anyone else have a negative TMS experience ?

[ctemourge]

i was doing some searching today and was in the chat room and discovered alot of people have also had a negative experience or reaction with TMS (Trans cranial Magnetic Stimulation) . i personally thought i was the only one who had a negative experience, because TMS centers will push this narrative that its a "gold standard treatment!" "non invasive!" and "safe!"
now i know some of you are probably thinking , why the hell would i do that to myself to begin with? i have tried desperately to get better in so many ways. many medications, treatments , therapies all kinds of shit that all lead me back to ground zero. they advertise TMS as this breakthrough treatment that is an amazing cure for depression and anxiety and i should try it as i qualify for it! my stupid self did 2 whole courses of the depression treatment and one full course of the anxiety treatment. that included me going to a TMS treatment center 5 days a week for a couple months straight. i would sit there for about 30 mins maybe an hour and let this magnet slam into the top of my forehead for that duration of time & then be sent off like nothing after.
for some of the negative side effects i experienced and still experience:
1) nausea. i cannot eat without having to lie down directly after . i am normally nauseous throughout the day now as well
2) constant headaches. these headaches can bother me so much ive gone as far as convinced myself it was a brain tumor (it wasnt)
3) INTENSE anxiety. i have always had anxiety but it was pretty minor. i would say this was one diagnosis of mine that i thought was bad before but after tms it intensified so much i dont think i even had it to begin with. its that bad.
4) feeling the "TMS dip" aka … the treatment doesnt fucking work and you hit a depression low. this in itself was something they did not advise was a thing until it happened halfway through the treatment and maintained how that is common and wont stay that way. (its been 2 years idk what the excuse is now!)
5) memory loss. now im not entirely sure if this is from the TMS but it would certainly make sense. i genuinely can not remember anything past a week ago. if im lucky. i used to remember little things from 10 years ago but i couldnt even tell you what i ate yesterday.
6) masking suicidal tendencies/ thoughts better. i feel so much more self aware and im much better at hiding how bad it can get
anyone else experience anything negative from TMS? im curious to hear other experiences and thoughts on this
this all ropes back into my own personal thoughts about legal euthanasia for anyone who has tried to seek help and have treatment resistant conditions. i dont want to live like this anymore

 

[EvisceratedJester]

TMS is unable to penetrate that deep into the brain. Hence why, for example, you can't use it to study Visual Area 4 (the area of the occipital cortex involved in colour processing) but you can use it to study Visual Area 5 (an area involved in things like processing motion perception). Visual area 4 is located too deep in the brain while Visual area 5 is located closer to the surface. Basically, what I'm saying is that I have some doubts about TMS affecting your memory since the areas of the brain involved in memory are located in the medial temporal lobe (they are situated deeper in the brain) and I am pretty sure that TMS cannot penetrate that far. Then again, I could be wrong and it could be that the effects of it could in some way indirectly affect memory, but from what I know it probably should not. Please note that I'm going off of my own very limited knowledge of TMS and neuroscience.

Masking suicidal tendencies better also seems like something that doesn't have to do with the TMS. I would say that it would probably be due to other factors. We generally tend to try and grasp at anything to explain things but sometimes the answers that we come to are either incorrect or are more complex and nuanced and have to do with a multitude of other factors rather than it just being solely that one thing. Basically, what I'm saying is that I am not trying to invalidate your experiences however, I do encourage you to not be too quick to automatically assume that all of your symptoms are due to TMS. Some of them might be, but they also might not be or the underlying cause might be more complex than just "it is the TMS".

Also, please note that I am making this post while high, so if it reads as a bit nonsensical then that's the shrooms doing, lol.

 

[divinemistress36]

It raised my anxiety some but it was temporarily. Didnt help my depression was waste of time and money

 

[ctemourge]

TMS is unable to penetrate that deep into the brain. Hence why, for example, you can't use it to study Visual Area 4 (the area of the occipital cortex involved in colour processing) but you can use it to study Visual Area 5 (an area involved in things like processing motion perception). Visual area 4 is located too deep in the brain while Visual area 5 is located closer to the surface. Basically, what I'm saying is that I have some doubts about TMS affecting your memory since the areas of the brain involved in memory are located in the medial temporal lobe (they are situated deeper in the brain) and I am pretty sure that TMS cannot penetrate that far. Then again, I could be wrong and it could be that the effects of it could in some way indirectly affect memory, but from what I know it probably should not. Please note that I'm going off of my own very limited knowledge of TMS and neuroscience.

Masking suicidal tendencies better also seems like something that doesn't have to do with the TMS. I would say that it would probably be due to other factors. We generally tend to try and grasp at anything to explain things but sometimes the answers that we come to are either incorrect or are more complex and nuanced and have to do with a multitude of other factors rather than it just being solely that one thing. Basically, what I'm saying is that I am not trying to invalidate your experiences however, I do encourage you to not be too quick to automatically assume that all of your symptoms are due to TMS. Some of them might be, but they also might not be or the underlying cause might be more complex than just "it is the TMS".

Also, please note that I am making this post while high, so if it reads as a bit nonsensical then that's the shrooms doing, lol.

i definitely wouldnt say all my symptoms are because of the tms but i definitely feel like they've increased after treatment.
also i hope your trip was well! i appreciate your feedback :)

It raised my anxiety some but it was temporarily. Didnt help my depression was waste of time and money

i think its a big cash grab tbh

 

[8leveloquenfrn4evr8]

It seems like a more sophisticated version of electroshock therapy. Hopefully it turns out to be helpful but this is the second thread I've seen about how it isn't helping and might be making things work. Sucks.

 

[northevelyn]

I haven't had TMS but it keeps being pushed on me by friends. There's no real evidence it would help my symptoms and even my doctor says it wouldn't help much. I'm running out of options.

 

[let.me.let.go87]

It made my anxiety so much worse that I ended up on benzos for the first time in my life. I thought it was worth it coz it helped my depression. Except that was short lived. My depression is back not even three months later. TMS isn't permanent. Unless you can dedicate time to the TMS clinic all the time like you don't have a life or work a job? TMS isn't an option

 

[Breadbfra]

Yes. Me. Ended up with being diagnosed with DMDD

 

[Cinnamorolls]

Huge waste of money for me. Full course with no results whatsoever, and caused cheek twitches (which thankfully went away once the treatments stopped).