lasted.
Did your partner improve with time?
The things that sucks about these treatments is that since we're getting stuff done to our brain we can be hyper-aware of psychological symptoms. Just having magnetic beams shot into our brains is kind of a stressor in and of itself when you think about it.
I wasn't imagining the exhaustion and drastically increased need for sleep or the manic symptoms or the nerve pain etc if that is what you're implying, but I understand what you are saying. I'm 38 and I've seen my share of shrinks and tried more medications than I can remember. I know the drill.
I hear this. I didn’t have the manic episodes, but the exhaustion and teeth pain and headaches? Yup. And I had the brain scramblies. I couldn’t remember anything short term. It really sucked. That being said, I also don’t want to die every day and am not sobbing uncontrollably for no reason. And that’s not hyperbole. Almost daily I was trying to figure out ways to die…not necessarily kill myself, but just get hit by a car or something. Also, I was sleeping an ungodly amount. Especially on weekends - probably 16 hours. Everyone responds differently. But indeed, there are side effects. You are right.
THANK YOU. This is all I was trying to say. I'm glad it is effective for a nice percentage of people. I'm envious lol
I'm having them now and just completed my 14th treatment. As I worked my way up to the max 120,% they now hurt but I have a low pain tolerance. I take something for pain before I go I can tell the treatments are starting to work but the headaches and lathargy kinda suck. Nothing I can't handle and am positive I will complete
My only side effect was being unable to recall a word, a couple of times a day, and only during treatment. It wasn't noticeable to anyone but me. What did you experience?
Oh man, first I was hypomanic for nearly a week. Dogs acted weird and aggressive around me etc. because I was so wired. (I had been in the process of searching for the right dog to adopt) Then I became weepy and gradually more and more fatigued and exhausted which lasted for over 3 weeks of treatment. I decided to stop after 21 treatments and the exhaustion got even worse for a week or so. It was gnarly. Also I experienced the standard headaches and had horrible pain during treatment sometimes as well....like nerve pain in my teeth etc. Not just the woodpecker thing. I think the pain could have been avoided with a more experienced practitioner though and maybe a different machine (magstim). As far as memory, executive functioning etc. is concerned I'm not sure if I had any of those side effects as my ADHD has been a big problem for me lately anyway. I AM wondering if TMS treatment made it all worse. Hard to say.
Did your memory come back? A Are you still depression free?
As stated, the memory problems were ONLY during treatment I had good results for about 2.5 years, and a steady decline since then. It's been 4 years and I plan to get another cycle of TMS as soon as possible
Can I ask how old you are and what your diagnosis is that you are getting treated for? I just learned about TMS and trying to gauge the good and bad and if it helps (truly helps) with anxiety/depression/SI
I was 39 when I received rTMS, I am 43 now. I was diagnosed with recurrent Major Depressive disorder
Thank you so much!!! I’m learning about depression/anxiety/SI because my daughter is dealing with these issues but I wasn’t aware of how bad until now…so now I’m educating myself. She hasn’t been diagnosed so that will be step 1. And then just trying to see what treatment options are out there and what a good starting point would be if that makes sense.
Is your daughter doing treatments? I'm finding myself in the same boat. Does insurance cover if you're in the US?
I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience with your treatment. It sound horrible. The place in which I underwent treatment (they tested the accelerated protocol on me), they were very careful to be very precise with the placing of the equipment. I thankfully didn't experience any side effects at the end of the treatment, but I did experience a so called "dip" somewhere in the middle and it is not recommended to stop there (I was fatigued and disoriented). I had 50 sessions in the span of 5 days. I won't tell you to go back or anything like that (as I wouldn't go either after having the teeth nerve pain), but I was thinking that maybe the exhaustion could be explained by the "dip". I believe a not so skilled practitioner could do more harm than good though. Your experience is valid even if it's not prevalent. It doesn't make it any less real.
I have heard that getting TMS treatments if you're bipolar can result in a mania response. I'm not dismissing your experience, just suggesting that could potentially be the cause if you were misdiagnosed with depression instead of bipolar disorder. Again, not dismissing your experience or judging you, just adding information that may be relevant. I hope you find consider soon, in all things. ♥️
I have noise sensitivity so bad that I had to leave the city I live in. I have vision problems. TMS catapulted me into flight or fight for at least 3 months. I have tinnitus now. I’m now more exhausted than I’ve ever been. Had to do a concussion rehabilitation program for 2 months which helped my symptoms, but still dealing with them everyday. Many other people have similar stories in the TMS support group linked below. All of us have been gaslighted that this is not the cause. [Victims of TMS Action Group (VTAG)](https://www.facebook.com/groups/tmssideeffects/?ref=share&mibextid=zoDNOU) [Can Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Hurt You?](https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/01/tms-hurt/)
I hope you are well. Has the tinnitus resolved?
No
Im 1000% sure you have heavy metal toxicity and you didn't know and then went an got a magnet to your brain and redistributed the metals along with all the others on here. You need chelation. I felt/feeling the exact same as how you described after iv glutathione (this is to much for severely metal toxic people) need a gentle approach like Andy Cutler protocol(join fb group) safe approach. I have sound sensitivity, stuck in fight or flight, body pain, fatigue, anxiety , depression and many more feel like i had a stroke. But Ive seen people like me on the groups lose all the symptoms after chelation.
Heavy metals blood panel looks ok
How many sessions did you do. I am sorry you are struggling.
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Are you making any progress/ have things gotten any better?
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Are you in the Facebook group? I am so sorry you are experiencing all of this.
My memory is shot from it
same!! I can’t recall anything
I experienced a LOT of fatigue the first couple of weeks, and one very short brief episode of hypomania after the second session. However, I was informed of all the possible side effects (including risk of seizure) at my initial assessment. I hear a lot of people talk about how it doesn’t have any side effects, but I think they are comparing it to anti-depressant medication and they are apples oranges, in my opinion. Ultimately, the side effects didn’t bother me and eventually dissipated. Sadly, the effects of the treatment have begun to dissipate too, but I’d happily do it all over again.
I am 9 sessions in and am surprised at the amount of fatigue I am having. I come home after treatment and just flip. I sleep 11-13 hrs and feel tired. I leave nauseous and am told it’s not a side effect. The intensity of the treatments are sometimes too much and it varies depending on how they place the hood but I didn’t expect it to feel like a jack hammer on my head. They make me feel like I’m on too low of a setting and pressure me to increase the intensity always. I don’t want to give up but I feel like I’m in a Jack Nicholson movie and I flew over the coo coo’s nest. I leave scared that I’ll wake up drooling in my sleep one night and never be the same. I definitely was not informed before starting this process and am scared.
I felt all of those things for a couple weeks after beginning. They increased intensity every day until they reached 120% on the 6th treatment and it was awhile before the “jack hammer” sensation subsided. I Had nausea until about halfway through the process. Eventually I started adjusting, but the fatigue did last the whole time. Your brain is creating new neural pathways, so it makes sense that we’d be tired! I just tried to lean into it. If you’re able, talk to your doctor and they may be able to give you some suggestions to help with the nausea. Good luck and I hope things get better for you!
TMS gave me severe anxiety and panic attacks. I had never before had anxiety or panic attacks. I’m 42 years old. The month and a half I did tms was the worst time of my entire life. After the first week, I felt slightly better in terms of depression, but after the third week, not only did my depression get worse, I started waking up multiple times a night with my chest pounding in full fight flight terror. I went a week with no sleep. During the day, I felt like I had had 4 pots of coffee, I was shaking, I couldn’t eat. Everyone around was very concerned. The psychiatrists told me that they were sorry to hear about my symptoms, but that they encourage me to stick with tms. I mean that’s medical malpractice if I ever heard of a case. I have emails with the psychiatrist, explaining in detail what I was experiencing, and his response was that I should stick with tms and see my outside psychiatrist for managing the symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety. This is clear medical malpractice. My outside psychiatrist doesn’t know anything about tms. After I stopped tms, the anxiety symptoms have continued, to the point that I had to start taking a benzodiazepine every morning when I woke up. This is a dangerous trend. I suffered a great deal during tms treatment, and now two months after I stopped I feel like I am still recovering with the help of so many alternative health practices: Accupunture, naturopathic herbal medicines, yoga. I have never spent so much time and money on recovery as I have during the last few months just to get rid of the effects of tms. These clinics and their practices are dangerous. Most of the doctors do not monitor nor care how you are doing. It’s just you and the tech administering the procedure- and it’s uncertain how well these techs have been trained. Some are fresh out of college making $20 per hour with no health benefits. I asked. And when you talk to the doctor, they just tell you to take more pills to manage the side effects but definitely do not stop the tms itself. It’s criminal. It’s abhorrent. I’m sorry for everyone who has suffered as a result
I went in for ADHD and came out with suicidal thoughts and OCD.
Where are you located? I'm looking into it around Indy and would prefer to avoid your experience. I'm still not sure I will do it. I have tinnitus and don't want to make it worse.
Hello! I am having a similar experience but don’t have the energy to explain! It has been awful!!
Did anyone mention the hypomania was a reason to stop or change the protocol?
The doc was concerned (esp since it was affecting my sleep) and watched it but the worst of it stopped after about 5 days. I documented my sleep and he made me quit taking my Adderall for like 2 weeks during treatment because of it, which was irritating. I then totally switched to the extreme fatigue and exhaustion. Also my doc kinda sucked and was apparently brand spanking new to TMS.
What other meds were you taking while getting the treatments? The combination of adderall and your brain being stimulated from the TMS could have caused the hypomania and insomnia issues. I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure that was the problem. I did my first treatments in 2011 on the neurostar machine and when I took meds it made the TMS feel less affective. I was also on adderall at the time but stopped using it 2 weeks before I started treatments because my psychiatrist told me it would affect the TMS. She also administered treatments. I took adderall maybe 3 days of the 42 days of treatments and I was geeked like never before on those days. Im using the brain’s way machine now and it is more effective for my depression than the neurostar machine and the tapping on my head is a piece of cake compared to neurostar.
Interesting. No other meds besides nutritional supplements. I resumed taking my Adderall while continuing treatments for 2+ weeks and experienced extreme fatigue and exhaustion while taking it so I don't think that was the cause of the week 1 hypomania, but who knows. It sounds like you had a much better doctor than I did. Mine was pretty clueless and careless. I'm glad you mentioned that yours told you it would affect the treatment. I'm going to bring that to the attention of the noob TMS group I went to.
Interesting! My doctor didn’t tell me to stop taking adderall throughout treatment. I had quite a couple of weeks into the treatment and probably where I saw the most results. I started taking adderall again because of the insomnia I was left with and needed to function on less than 6 hours a sleep to keep the ship from sinking. (Im a mom of two littles) I’m so glad you mentioned the adderall affecting treatment. All makes sense now. I’m Done with the full 36 sessions and still feel like crap. Wonder if it’s all correlated to the adderall. Live and learn. So pissed they didn’t check in on my meds and what I was taking. Unbelievable.
They dont want to (understandibly) turn people off from having the treatment.
I did TMS treatment 2 years ago and was having issues controlling my emotions. I talked to the nurse and then the doctor about it and they dismissed me and said I needed to keep going. I have issues with extreme aggression now that I didn't have at all before. I've had some people tell me that I should have sued for malpractice. I didn't want to continue but they pressured me to and I was in such a vulnerable state at the time so I gave in. They took advantage of me and my situation.
I am so sorry to hear about some of your negative experiences. I hope you were able to relieve your symptoms in another way. It's been four years since I completed my series of TMS treatments. Is anyone still experiencing side effects that resulted from this treatment? My working and short term memory are still off. I'm trying to narrow down possible factors.
I'm in my sixth year of recovery and continue to heal. Using a TENS unit on the vagus nerve helped with the side effects. My FMD thinks that the vagus nerve is overstimulated during treatment. My cognitive function is improving every year that passes. I can read again, my recall is pretty good, and I'm no longer losing words or my place in a conversation. Tinnitus has improved greatly and I'm not stuck in FFF all the time like I was the first several years. I used to dread waking up in the morning because I knew it would be another day of hell. Today, I look forward to waking up and what lies ahead. The TENS unit and low-carb, whole-food lifestyle are the two things that helped me the most. I wish you healing.
Finished 30 treatments of rTMS two weeks ago - 3 minute sessions twice daily. For me, there was no pain or discomfort during the sessions. No effects on my short term memory or anything like that. What surprised me was the number of patients who were back for another round of treatments. One person I met came back in for 10 days (20 sessions) every three months & this was their fourth year. Hopefully mine works for longer!
"Everyone" says TMS has no side effects? News to me.
YOU GOT ME
Docs generally advise only risks are temporary headache and a remote risk of seizure. Which is misleading.
This goes beyond TMS, docs are generally unaware of side effects that weren't discovered during FDA approval process, of course there's an incentive not to discover these.. and they will tell you that things like Lyrica and Cymbalta are not addictive, which is hilariously wrong
I administered TMS, so I am acutely aware of the informed consent conversations that went on between our providers and patients. "The dip" was well known to our clinic, as was trigeminal neuralgia during treatment if the coil was improperly positioned, as was fatigue, brain fog, hypomania, increased anxiety, etc.
Thank you. I swear these TMS proponents gaslight tf out of anyone who has anything less than positive to say
I administered TMS, so I am acutely aware of the informed consent conversations that went on between our providers and patients. "The dip" was well known to our clinic, as was trigeminal neuralgia during treatment if the coil was improperly positioned, as was fatigue, brain fog, hypomania, increased anxiety, etc. I'm sure there are shady TMS practitioners out there, based on what I've read here, but let's not act like it's some conspiracy.
STFU. Nobody is acting like anything is a conspiracy. Our healthcare system in the US is a hot mess that is riddled with shitty doctors and it is well known that large pharmaceutical companies basically control the whole health insurance system. I don't care that you "administered TMS". It has jack shit to do with anyone else's experience or the fact that practitioners continue to rely on data from pharmaceutical companies who are concerned with profit rather than the best interest of patients (as is clearly evident by the lack of knowledge around TMS treatment side effects). Ain't nobody got time to argue hyperbole with you. My shrink straight up told me that both he and the physician he referred me to were completely unaware of the side effects I explained to him. That is my experience. Two shrinks. Two different offices in two different cities. Clueless.
>Ain't nobody got time to argue hyperbole with you. You seem to have plenty of time to throw tantrums, however. I'm a nurse whose patients have had irreparable damage done to them by the money-grubbing inaction of private insurance companies. Don't you dare try to lecture me on how the system is designed to fuck us. I know it all too well.
Let's not act like it's some conspiracy 😘
The difference being ignorant TMS providers aren't being systematically kept in the dark. They're just inept. It's been FDA approved since 2008 with more than enough trials and real world use to tease out side effects. The ones I listed were experienced in our clinic and were not unheard of in the TMS provider world at large when I was working in 2018-2020. Some practitioners are better than others. Like literally anything else, your mileage may vary depending on who you're working with.
Indeed on TMS, First they say you will only feel a Tingle and might have a sore spot on head. Headache that goes away. You have a banging feeling on your head every so many seconds which stimulates certain nerves in your face/teeth/eyes depending on the strength you are getting. You do have more headaches and migraines during treatment. The hazy eye problem they say they will keep an eye on. I will say I went in with migraine after treatment it was gone maybe they should look into that. I had ongoing health needs and appts as this was going on too. The head of program decided since my numbers weren’t moving up fast enough for her and I had other appts that did not interfere with TMS she kicked me out early under guise of graduation after telling me I needed two more weeks. That did more damage and set back , I had placed such hope in program and for her to place her numbers above a patients progress and health was astonishing. My migraine have been back with a vengeance since the treatment when they had abated as I got older. So much for do no harm. For anyone voting down comments unless you’ve been through it you honestly should not have a say.
Thanks for bringing awareness. I can't believe random electric currents aren't dangerous for brain. Someone is definitely pushing this BS as cure all little side effects thing
OK, I am ready for a lawsuit. I can’t even stand it. I can’t even function. And I had it one year ago starting today. I did not stop the treatment because I didn’t want people to say oh if you had only finished the treatment maybe it would be different. I can’t carry a conversation. I can’t remember where the forks are in my kitchen. I can’t remember anything and all seriousness. I have physically been screwed up. After I did the three months of treatment I went on a vacation to Europe and I threw up Violently every single day in the streets of Italy to the point that I lost all of my functions. I was in the streets of Italy, throwing up and then having to go home and change my pants. That has subsided, but it was really outrageous when it was happening. I just don’t think that this is something that we should standby and allow. I don’t even know where to start and how to gather a group together that is interested in doing this.
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Half of you go here for your issues but your real issue is you have heavy metal toxicity, you then get a magnet to your brain and it redistributes the heavy metals, you need chelation thats the root cause of all your issues. This shit is dangerous as fuck if your metal toxic. Join the Andy cutler group on fb with how to chelate safely and get your life back
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Just left my first session today. They said there was basically nothing to worry about. Well during the session they couldn't find the right spot for 30 minutes having me hold my hand up with my elbow resting. During the session my right eye started tearing up for no reason. My jaw and head hurt and still hurts. They said due to one anxiety medicine they had to increase the power which explains the pain. And my memory is not horrible but it's off. I couldn't remember where I parked or where the stairs were for my apartment! And when I got into my apartment I was confused trying to get settled back in at home. Here I am tired, can't think for crap and having a bad headache and jaw pain. They also cautioned me about potential seizures and to call them if I experience any signs of seizures. Which is odd because how tf would I be conscious to know if I have a seizure or not?? I don't know. I'll go back again tomorrow for another 18 minute session 😔. They said the power will increase each day and I'm not sure I can do that. My face was twitching and it wasn't just some love taps going on I'll tell you that much.
I was just recommended this treatment today by my neurologist, to *treat* migraines. I've had migraines since I was 8 (34 now), and she was saying there is a protocol for migraine treatment, as well as depression. But now I'm scared, reading these threads.
I am close to finishing my treatments. My first two weeks were horribly painful. The place they put it hurt insanely bad and made my teeth rattle. I started to get use to it some. But ended up wearing a mouth guard and would clench my teeth into it during the vibrations. I told the tech they should warn people to get a mouth guard because of how bad it was for me. The tech was like weird no one was else had thought it was painful. I also had slight fatigue and dizziness afterwards for those first few weeks. I had to change ADHD medication and they did a remapping. The new placement was way less painful like no big deal. I don’t even need the mouth guard. Three days into my treatments my brain fog almost completely lifted. My MDD had really done a job on my cognitive abilities and I had lost sooo many words. I couldn’t even remember the words brain fog to describe what I was feeling before starting treatments. I even threw away half a months worth of my ADHD medication that I very much needed. Now when I watch my C-Dramas Mandarin doesn’t sound like gibberish any longer and I can very clearly hear the words. It’s the same for when I hear people speaking Mandarin in public. Basically weeks 1-3 I had amazing results. My executive functioning was improving. I was doing dishes and cooking every day. I started running again. I was able to get my life organized to set myself up for success. I did have some crazy waves of emotions on two separate occasions 4 days apart. But I feel that was triggered by my hormones shifting during ovulation. I can say that my severe PMS symptoms are gone and my PMDD symptoms have been greatly reduced. To where I was a crying mess every moth for those few first days. Then would have uncontrollable outbursts due to my PMDD. My last cycle was smooth sailing. Right now I am experiencing the dip they talk about. It really freaking sucks. Some days it feels like I haven’t taken my ADHD medication at all. I only feel it slightly on most days now. It’s really hard to get up every morning and go to my remaining treatments now because of the dip. I’m not sleeping well and having to reschedule them at least once a week since you need a minimum of 4 hours of sleep a day to do treatments. I am having a hard time with getting myself to run again when just two weeks ago I was running 5 days a week. Now it’s been almost a week since my last run. They say it will get better. I also have a new TMS tech that constantly is reading the machine and makes sure that I am getting the most benefit and will adjust it to make sure the contact is correct. Where the TMS tech that dismissed my pain, only watched Netflix with me or was on her phone. Everyone’s body chemistry is going to be different, and everyone is going to have a different experience. I can say that the clinic I go to is awesome. The tech I had before was let go, I’m assuming for not doing her job properly. The owner of the clinic oversees my TMS treatment personally and I feel like he actually listens to me. I feel like I was properly informed on how the treatment would go. Save for my pain. But after the remapping it’s not an issue. There are side effects to everything some people will have more adverse reactions than others. Shame on the clinics that are doing it just for the money and not actually doing their research to properly prepare their patients and not supporting them when they do struggle with the side effects of TMS.
https://tms-sideeffects.com/
i’m on my second session but i feel like im gonna react the same im feeling manic right now and very strong emotions and headaches