My TMS Therapy journey update...

[designguy]

Hello all, I had my last treatment session this week, it was number 36 so I am finished with this round of treatment. I have a meeting scheduled in a couple weeks with the clinic doctor/director to review everything and see where I go from here. My survey results this week were 2 on the GAD-7 and 2 also on the PHQ-9 which I consider to be very good. I also am feeling well overall physically and believe that the HCG replacement I am taking (clomiphene) is working and the issues I was having with my TRT therapy are resolved. I also found out that I am under medicated for my hypothyroidism and should be taking double the dosage I am currently on which may have been contributing to the slump issue I was having. I have an appointment next week with my primary care physician to go over things.

So far my take on my journey is that I knew how important balancing out my endocrine system was for my physical and mental health but I didn't fully realize how important it is for the mental aspect of it at least for me. Overall I feel really good, have very little anxiety, especially social anxiety anymore and feel engaged in life and more able to be present in my life. My thoughts are a lot less sticky and I don't get stuck in rumination much and I feel like I have good mental clarity. I'm glad I've done the TMS, I know it has helped fine tune me and I had no side affects at all throughout the entire process. I would definitely recommend it to someone but I would also suggest they do what they can to get their endocrine system optimal first and see how much difference just doing that makes. I've read that some people experience a TMS slump, I don't know whether I will or not, i'm trying to get better about letting go of control and being ok with uncertainty and just taking it one day at a time and doing what I can to stay in balance and enjoy life.

Thanks again for all the support and encouragement from you all throughout my journey.

[Blue_81]

Glad to hear that is working out. Best wishes.

[designguy in reply to Blue_81]

thanks, me too.

[AnxiousSilver]

"I've read that some people experience a TMS slump,"

I know that you had a recent slump too, and I have been interested in seeing how you (hopefully) bounced back from that.

[designguy in reply to AnxiousSilver]

Thanks, right now i'm just enjoying life, taking it a day at a time and trying to be realistic about my expectations.

[LifeIsThePitts]

YAY!🏆🥂 congratulations 👏🎉 I remember how awesome it felt to complete the whole series! Just not having to go to an appointment 5x a week was such a relief and sense of accomplishment. So happy to hear about your progress.

I finished my 1st series on April 13, 2022. I had my 2 level neck fusion on April 15th. I returned to work at the beginning of July and started regressing by the end of the month. I wasn't prepared for such a fast loss of stability and didn't recognize the mental slide was happening until I was sleeping 12+ hrs a day, aggrevated and irritable 24/7, but luckily minus the extreme suicidal ideation. In September I had to get 11 more sessions over 16 days. Then the same thing happened again. In Jan I had 10 sessions in 2 days. THAT was remarkable how fast my brain 🧲🧠 turned back on!! Now I'm going once every 3-4 weeks. That seems to be helping stabilize me so far🤞

Pleeeese keep me updated on how you're progressing post treatment. I'm always interested in hearing about others that have had success with TMS.

[designguy in reply to LifeIsThePitts]

I will continue to update and thanks again for your support, glad your "tuneups" are working for you, that is great to hear.

[LifeIsThePitts in reply to designguy]

ALWAYS glad to hear from you! Love your advice and mutual dedication for helping others like ourselves ❣️🙏😊

[designguy in reply to LifeIsThePitts]

Ditto!

[SayNOtoPanic]

way to go. Wow on the thyroid hope u got the increased dose filled and started or will soon. That’ll prob help u feel better with the slug feelin. Thx for the update. 💪🏻

[designguy in reply to SayNOtoPanic]

thanks much.

[LilyAnnepuppy]

Congratulations on your success. I had my round of TMS in November 2020. My psychiatrist wants me to do another round. I hopefully will start soon.

[designguy in reply to LilyAnnepuppy]

Thank you, I appreciate the support. I hope your next round is beneficial for you.

[socratesanne]

I heard these are a thousand a session and how does. one afford this type of expense? Was it worth it? You mentioned a relapse. This sounds like not a fool proof solution? What do they do to your brain? And how it changed? Are there dangers?

[designguy in reply to socratesanne]

It can be expensive, I think they run $300 - 400. per session but I was fortunate that my insurance paid for all of it except for a small co-pay. I was also told by the clinic that they could work out some more affordable solution if my insurance didn't cover it but I don't know to what extent and i'm sure it varies per clinic.

As I said in the post my setback was due to temporarily stopping one of my testosterone medications and once I resumed the correct substitute I felt better and evened out. I knew having a balanced endocrine system was important but I didn't realize how much it is and affects us. So the upshot for me is that I honestly can't say how much of an impact the TMS had on me because of what happened with the testosterone therapy. I do know that the TMS did not compensate for the temporary stoppage of the testosterone. One thing I read recently is that the benefits of TMS can take a few weeks or more to materialize so i'll see what comes up. So far i'm doing well, stable and being able to be present in my life and enjoy it and engaged.

TMS is targeted magnetic pulses to specific parts of your brain and I had no side affects from it and actually enjoyed it. My sessions lasted about 20 minutes each and I did a total of 36 sessions.

I would advise anyone considering TMS to first make sure your hormones, thyroid and adrenals are all functioning optimally because they are critical to your mood and can cause or contribute to anxiety/depression if they are not.