Aa
TMS or transcranial magnetic stimulation...for depression?
i am unable to find much information on potential negative effects. any help would be appreciated! thanks!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation
Chrissy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation
Chrissy
Hi Chrissy,
TMS is still a relatively new form of therapy. It is accepted in Canada, but is very expensive. The cost can range from $5,000 to $7,000 for 20-30 treatments. Generally, you attend treatment for 30-40 minutes 5 days per week. I am currently in a program at CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) in Toronto, Canada. The program is called rTMS (Rapid Trancranial Magnetic Stimulation. A certain percentage of the participants are sham/placebo and the remainder are receiving the actual treatment. The study is done so that even if you are receiving the sham treatment you do not realize it as it feels like the real thing. After 2-3 weeks if you do not feel any different you can take the approved TMS treatment which is approved rather than continuing in the study. The difference between the approved treatment and the study is the magnet being used and the coil. The study uses a much more powerful magnetic and the hypothesis is that it will stimulate deeper into specific regions of brain (frontal cortex region).
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/MY01605
http://www.camh.net/Research/Studies_and_recruitment/advertisementrTMS%20MDD3rd%20draft.pdf
http://www.mindcarecentres.com/clinics/torontoclinic.aspx
http://www.camh.net/News_events/Media_centre/brain_stimulation_research_unit.html
I am going into my 10th treatment and what I can tell you is that the magnetic stimulation is not pleasant and can be very intense. They take a measurement of your reflexes uses electrodes connected to a computer each session and this gives a threshold for them to set the magnetic impulses. I find it very intense. It is quite powerful that with each magnetic stimulation my teeth are clenched together quite powerfully. I decide to wear a mouth guard that my dentist prepared for my grinding at night and this helped to lessen the impact greatly. You also must wear ear plugs and I find even with the ear plugs I have frequent ringing in my ears. They do tests to make sure there is no hearing lose, but of course, this is a concern with the treatment. I have also found that I get headaches and also neck pain from the treatment. I think that it aggravates an old neck injury that I had. I also feel nausea at times and also a strange kind of stimulation in the frontal cortex of the brain.
I have learned that it is not until sometime during the third week of treatment (anywhere between 15-20 treatments) that you may notice a difference. After the 20 treatments over 1 month, the program will put you on a maintenance dose of 1-2 treatment each week over the course of a year. During the rTMS treatment you must stop all medications 2-weeks prior to starting it. They also do the Beck and Hamilton scales to determine your depression score when prior to starting treatment and weekly during treatment. During these sessions you can ask any questions that you want. If you want at any time you can go to the approved TMS treatment and go back on antidepressants.
I have not noticed anything yet aside from the side effects. I took antidepressants for 4 months (2 different SSRI's) and got not benefits and any side effects (Cipralex 10 mg and the Wellbutrin XL 150 mg x 2). I was going to start on Effexor when I found the rTMS study at CAMH which is completely free. I think that the important thing despite some of the side effects is to continue in the treatment until the end to see if it works. I have been suffering from major depression and anxiety for over 2 years now along with anxiety and insomnia. I was taking Rhovan (sleeping medication) at first, but the side effects were too much. I switched a few month ago to Valerian by Nature's Way (530 mg) and Herbal Insomnia Formula x2 by Nature's Harmony and this helps me sleep without the side effects. I also recently started taking Melatonin sublingual 3mg tablets by Natural Factors. Oh yes, last year I took Lorazepam 1 mg x 2 tablets for anxiety and to aid my sleep, but it did very little and had many side effects. It can also be very addictive.
I go to see a psychiatrist once a week and luckily in Canada this is covered by our health system and he actually practices psychotherapy. He suggested the TMS treatment and the next day I was very fortunate to find the study at CAMH and got an interview the following day. I am hopeful that it may work as the medications were having no effect and the side effects were too much for me. I want to also add that I have started taking a serious look at my eating habits, chronic sugar addiction (which is known to boost serotonin and beta endorphins--good book is Potatoes not Prozac by Dr. DesMaison PhD), yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and regular biking and running. It is funny that I actually feel the best after a X-country run in the park. After one month of this treatment program I am also going to start a group at CAMH called CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), which is covered by our health care program. I do not think I could afford all of these treatments if it was not covered by our health care system. If we did not have this study I certainly could not afford the rTMS treatment.
My advice is that nothing works in isolation. Try several medication at least 3 or 4 different ones and perhaps some combinations. If they do not work experiment with eSAME, B12 injections, 5HTP, Flax Seed Oil (cold compressed) or Fish Oil, B-Complex Vitamins, etc. Watch your eating. Lots of veggies, fruit (whole state), fish (if not a veggie) and ample protein. Eat three meals a day and graze on healthy food through the day in order to not let your blood sugar levels drop. A combination of veggie & fruit juicing is also good, but get a quality machine. I hate to eat breakfast which is not good, but if you juice with veggie and fruit you can have a healthy start to your day. If you want some great relaxation tapes check out Jon Kabat-Zinn. I use his series 1 CDs and have done so for many years. He is the pioneer of mindfulness and stress reduction programs in hospitals. If you like yoga find a school or community centre that offers it or just do it to a cd such as the one by Kabat-Zinn. If you enjoy meditation you can also do it to these CDs and/or go to a temple or centre that does group meditation or instruction. There are many places that now offer mindfulness training that is widely accepted in many addiction and mental health programs. CAMH now runs a mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy group for 8-weeks.
http://mindfulnesstapes.com/ (Jon Kabat-Zinn--I like Series 1.)
Well, these are just some of my thoughts and ideas. I am still fighting the demons of depression, but am now really starting to put some positive strategies into my life and to stop going back to the old ways of patterns of destructive eating, ruminating thoughts, and self-sabotage. I am also trying to go easier on myself and less judgemental which is a challenge as my self-esteem is very low despite being relatively successful in life and my mind constantly has these negative thoughts or rumination, which I am working on now with my psychiatrist and soon in the CBT group. CBT therapy is the best way to deal with low self-esteem and ruminating thoughts. There are some good books on this subject by Dr. David Burns entitled “Feeling Good The New Mood Therapy (revised edition)” and “Mind over Mood” by Dr. Dennis Greenberger (this book is used at CAMH in the CBT group).
http://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Over-Mood-Change-Changing/dp/0898621283#_
I hope that this information is of some help to you in your struggles with depression.
Regards,
dragonwisdom
TMS is still a relatively new form of therapy. It is accepted in Canada, but is very expensive. The cost can range from $5,000 to $7,000 for 20-30 treatments. Generally, you attend treatment for 30-40 minutes 5 days per week. I am currently in a program at CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) in Toronto, Canada. The program is called rTMS (Rapid Trancranial Magnetic Stimulation. A certain percentage of the participants are sham/placebo and the remainder are receiving the actual treatment. The study is done so that even if you are receiving the sham treatment you do not realize it as it feels like the real thing. After 2-3 weeks if you do not feel any different you can take the approved TMS treatment which is approved rather than continuing in the study. The difference between the approved treatment and the study is the magnet being used and the coil. The study uses a much more powerful magnetic and the hypothesis is that it will stimulate deeper into specific regions of brain (frontal cortex region).
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/MY01605
http://www.camh.net/Research/Studies_and_recruitment/advertisementrTMS%20MDD3rd%20draft.pdf
http://www.mindcarecentres.com/clinics/torontoclinic.aspx
http://www.camh.net/News_events/Media_centre/brain_stimulation_research_unit.html
I am going into my 10th treatment and what I can tell you is that the magnetic stimulation is not pleasant and can be very intense. They take a measurement of your reflexes uses electrodes connected to a computer each session and this gives a threshold for them to set the magnetic impulses. I find it very intense. It is quite powerful that with each magnetic stimulation my teeth are clenched together quite powerfully. I decide to wear a mouth guard that my dentist prepared for my grinding at night and this helped to lessen the impact greatly. You also must wear ear plugs and I find even with the ear plugs I have frequent ringing in my ears. They do tests to make sure there is no hearing lose, but of course, this is a concern with the treatment. I have also found that I get headaches and also neck pain from the treatment. I think that it aggravates an old neck injury that I had. I also feel nausea at times and also a strange kind of stimulation in the frontal cortex of the brain.
I have learned that it is not until sometime during the third week of treatment (anywhere between 15-20 treatments) that you may notice a difference. After the 20 treatments over 1 month, the program will put you on a maintenance dose of 1-2 treatment each week over the course of a year. During the rTMS treatment you must stop all medications 2-weeks prior to starting it. They also do the Beck and Hamilton scales to determine your depression score when prior to starting treatment and weekly during treatment. During these sessions you can ask any questions that you want. If you want at any time you can go to the approved TMS treatment and go back on antidepressants.
I have not noticed anything yet aside from the side effects. I took antidepressants for 4 months (2 different SSRI's) and got not benefits and any side effects (Cipralex 10 mg and the Wellbutrin XL 150 mg x 2). I was going to start on Effexor when I found the rTMS study at CAMH which is completely free. I think that the important thing despite some of the side effects is to continue in the treatment until the end to see if it works. I have been suffering from major depression and anxiety for over 2 years now along with anxiety and insomnia. I was taking Rhovan (sleeping medication) at first, but the side effects were too much. I switched a few month ago to Valerian by Nature's Way (530 mg) and Herbal Insomnia Formula x2 by Nature's Harmony and this helps me sleep without the side effects. I also recently started taking Melatonin sublingual 3mg tablets by Natural Factors. Oh yes, last year I took Lorazepam 1 mg x 2 tablets for anxiety and to aid my sleep, but it did very little and had many side effects. It can also be very addictive.
I go to see a psychiatrist once a week and luckily in Canada this is covered by our health system and he actually practices psychotherapy. He suggested the TMS treatment and the next day I was very fortunate to find the study at CAMH and got an interview the following day. I am hopeful that it may work as the medications were having no effect and the side effects were too much for me. I want to also add that I have started taking a serious look at my eating habits, chronic sugar addiction (which is known to boost serotonin and beta endorphins--good book is Potatoes not Prozac by Dr. DesMaison PhD), yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and regular biking and running. It is funny that I actually feel the best after a X-country run in the park. After one month of this treatment program I am also going to start a group at CAMH called CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), which is covered by our health care program. I do not think I could afford all of these treatments if it was not covered by our health care system. If we did not have this study I certainly could not afford the rTMS treatment.
My advice is that nothing works in isolation. Try several medication at least 3 or 4 different ones and perhaps some combinations. If they do not work experiment with eSAME, B12 injections, 5HTP, Flax Seed Oil (cold compressed) or Fish Oil, B-Complex Vitamins, etc. Watch your eating. Lots of veggies, fruit (whole state), fish (if not a veggie) and ample protein. Eat three meals a day and graze on healthy food through the day in order to not let your blood sugar levels drop. A combination of veggie & fruit juicing is also good, but get a quality machine. I hate to eat breakfast which is not good, but if you juice with veggie and fruit you can have a healthy start to your day. If you want some great relaxation tapes check out Jon Kabat-Zinn. I use his series 1 CDs and have done so for many years. He is the pioneer of mindfulness and stress reduction programs in hospitals. If you like yoga find a school or community centre that offers it or just do it to a cd such as the one by Kabat-Zinn. If you enjoy meditation you can also do it to these CDs and/or go to a temple or centre that does group meditation or instruction. There are many places that now offer mindfulness training that is widely accepted in many addiction and mental health programs. CAMH now runs a mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy group for 8-weeks.
http://mindfulnesstapes.com/ (Jon Kabat-Zinn--I like Series 1.)
Well, these are just some of my thoughts and ideas. I am still fighting the demons of depression, but am now really starting to put some positive strategies into my life and to stop going back to the old ways of patterns of destructive eating, ruminating thoughts, and self-sabotage. I am also trying to go easier on myself and less judgemental which is a challenge as my self-esteem is very low despite being relatively successful in life and my mind constantly has these negative thoughts or rumination, which I am working on now with my psychiatrist and soon in the CBT group. CBT therapy is the best way to deal with low self-esteem and ruminating thoughts. There are some good books on this subject by Dr. David Burns entitled “Feeling Good The New Mood Therapy (revised edition)” and “Mind over Mood” by Dr. Dennis Greenberger (this book is used at CAMH in the CBT group).
http://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Over-Mood-Change-Changing/dp/0898621283#_
I hope that this information is of some help to you in your struggles with depression.
Regards,
dragonwisdom
This is part of a several page article explaining exactly how TCMS works and the beneficial effects of it as well. This has the full information on the potential negative effects:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/MY00185/DSECTION=risks
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/MY00185/DSECTION=risks
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Depression Community
15 signs that it’s more than just the blues
Discover the common symptoms of and treatment options for depression.
We've got five strategies to foster happiness in your everyday life.
Don’t let the winter chill send your smile into deep hibernation. Try these 10 mood-boosting tips to get your happy back
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
